From Veterans For Peace, East Bay Chapter #162
Dear Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!
We are a group of military veterans who are hoping NOT to be blown
off the face of this planet in a nuclear exchange precipitated by events
in Syria.
The U.S. is close to confronting nuclear-armed Russia over Syria.
This situation was triggered by the recent Assad-Did-It-Again story, "gassing his own people," that we first heard in 2013. Once again
evidence was lacking, and worse, there was a total lack of interest in
finding evidence, or in asking the obvious questions of motive, cui
bono?
As former military persons, we see no military advantage or rationale
for the Assad regime to have used poison gas in those situations. On
the other hand, there are people who would be glad to use the incident
to pull the U.S. into the war. This should be clear to even the most
casual observer, and yet it is being ignored by the mainstream media.
Why is there no need for evidence? This looks to us like yet another
replay of "Gulf of Tonkin," "WMDs in Iraq,” and numerous other false
provocations going back to 1898 and "Remember the Maine!" Once again
the mainstream media is pushing for war. Rush to judgment with no
penetrating questions asked.
Unfortunately, with only rare exceptions, DEMOCRACY NOW has NOT been
raising such questions either in regards to Syria. On your Friday,
April 7th show, you featured numerous guests discussing Syria, some
openly accusing Assad, but nobody asking about evidence. Listeners of
your show were left to take for granted that the Assad regime is guilty
as assumed. This is particularly disappointing to us as we are
long-time listeners of your show; we have over the years trusted you as a
reliable source of information.
We are asking you to take another and closer look at Syria. Consider
the credible investigations by Seymour Hersh and others, including the
Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), on the chemical
weapons incident of August 21, 2013. Their reports indicate those
chemical weapons were launched by armed opposition NOT the Syrian
government. This seems very relevant to the current situation.
And please start including guests who know about Syria and have a
different perspective from your usual guests. For example, the vice
president of Veterans for Peace was in Syria last year. There are many
others and we would be happy to provide contact information.
This is important because, as President Donald Trump's recent actions
in Syria seem to be leading to a face-off with nuclear-armed Russia, we
are wondering whether Vladimir Putin can afford to back down. And if
he can't, what then? Will we be alive on this earth at this time a year
from now?
Hoping to stay alive,
VETERANS FOR PEACE, East Bay Chapter #162