West Point Graduates Against The War
Duty, Honor, Country
February 6, 2007
ABOLISH IT!
By James Ryan
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that
among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure
these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes
destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish
it
Declaration of Independence
Adopted by Congress, July 4, 1776
We have the right. We have the duty. Thomas Jefferson said so.
Last fall politicians witnessed the desire of the people and Congress was
altered. Now we, the American people, are seeing the will of the Congress.
The human catastrophe that is Iraq has been reduced by our representatives to
linguistic quibbles, fanny positioning for the next election, empty and
empty-headed resolutions, and a stunning disregard for the desires of the
majority of Americans. And they had the time and gall to blame the generals for
the execution of the war. Congress had to wait for Rumsfeld to get euthanized
before gumption set in. Then, instead of impeaching Bush, they skewered the
military, the people who must always say, Thank you sir/madam! Serving proudly!
Who does this Congress work for?
The executive branch continued its arrogant doubletalk. The ship of state
has foundered in Iraq. Full speed ahead! said the babbling Bush, who took two
months to come up with a so-called plan, fired some generals, then proposed a
banal, but poetic, surge of troops. (Who makes up these offensive
euphemisms?) This surge has been reduced to a series of gradual ascending
pulsations, or perhaps intermittent, yet ever upward, mini-exacerbations,
intended to crest midyear. Or so the current babble seems to indicate. Of
course, the surge is a phony, a shell game. There are really no fresh troops
going in, only tired, demoralized vets who have been there, and many of them
more that once. The most powerful army in the world is being destroyed.
Who is this Bush working for?
Meanwhile, Baghdad continues its blood-ridden death rattle. An admiral is in
charge of Iraq operations now, perhaps to be nearer his warships in the Strait
of Hormuz. And a new army general has been appointed to supervise the surge.
His former assignment was to train the Iraqi army. Obviously he didnt have
time to finish THAT job. But to help him surge on to victory or finish the
(another) job, he has built an officer-staff of whiz-kid PhDs, just like
himself. If this war had anything to do with brains, we wouldnt have started
it. But there is a nostalgic touch here, frighteningly redolent of MacNamaras
band and Vietnam.
So what, you may ask? This is what. The United States Army is broken. How do
we know? The US Army tells us so. Please keep up the great work, says the
senior field grade officer in Iraq, now on his second tour. You speak for many
of us on active duty, says another. Do something, please, says the parent of a
young West Point graduate on active duty in Afghanistan. These people trust us,
and we them. Simply put, chaos reigns, morale is lousy, and the troops are fed
up. As we told one congressman recently about the plight of an active duty
graduate, When a West Point graduate says I dont know what to do, we, as a
nation, are in trouble.
We have written to Congress, to no avail. We have visited our
representatives, to no avail. We have encouraged the new Speaker of the House
to impeach the President of the United States, to no avail, and with no
response. Our organization has hundreds of West Point and other service academy
graduate members. Despite governmental restrictions on political involvement,
some of them are on active duty, many with multiple tours of combat duty. They
speak from an experience no one, repeat, NO ONE, in government has had. They
tell us that our organization and its principles speak for them. We all once
swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of The United States,
against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Though many of us are no longer on
active duty, we still bear faith and allegiance to that same oath, as well as
to our fellow graduates now actively serving. Indeed, this is a bond that will
neither break nor be broken. So speak and write we do. Yet the people
we speak to in government seem not to care. They publicly beat their breasts
crying SUPPORT THE TROOPS! but it only means billions for defense contracts,
not one cent in respect.
Despite Cheneys hallucinations, this war, fatally flawed morally, legally,
and strategically, has been a colossal blunder. So we say again to our armchair
war makers in Congress, get our troops, our men and women, out of Iraq, NOW.
The war, deceitfully launched by George W. Bush with Congressional approval,
has destroyed the reputation and honor of our country, and has severely abused
and damaged the United States Army. Such crimes and misdemeanors are grievous.
There is a lengthening list of abuses and usurpations that Bush and his
government fall heir to. Abasement of the country. Abrogation of the
Constitution. Destruction of the army. Clearly this government has been, and
remains, destructive to the ends intended by our founding fathers. On issues
vital to the survival of our military, our youth, and the honor of our nation,
the majority of Americans now stand unrepresented and reduced by the President
of the United States and the Congress. Is it not time that we
heed the words of Thomas Jefferson and remember, and claim, OUR rights? And
then do OUR duty?
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the
same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is
their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new
guards for their future security.
Declaration of Independence
Adopted by Congress, July 4, 1776
Do not we, all of us, have a duty to rise and speak against such a
government as ours and all its members? To say Abolish this war now or, as
Thomas Jefferson affirmed, we will abolish you.
James Ryan, a 1962 graduate of the United States Military Academy, is
co-founder of West Point Graduates Against The War
(http://www.westpointgradsagainstthewar.org/) and Service Academy Graduates
Against The War (http://www.sagaw.org/).
Attachments
Files:
ABOLISH_IT_.doc (55k) [Preview]
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