About Face: Soldiers Call for Iraq Withdrawal (The Nation)

[deadparrot]

The Nation -- For the first time since Vietnam, an organized, robust movement of active-duty US military personnel has publicly surfaced to oppose a war in which they are serving. Those involved plan to petition Congress to withdraw American troops from Iraq. (Note: A complete version of this report will appear next week in the print and online editions of The Nation.)

After appearing only seven weeks ago on the Internet, the Appeal for Redress, brainchild of 29-year-old Navy seaman Jonathan Hutto, has already been signed by nearly 1,000 US soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen, including dozens of officers--most of whom are on active duty. Not since 1969, when some 1,300 active-duty military personnel signed an open letter in the New York Times opposing the war in Vietnam, has there been such a dramatic barometer of rising military dissent.

Interviews with two dozen signers of the Appeal reveal a mix of motives for opposing the war: ideological, practical, strategic and moral. But all those interviewed agree that it is time to start withdrawing the troops. Coming from an all-volunteer military, the Appeal was called "unprecedented" by Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice.

The Nation spoke with rank-and-file personnel as well as high-ranking officers--some on the Iraqi front lines, others at domestic and offshore US military bases--who have signed the Appeal. All of their names will be made available to Congress when the Appeal is presented in mid-January. Signers have been assured they are sending a communication to Congress protected under the Military Whistleblower Protection Act. The Pentagon is powerless to take official reprisals and has said that as long as active-duty personnel are not in uniform or on duty, they are free to express their views to Congress.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20070101cooperweb

[Peace Patriot]

1. These are volunteers and professionals. It's more like the Roman Legion

rebelling against the Emperor. The Vietnam war army was mostly Drafted, and consequently that war inspired earlier and more vocal rebellion. For volunteers and professional military to send such a petition to Congress--and getting so many signatures in such a short time--is extraordinary, and indicates the depth of discontent in the military with Bush/Cheney policy and with this awful war.

The Appeal for Redress is short and simple--and startling in its eloquence and clarity:

"As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq. Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home."

This is a truly stunning development.

Forces AND bases! Very precise. Well-thought out. Prompt withdrawal! "It is time for U.S. troops to come home." Not a breath of compromise in those words. No hedging around.