Handout for 3/29/22 Vets for Peace Chapter 099 Vigil

From the VFP Website:  Veterans Warn Against "No Fly Zone" in Ukraine

Veterans of several U.S. wars are urging President Biden to hold fast against growing political pressure to implement a "no-fly zone."
A No Fly Zone is an area established by a military power over which opposing aircraft are not permitted. No Fly Zones are enforced by military interception of aircraft and missiles using deadly force, and sometimes include preemptive strikes to prevent potential violations. In other words, a country that declares a no-fly zone must then be ready to enforce the protected space, putting the U.S. in direct military conflict with Russia, escalating war between two nuclear powers.
"For several years during the 1990s, my job at the Pentagon was to help enforce the Southern NFZ over Iraq. I was part of the Battle Damage Assessment Cell" said Robert Prokop of Veterans For Peace. "A No Fly Zone is an act of war - nothing less. It is lethal ordinance falling, not just on equipment, but on human beings. We all need to be crystal clear about this with elected officials and the general public."

To join Veterans for Peace, or to sign up for VFP e-News, go to: https://www.veteransforpeace.org
Chapter 099 - Western North Carolina
Website: www.vfp099.org /  Facebook: Veterans for Peace Chapter 099
Phone: (828) 490-1872

Handout for 3/22/22 Vets for Peace Vigil

 
Statement of Purpose
1.To increase public awareness of the causes and costs of war.
2.To restrain our governments from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations.
3.To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons.
4.To seek justice for veterans and victims of war.
 5.To abolish war as an instrument of national policy.

From the VFP Website: Drop the Charges and Free Journalist Julian Assange

Imprisoned journalist Julian Assange faces life behind bars for telling the truth about U.S. war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and at the U.S. torture base in Guantanamo Bay. Currently, Assange is being held in brutal isolation at Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom on behalf of the United States.
 As military veterans from WWII to the current era of conflicts, who have trained for, and in many cases, fought in U.S. wars–often in the name of democratic values such as freedom of the press, free speech, and free journalists–we demand that our own government respect those principles now.


To join Veterans for Peace, or to sign up for VFP e-News, go to: https://www.veteransforpeace.org
Chapter 099 - Western North Carolina
Website: www.vfp099.org /  Facebook: Veterans for Peace Chapter 099
Phone: (828) 490-1872

Handout for Chapter 099 vigil for March 15, 2022

 

Statement of Purpose
1.To increase public awareness of the causes and costs of war.
2.To restrain our governments from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations.
3.To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons.
4.To seek justice for veterans and victims of war.
 5.To abolish war as an instrument of national policy.

From the VFP WebSite:

Diplomacy Not War - Peace in Ukraine!

Veterans For Peace condemns the invasion of Ukraine.  Our mission remains the same.  We are committed to a sustainable and just peace.  As veterans we know increased violence only fuels extremism.  We have watched, and in some cases been first hand witnesses to how the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, etc. have had their countries and lives destroyed by U.S. and Russian military involvement.

To join Veterans for Peace, or to sign up for VFP e-News, go to: https://www.veteransforpeace.org
Chapter 099 - Western North Carolina
Website: www.vfp099.org /  Facebook: Veterans for Peace Chapter 099
Phone: (828) 490-1872

LTE to Mountain Xpress March 10, 2020

 It seems our elected leaders (from the President to County Commissioners) are incapable of implementing solutions to problems that are peaceful and environmentally healthy. And the people living in Yemen and Iraq and other places see the results of our leaders choices in the bomb fragments, from Raytheon or Lockheed Martin, that they pick up in their devastated neighborhoods.

The CEO of Raytheon knows his priorities, however. He stated in January that: “we are seeing, I would say, opportunities for international sales. We just have to look to last week where we saw the drone attack in the UAE, which have attacked some of their other facilities. And of course, the tensions in Eastern Europe, the tensions in the South China Sea, all of those things are putting pressure on some of the defense spending over there. So I fully expect we’re going to see some benefit from it.”

Yes, more wars and bombings will bring more profit to Raytheon’s stockholders. And our politicians claim they subsidize Raytheon because it means jobs, jobs, jobs. But what it really means is profit, profit, profit, that comes from wars, wars, wars.


Raytheon is the parent company of Pratt & Whitney in south Asheville. 

Susan Oehler, Associate Member of Chapter 099 Veterans for Peace

Asheville, NC

More Photos from Vigil on 3/6/22

Photos of the Vigil and March for Ukraine on 3/6/22.

Vigil for Ukraine on 3/6/22

 
Photos © Jeffrey DeCristofaro 2022. This was organized by Reject Raytheon Asheville and Chapter 099 Veterans for Peace.

 

Handout for 3/8/22 Vigil

 

Statement of Purpose

1.To increase public awareness of the causes and costs of war.

2.To restrain our governments from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations.

3.To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons.

4.To seek justice for veterans and victims of war.

 5.To abolish war as an instrument of national policy.

From a statement by VFP Executive Director Garett Reppenhagen:

… the biggest beneficiaries of the war industry by far are the wealthy elites who run this country… we demand that tax dollars be redirected to escalating necessities here at home.

Militarism monopolizes all our tax resources and leaves working people on the brink of disaster.

To join Veterans for Peace, or to sign up for VFP e-News, go to: https://www.veteransforpeace.org

Chapter 099 - Western North Carolina

Website: www.vfp099.org /  Facebook: Veterans for Peace Chapter 099

Phone: (828) 490-1872

Global Day of Action on March 6, 2022

 

Stop the War in Ukraine! 

Russian Troops Out! 

No to NATO expansion!

Vigil and Silent March

Sunday, March 6th, 2022, 3 pm

Pack Square on Biltmore Ave

The war is a disaster for the people of Ukraine and a terrible threat to us all, including the increased danger of nuclear war. We oppose the Russian invasion and call for the immediate withdrawal of all Russian troops. We recognize that the expansion of NATO and the aggressive approach of Western states have helped cause the crisis. We demand that NATO not be expanded and that no NATO missile systems be placed in Ukraine. We also oppose sanctions that will harm ordinary Russians and call on all countries to welcome refugees fleeing the war.

We join an international anti-war coalition including CODEPINK, Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the No To NATO network, and others that has called for to an international day of anti-war action on this day. We call on everyone who opposes the war in Ukraine to join us in a display of global opposition to the war and its profiteers. 

We will have a vigil and silent march. Please come with signs and banners calling for peace.

http://rejectraytheonavl.com/

More photos from Mardi Gras parade

 Photos below by Jeffrey DeCristofaro 2022.