Friday, December 19, 2014

Salute to the real soldiers

Sharing this because I foresee these situations and questions getting more and more real in the Indian context in the coming times:

We've been brought up with tales of valour and honour of army life. But when the corruption of our ruling classes reaches to an extent that they use our nation's army for immoral purposes, for suppression and oppression rather than protection and liberation, then for those who do care, getting branded as a "traitor to your country" by the traitors hiding behind the curtains becomes the only way one can avoid becoming a real traitor to conscience, country and humanity.

Salute to the real soldiers, the real heroes of our time who stand by their oaths and their responsibilities, at great personal risk, even when they've been ordered to violate them.

And a question to those who equate following orders with being good and who choose to decry such acts,

And point the finger of blame at those who refused to part-take in mass murder and colonization,

While giving the corrupt elites passing the orders a free pass,

Or those who insist that the person being targeted so vehemently and under-handedly and disproportionately, in some way "asked for it", and "ought to" have followed the "proper procedures" and "worked within the system" despite overwhelming lived experience and evidence that the established procedures and systems make that impossible :

When will you live up to your own moral responsibility to draw the line between what is right and what is wrong? When will you stop passing the buck to the higher authorities whom you've artificially painted as incorruptible? Has history ever celebrated those who diligently followed orders and became accessories to mass murder / colonization? How do you think the generations to come will see your actions and opinions? Are you going to be part of the solution or part of the problem?

[Read email below]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: IVAW <feedback@ivaw.org>
Date: Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 1:10 AM
Subject: War Resister Sara Beining Released


Iraq Veterans Against the WarSupport Our Work: Donate Now


The last few months have been painful for us but we have also had some moments to celebrate and we wanted to share one in particular with you:

Last week, Sara Beining who is a Board member of IVAW, a war resister, a mother, and friend of ours was released from jail and the US Army with time served in pre-trial confinement and a "bad conduct" discharge. The Army's prosecutors were hell bent on throwing the book at her with a possible sentence of more than a decade largely due to her leadership in our organization. But thanks to the hard work of attorney James Branum and our allies at Courage to Resist Sara can finally put this tough period in her life behind her!

Please help Sara out with her legal fees

Sara decided to go AWOL in 2007 after she returned from her first deployment. In her intelligence occupation in the Army she was able to quickly see through the lies justifying the invasion and the destructive impacts of the occupation of Iraq. Having this knowledge she decided she couldn't in good faith return on another deployment. Like many resisters she had to look behind her shoulder for a long time and her AWOL status caught up with her during a routine traffic stop last year. 

Supporting resisters is one of the surest ways to let military members know that they too have a choice and there is a community of support for those who say no to war.

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