Editors note: In her letter below, Clare Daly expresses heartfelt appreciation for the work Veterans For Peace does to end war and urges support for that work. You don’t have to be a veteran to appreciate the work of Veterans For Peace. To keep that very essential work going please think about making a donation. You can donate online here, or you can send a check to Veterans For Peace, 3407 S. Jefferson Avenue #219, Saint Louis, MO 63118.
Clare Daly
Parlement Europeen
LTIERO SPINELLI – 05F364 60 Rue Wiertz 60
1047 Bruxelles BELGIUM
Dear friends,
Clare Daly with fellow MEP Mick Wallace and Veterans For Peace members Ken Mayers and Tarak Kauff. Photo: Ellen Davidson
It is an honour for me to ask you to help Veterans For Peace because its members are my heroes.
Their voices are the ones that can move hearts and change minds in our joint struggle for peace. From the depth of their experience, they are digging the grave of militarism because they, like no others, expose the lie. They have exposed it with their lives, their health, and critically, their humanity.
Let me share this with you:
- We live in a world where a declining US empire lashes out to maintain its hegemony, is cheered on and followed by the old European colonial powers.
- Binding, international law is binned for the so-called ‘rules based international order’ however the U.S. wishes to define it.
- Israel, the tool of the US in the region, soaks up $3.8billion a year in US taxes while it openly and proudly engages in ethnic cleansing.
- Ukraine soaks up multiples of that to go on fighting Russia on NATO’s behalf.
- The hundreds of thousands dead and wounded and millions displaced are an inconvenient truth, and sur’ even as they run out of men for the grinder, contracts are drawn up for reconstruction, to benefit the same vultures who profited from the destruction in the first place.
It’s all a con! A sham it is, to line the pockets of the military industrial complex!
Trillions are pumped into militarism so that working class people in one part of the world can go and fight working class people in the other, while the men & women in the suits count the profits from their armchairs.
But “no,” they say! “Our future is under attack! We’re not safe!”
And that’s true, but not because “the Russians (or anyone else) are coming,” but because people do not have enough to eat! They can’t afford to put a roof over their heads or access decent healthcare! They don’t have a chance of a dignified retirement! Our planet is crying out in a race against time for cooperation! These are the things that make us unsafe.
But while the UN and governments all over the world may have failed, ordinary people everywhere are organising and trying to find new ways of global co-operation & solidarity. In that struggle Veterans For Peace has been a critical torch, shining light on the darkest horrors of war and empire.
It’s easy to crush a man. But to crush a movement takes decades. Make no mistake, those in power are trying to crush the peace movement. But they cannot and will not prevail! To that end we need your help. We need to make 2023’s year-end appeal bigger than any other because the challenges are bigger than ever. Please be as generous as you can. All donations gratefully accepted. The more VFP gets, the more they can do on all our behalf.
With members of Veterans For Peace delegation to Ireland, left to right: Ray McGovern, Roger Cole of Peace and Neutrality Alliance, Mick Wallace, Clare Daily, Irish activists Dan Dowling and Ed Horgan, Ken Mayers, Nymekye Anderson, Mike Ferner, Tarak Kauff. Photo: Ellen Davidson
If said once, it bears repeating: VFP members are the voices that can move hearts and change minds in our joint struggle for peace. They are my heroes and it is an honour for me to ask you to help them.
Venceremos!
Clare Daly
Member of European Parliament MEP
You can donate to Veterans For Peace on line here, or you can send a check to Veterans For Peace, 3407 S. Jefferson Avenue #219, Saint Louis, MO 63118.
