I've just received the following action email from Charles Sheehan-Miles, founder of Veterans for Common Sense:
Dear friends and veterans,
As many of you know, President Bush is expected to decide on war within weeks.
In your efforts to prevent this war, many of you have come into contact with military families who fear for their loved ones in the service and Gulf War veterans who fear that another generation of veterans will suffer from the same unexplained illnesses that they have.
If so, please forward this email to them, or email their contact pnone number to me by no later than Friday afternoon.
Veterans for Common Sense (VfCS) is seeking both Gulf War combat veterans and military families with loved ones in the service who have deployed to the Gulf or are preparing to deploy to participate in a major national press conference late next week in Washington, DC.
The event will raise legitimate unanswered questions as to why we are rushing to war.
Equally important, the event is intented to empower other war veterans and military families to speak out against this rush to war.
The message of the press conference will be:
(1) Veterans and military families want the President to win without war and adhere to the UN process.
(2) Given the risks involved, we could face U.S. casualties that we have not seen since Vietnam.
(3) Another generation of veterans are vulnerable to the same illnesses and disabilities suffered by U.S. veterans of the 1991 Gulf War.
(4) The chemical protection suits, gas masks, and detection alarms don't work. Our service members deserve to be protected and should not be unnecessarily put in harm's way.
(5) Without our allies or a clear justication, a U.S. invasion is wreckless and unnecessary. Military families are concerned that their loved ones will die.
(6) Americans feel the President has not made a case for war (December LA Times poll, MoveOn petition, city council resolutions, etc).
All correspondences should be emailed to charles@sheehanmiles.net or Egustafson@igc.org and must be received by Friday afternoon for consideration.
Thank you all for stepping up to the plate on this issue,
Charles Sheehan-Miles
Veterans for Common Sense
http://www.VeteransforCommonSense.org
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This entry also posted at Stand Down.
James, I sat next to a Vietnam vet on a plane flight a few weeks ago, and he said exactly the same things as the Gulf War vets for common sense. You are right to post this. We need to remember and hear the voices of those who have been there.
That’s why I wonder why Powell has suddenly skipped the scene.
Posted by Alina Stefanescu on January 9, 2003 05:06 PM