Finished with the War
A Soldier's Declaration
I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.
I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this war, upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest. I believe that the purposes for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible to change them, and that, had this been done, the objects which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation.
I have seen and endured the suffering of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolong these sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust.
I am not protesting against the conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being sacrificed.
On behalf of those who are suffering now I make this protest against the deception which is being practised on them; also I believe that I may help to destroy the callous complacence with which the majority of those at home regard the continuance of agonies which they do not share, and which they have not sufficient imagination to realize.
Excerpted from Regeneration by Pat Barker available from these sources.
Comments
''I am not a coward and I would be prepared to fight for my country, but I am taking a political stand because this is not our war, we are just following the Americans. I am prepared to die to defend my country but not to protect the United States oil lines.''
- Leading Seaman Terry Jones, member of the crew of HMAS Adelaide, after he left the ship in Perth before its departure for the Gulf on August 23, 1990. After going AWOL and making a public statement he was court-martialled and convicted.
BIGGER THAN THE US; BIGGER THAN THE EU
The emerging Eurasian bloc headed by China and Russia will be the world's major economic grouping - and soon! The SCO already includes China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan as full members, and observer states India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan may be promoted to full membership at the next meeting in Russia. In terms of population, resources and manufacturing capacity, the SCO is now the world's largest economic entity. Big Island Gazette has been following the development of the SCO for some time. See our reports here.
