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For Immediate Release
October, 08 2012, 02:10pm EDT
Contact:
Mike Prysner: 813-785-3179
Gerry Condon: 206-499-122
"We don't have to go to Afghanistan"
Veterans Deploy to Fort Lewis with Message of Hope for the Troops
WASHINGTON
WHAT: Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam veterans with the "Our Lives Our Rights" campaign will engage in a week of outreach to soldiers in 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in late October, with the message "You don't have to go to Afghanistan." Soldiers will receive information about Conscientious Objection and other legal avenues to avert deployment.
WHERE: Joint Base Lewis-McChord and surrounding area.
WHEN: October 7-13, 2012
PRESS CONFERENCE
WHO: The Our Lives Our Rights campaign is an initiative launched by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to help service members exercise their rights--first and foremost, their right to become a Conscientious Objector to war. Two progressive veterans' and service members' organizations, March Forward! and Veterans For Peace, will be carrying out this week of action.
WHY: From the Our Lives Our Rights campaign: "The Pentagon's Afghanistan strategy is up in smoke, exposed in recent news reports. The now-ended "surge" failed to break the momentum of the Afghan resistance, and officials have now abandoned their hope for a peace deal with the Taliban. A "withdrawal" strategy based on training Afghans to replace us has been smashed by "insider killings," where now those supposed to replace us are the biggest threat to our lives. The Afghan people, like all people, do not want to live under foreign occupation.
"The generals and politicians know their war can never be won, and they admit this behind closed doors," says Iraq veteran Mike Prysner. "But they refuse to take responsibility for a 'military defeat' on their watch. Millionaire politicians are playing politics with our lives."
"Over 2,000 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan - more than 250 so far this year alone - and many thousands more have been maimed for life," says Gerry Condon, a Vietnam era veteran.
"How many more men must die in support of a mission that is not succeeding?" asks Army LTC Daniel Davis, who traveled 9,000 miles through 8 provinces in Afghanistan before writing a grim assessment of the US/NATO occupation. Colonel Davis is right--nobody else should be sacrificed in a lost cause. https://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2012/02/8904030
Withdrawing all U.S. troops immediately--as favored by a large majority of American - would be the right thing to do. Instead, our elected 'leaders' in government and unelected 'leaders' in the Pentagon are forcing troops into multiple deployments to go on pointless patrols, simply because they don't want to be embarrassed.
Soldiers have legal alternatives to going to war. These are our lives, so we should exercise our rights. Now is the time to get help from fellow soldiers and veterans who understand what we and our families are going through.
Organizers are available for interview. Visit the campaign website at www.ourlivesourrights.org.
For more information call 813-785-3179 or 206-499-1220, or Email: info@marchforward.org
Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Our network is comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars.
(314) 725-6005LATEST NEWS
Trump—Who Just Sent Thousands More Troops—Says He's Mulling End to War on Iran
"Sounds like Trump preparing himself an off-ramp and trying to dump the Hormuz mess on others," said one observer.
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President Donald Trump on Friday continued to send contradictory messages on his plans for the US-Israeli assault on Iran, declaring that he is not interested in a ceasefire but is nevertheless considering "winding down" the three-week war, just two days after ordering thousands more troops to the Middle East
Trump wrote on his Truth Social network, "We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran."
Separately, the president told reporters Friday that he does not "want to do a ceasefire" in Iran.
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Sound like Trump preparing himself an offramp and trying to dump the Hormuz mess on others. But as it is Trump, who knows and this could change in short order.
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— Brian Finucane (@bcfinucane.bsky.social) March 20, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Trump also said Friday that the Strait of Hormuz must be "guarded and policed" by other nations that use the vital waterway, through which around 20 million barrels of oil passed daily before the war.
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