My
Lai,
Vietnam,
1968. Haditha,
Iraq,
2005
Say
No to U.S.
War Crimes!
The
Troops
Out Now Coalition calls on all youth and rank and file GI’s to…
RESIST! Don’t Enlist!
Don’t Go!
Don’t
fight, die, or massacre for big oil!
Our
fight is at home against poverty, war and racism!
My
Lai, Vietnam, 1968. Haditha, Iraq, 2005. Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush hate it
when anyone
mentions these two events—these
two war crimes—in
the same breath. All the more reason to examine them closely, to see
that they
have the same basis that they spell out the same lesson.
Thirteen-year-old
Safa Yunis
was the family’s only survivor. She says U.S. Marines slaughtered her
father
and mother, Khafif and Aeda Yasin Ahmed, her four sisters aged 14, 10,
5 and 3,
her 8-year-old brother, and a 1-year-old girl staying with the family.
Neighbors said the family members were shot at close range or killed by
grenades. The children died screaming. Safa survived because she was
covered in
her mother’s blood when she fell to the floor. The Marines thought she
was
dead.
Pentagon
officers are
expected to announce a judgment on the Haditha war crime. Will they
call it
murder? Will they instead excuse the young Marines who killed the Iraqi
children, women and men that day last November? What they won’t do is
put the
blame where it belongs first of all: on those who conspired to invade Iraq, on those who lied to justify this
conspiracy, on
those who put U.S. young men and women in the horrible position
where they kill babies.
For if there were really justice not only the Marines would be put on
trial but
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their whole gang who sent these Marines to
kill for
power, for “strategic interests”, for oil profits.
What is
the lesson of My Lai
and of Haditha? It’s that when an occupation army is ordered to
suppress a
resistance movement (in Iraq this is called the “insurgency”) that has popular support, then it commits
war
crimes. The young Marines know that all the Iraqis hate them, including
the
civilians, including the children. So when they attack, they kill
civilians.
They kill children. When this is done with bombs from airplanes, it is
called “collateral
damage” in Pentagon newspeak.
It is
ridiculous to think
that a “refresher course” in military ethics will change the situation.
The
Marines are ordered to go in and win a battle. Rep. John Murtha saw
this happen
in Vietnam and has exposed this latest war crime in
Haditha. But
we have to go further than Murtha in our conclusions from these facts.
There is
no longer a way to hide the criminal nature of the war. It is out there
before
the world. And there are very few “ethical” or honorable choices before the young
Marines,
soldiers and other U.S. combat troops if they want to avoid being
war
criminals. Their only choice is to
refuse to take part in these military operations in Iraq. This is a
heroic choice but it is also the only honorable choice. And it is up to
the
anti-war movement to give every support possible to those who refuse.
The
movement should bring this same message to
recruiting offices around the country. Appeal to the youths to refuse
to sign
up for the Marines, the Navy, the Air Force, the Army and the National
Guard.
Otherwise they may be placed in the position of being war criminals.
Not
signing up is an easier choice than refusing to fight once in Iraq, but
it is
still a sacrifice to those without jobs or future in civilian life. So
the
anti-war movement should also be dedicated to fighting for jobs for all
and for
education for all.
Organize
Emergency
Protests at Recruiting Centers…
In
New
York City…Fri.,
June 9th,
5 P.M.- 6 P.M.
at the Chambers St. Recruiting Station
(address & subway info)
For more
information contact
the Troops Out Now Coalition at 212-633-6646 or www.troopsoutnow.org