1000 Soldiers Against the War
Hey Sunday TV fans, if you get tired of Anna Nicole's "and the body goes to" .. or tired of "and the Oscar goes to" .. try CBS' "60 Minutes." It will look at the U.S. soldiers who petitioned Congress to show they are against the war in Iraq. Lara Logan reported the piece, she talked to founders of Appeal for Redress, which has more than 1,000 members in the U.S. military.
"They say they are not disloyal. They say they are not shirking their duty and that they do not oppose war. But over 1,000 active-duty and reserve members of the U.S. military are against the war in Iraq and have said so in an unusually public way -- by petitioning Congress last month. Several of them appear to explain their actions in a Lara Logan report to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday Feb. 25 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
"I'm not anti-war. I'm not a pacifist. I'm not opposed to protecting our country and defending our principles," says Navy Petty Officer Jonathan Hutto, an Iraq war veteran who, along with another veteran, initiated the petition. A 1995 law called the Military Whistleblower act enables military personnel to express their own opinions about Iraq in protected communication directly to Congress. Hutto and others spoke with 60 MINUTES while off duty, off base and out of uniform as conscientious citizens. "But at the same time, as citizens, it's our obligation to have a questioning attitude about policy," Hutto tells Logan.
Marine Sgt. Liam Madden, who helped Hutto to found the organization they call Appeal for Redress that has attracted 1,000 other military members, is more blunt. "Just because we volunteered for the military doesn't mean we volunteered to put our lives in unnecessary harm and to carry out missions that are illogical and immoral."
This is how it was back during Vietnam. First it was just the young protesting the war, then parents and grandparents joined in, then many politicians, then much of the military started speaking out against it.
That left the then administration no option but to end the war .. hopefully this will have the same results. But it takes a long long time....
