Written by James (Cem) Ryan   

FLIMSY EVIDENCE, POLITICAL BOMBAST DRIVES YET ANOTHER RECKLESS, IMMORAL WAR

---PRESS RELEASE---
Contact: James C. Ryan, USMA 1962
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NEW YORK – (September 6, 2013) – Founded in 2006 in reaction to the dishonorable and criminal practices of the Bush administration regarding its attack on Iraq, U.S. service academy graduates, unified by two anti-war affiliated groups Service Academy Graduates Against The War (http://www.sagaw.org/) and West Point Graduates Against The War (http://www.wpgaw.org/), oppose the Obama government’s plan to bomb Syria. Its use of chemical weapons remains highly speculative, despite the usual political harangue. We fear that the same self-serving evidence combined with the same specious, expedient reasoning will lead to yet another immoral bombing campaign of death and destruction. And the majority of victims will again be innocent civilians, this time Syrians.

The president tries to sugarcoat its effects. He assures Americans that there will be no “boots on the ground.” But that doesn’t mean there will be no crime, no murder, no slaughter. As in Iraq, there will be plenty of boot-less feet on the ground…children’s feet and their mothers’, the feet of young men and women and the feet of the old, innocent feet all. How many feet-on-the-ground were destroyed in Iraq? We remember well the picture of the Iraqi girl in Basra whose feet were obliterated along with her life. There were millions like her, maimed, murdered, displaced from their homes, sent from this world. Millions! We oppose that same deadly thinking and propaganda that brought chaos and death to the Iraqis and many others. And now possibly to the Syrians.

The relentless march to war is replete with demonization, self-righteous arrogance and bullying. The risk of committing war crimes on the civilian populations is high. We remember well the dissembling Colin Powell’s performance. We oppose all efforts to launch an attack on Syria based on flimsy evidence and political bombast.

Equally troubling is that, aside from proof that chemical weapons were indeed used, which no one disputes, there is little evidence that indicates the Syrian government did so. Logic alone would indicate that it did not. After all, why would the Syrian government invite the UN weapons inspectors to Damascus and then use chemical weapons a few days later. Nor does it make sense to use chemical weapons in an offensive operation as was being done at the time by the Syrian forces. If anything, given its motley nature, the opposition forces would seem to have the primary motive for using chemical weapons. They desperately needed the United States to intervene. And it has. Is Assad really so stupid?

It is widely known that the United States, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have been sponsoring the insurgents in Syria. These opposition forces are composed of Jihadists, Islamist militias and elements of Al-Qaeda such as Jabhat al-Nusra. This comprises the so-called Free Syria Army, an army primarily of non-Syrians. Are these the people, specializing in sectarian beheadings, rapes and murder, who will inspire the Syrian people with democracy American style? Will they win the hearts and minds of the people? Doubtful. In fact, this “army,” rampaging about like so many Hannibal Lectors, has actually eaten the hearts and livers of still-living Syrian citizens. This has not been mentioned in the stately halls of the U.S. Congress. It should be. If not now, when?

Talk abounds how the United States must act against the dictatorial brutality of using poison gas, yet unproven. Others say that the president’s prestige and credibility are on the line. Therefore we must bomb Syria. And there are those who maintain that the United States must win over world opinion by standing firm against dictators. In our view, no matter what course is taken, to bomb or not to bomb, the United States loses. And as far as the “moral high ground?” We remember well who helped Saddam Hussein launch his poison gas attacks against Iran. And we also remember Agent Orange.

As long as the brutal tools of war are used to carry fear-filled olive branches, the US will lose. There is no strategic or tactical or moral benefit to the United States for bombing Syria. For with all the shock and awe and terror and fear inevitably comes loathing. Bombing an already chaotic situation is only a prescription for disaster and more loathing, much more. There is also the enormous risk of causing a vastly wider conflict. We refuse to accept another political adventure into the same carnage of war under the same tired misrepresentations and false-flag patriotism. We spoke out for the innocent victims of the Iraq war and today we speak for all the innocent Syrian victims past and perhaps to come. In all aspects, bombing Syria is exactly the wrong thing to do. Now is the time for dialogue not dynamite.

Service Academy Graduates Against the War and West Point Graduates Against The War call on all graduates of United States service academies to speak out against the continuation of the destruction of the honor of the United States and the dissipation of its military. Membership is open to all alumni of the United States service academies, and widows, widowers, parents, and children of deceased graduates. Enrollment has grown steadily and includes retired and active duty graduates.

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