Veterans for Peace president argues for end to needless wars

by Diane Heldt :: UPDATED: 20 May 2011
IOWA CITY — A national group that recently launched a second chapter in Iowa wants the U.S. government to better support military veterans but also to stop creating more veterans through unnecessary wars, the group’s president said Tuesday in Iowa City.

Elliott Adams, national president of Veterans for Peace, said his group works to make people aware of the costs of war, to support veterans and all victims of war, to reduce and abolish all nuclear weapons and to encourage the government to end unnecessary wars.

Adams uses the analogy that each veteran is like a drop of water falling into a pond, creating ripples across the larger area.

“What we’re dealing with now is like a rainstorm ripping up the surface of society,” Adams said during an interview with The Gazette Tuesday. “The social cost of war is unbelievably high and we don’t do well at seeing it.”

Adams was in Iowa this week for several events, including a conference on militarism and environment in Iowa City and the launch of a new Veterans for Peace chapter in Des Moines. Iowa City already had a Veterans for Peace chapter serving Eastern Iowa, and the Des Moines chapter is No. 163 nationally.

“We have all served in the armed forces and see a greater commitment to a higher cause, which is establishing peace,” said Adams, who was a paratrooper in the infantry, serving in Vietnam, Japan, Korea and Alaska.

The ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are the two longest wars in American history. The financial cost and human toll have not left us safer as a nation, Adams argues.

“The war in Afghanistan is not making us safer,” he said. “It’s making us less safe.”

And he worries the U.S. military presence is spreading in other countries, like Libya and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, veterans at home don’t have the necessary government support or resources to deal with alcohol problems, drug abuse, mental health issues and injuries and brain trauma, Adams and Ed Flaherty, president of the Iowa City chapter, said. Homelessness and suicide rates among veterans of the Iraq War, for example, far exceed those of the rest of the U.S. population, they said.

“We want all veterans treated well, but most of all we don’t want more veterans created needlessly,” Flaherty said. “We’ll never catch up” with the needs.

Iowa Peace Rally

What: State Wide Peace Rally on Anniversary of US lead wars in the Middle East
Date: Sat. March 19
Time: Noon to 1 p.m.,
Place: Nollen Plaza, 3rd & Walnut , DM IA

...This rally is in recognition of nine,( yes 9!) years in Iraq. Join the cause.

Obama Calls for "hope" over "fear" and calls Americans to action

At the NEA Midwest Regional in Chicago (January 16-18) we learned that the Obama Campaign celebrated over 200,000 campaign volunteers. On November 4, the NEA (one out of every 100 Americans) mobilized membership to elect Barack Obama.

Please enjoy these clips that we have put together of the Inauguration.

PRESIDENTIAL OATH OF OFFICE

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."

OBAMA'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

ARETHA FRANKLIN SINGS "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"

"We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

ELIZABETH ALEXANDER'S "PRAISE SONG FOR THE DAY"

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

"AIR & SIMPLE GIFTS"--YO YO MA, Cello; ITZHAK PERLMAN; Violin, GABRIELA MONTERO; Piano; ANTHONY McGILL, Clarinet; JOHN WILLIAM'S ARRANGEMENT OF AARON COPELAND

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.

Click here to access/read the entire script of President Obama's Inaugural Speech.