Not the 30,000 Palestinians slaughtered in Gaza. That was no red line for the United States, whose wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan caused the deaths of millions.
But killing US soldiers… THAT is a red line. “We have no choice now but to drop some bombs on you, Iran, or at least on your ‘proxies’ in the region. But we won’t bomb you too hard.” The US says it does not want all-out war. Iran says the same.
All three soldiers were African Americans in a US Army Reserve engineering unit in the state of Georgia. They were Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, an Iraq War veteran. And two young women, Spc. Breonna Alexsondra Moffett, 23, and Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24.
Breonna Moffett’s parents told the Associated Press they hope there’s no escalation in violence. “I just hope and pray no other family has to go through this,” Francine Moffett, the young soldier’s mother, said Monday through tears at the dining table of her Savannah home. “It takes your heart and your soul.”
The US military may have presented these three young African Americans their only avenue for financial security and/or a college education. Then they end up at Tower 22 – human sacrifices to US imperialism.
Veterans Call for Gaza Ceasefire and Withdrawal of US Troops
The organization Veterans For Peace offered its condolences to the families in a statement titled, Tragic Deaths of US Troops Must NOT Be Exploited as Justification for Striking Iran.
“Israel’s continuing slaughter of men, women and children in Gaza is the source of the recent flurry of attacks on US troops. The US should insist that Israel implement a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.” The veterans also called on President Biden to withdraw US troops from Middle Eastern countries “where they are not wanted, and where they are under constant attack.”
Lindsay Graham and Nikki Haley Can Go to War!
Veterans For Peace had sharp words for politicians who are pushing for war with Iran: “This would be the worst possible development and could lead to the deaths of millions. If Nikki Haley and Lindsay Graham are hungry for war, they can deploy themselves to US bases in Iraq and Syria, or on-board US Navy ships that are sitting ducks in the Red Sea.”
“In 1945, GI’s liberated Nazi death camps in Europe and exposed the heinous crimes that had occurred within their walls,” said Shurley. “For the US to have come full circle and enabled the current genocide in Gaza … is a stain on that legacy.”
Veterans For Peace has over 100 chapters in the U.S., many of which are active in ongoing protests against the continuing slaughter of Palestinian men, women and children in Gaza. The 39-year-old organization includes veterans from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and more recent US wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Its Statement of Purpose calls on veterans to educate their communities about the “true costs of war,” and “to restrain our government from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations.” Veterans For Peace recently issued a statementcondemning the US bombing of Yemen.
Gerry Condon is a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister, a former president and current national board member of Veterans For Peace (VFP), president of the Golden Rule Committee, and a member of the crew that sailed the Golden Rule to Cuba. He represents VFP on the steering committee of the Peace In Ukraine Coalition. He can be reached by email at gerrycondon@veteransforpeace.org.