Veterans Against War

On December 1st, President Barack Obama announced a surge of 30,000 additional troops to aid in securing Afghanistan, ignoring what had seemed a universal cry to end the further deployment of troops and further bloodshed. Shortly after this announcment, Truthout complied a piece about an organization called March Forward!, that spoke out against the increase in troops, urging soldiers to refuse their deployment orders.

March Forward! is an organization consisting of both veterans, and active-duty members of the US military, who are offering their "unconditional support" in order to ensure that "no more soldiers or civilians lose their lives in these criminal wars." Michael Prysner, a former corporal and veteran of the occupation of Iraq, co-founded the group with another Iraq war veteran, James Circello, in protest against the unlawful wars for which soldiers are repeatedly asked to give their lives. His goal is to "educate people to the fact that these are immoral orders, and they [soldiers] are being used as muscle for corporations, to colonize the developing world, and it's not legitimate. People who join and take this oath seriously who think they are in [the military] to defend the US, this is not what we are being used for in the military."

Prysner went on to discuss the current economic woes that have been providing fodder for military growth, taking advantage of the underclass majority that join the military out of necessity. He also discusses his own experience, and how the war in Iraq changed his views of the operations of the current US military power, and how he believed that he "was going to Iraq to help liberate and better the lives of an oppressed people," but soon realized that his "purpose in Iraq was to be the oppressor, and to clear the way for US corporations with no regard for human life."


Image: "Iraq 6" by dmacks 87 on Flickr courtesy of Creative Commons Licensing.