March, 19 2015, 12:15pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Barry Ladendorf, Veterans For Peace, President, 619-997-2772; Michael T. McPhearson, Veterans For Peace Executive Director, 314-725-600
Veterans to Call for End to Endless War
Demilitarize U.S. Foreign Policy
WASHINGTON
U.S. military veterans of several wars, from Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan, will call for the demilitarization of U.S. foreign policy, as they mark the 12th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
VETERANS MAKE CASE FOR PEACE
on FRIDAY, MARCH 20
at the University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law
4340 Connecticut Ave., NW, Room 454, Washington, DC 20008
(at Van Ness / UDC metro stop on red line).
11:00 am - 12:30 pm: Ukraine to ISIS to Drones: Why We Must Demilitarize US Foreign Policy Speakers: Marjorie Cohn, Ray McGovern and Matthew Hoh,
Marjorie Cohn is a law professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego where she teaches criminal law and procedure, evidence and international human rights law. Cohn lectures throughout the world on human rights and U.S. foreign policy. She has authored and edited several books, including most recently "Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues" (2015)
Ray McGovern is a retired CIA officer turned peace/political activist. McGovern was a CIA analyst from 1963-1990, in the 1980s chaired the National Intelligence Estimates and prepared the President's Daily Brief. McGovern is an army veteran and serves on the Advisory Board of Veterans For Peace.
Matthew Hoh is a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy, A former State Department official, Hoh resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan over U.S. strategic policy and goals in Afghanistan in September 2009. Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, Hoh served in Iraq; first in 2004-5 in Salah ad Din Province with a State Department reconstruction and governance team and then in 2006-7 in Anbar Province as a Marine Corps company commander. He writes on issues of war, peace and post-traumatic stress disorder recovery at MatthewHoh.com.
"The Bush administration detained and tortured suspected terrorists; the Obama administration assassinates them. Assassination, or targeted killing, off the battlefield not only causes more resentment against the United States, it is also illegal." - Marjorie Cohn, "Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues" (2015)
VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES MARK 12th ANNIVERSARY OF US INVASION OF IRAQ WITH CALLS FOR A PEACEFUL FOREING POLICY
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm: End these Endless Wars: Voices of Veterans and Military Family Members
Speakers: Kevin Lucey, Maggie Martin and Michael McPhearson
Kevin Lucey is the father of Cpl. Jeffrey Michael Lucey, an USMC reservist who returned from Iraq in July, 2003 mortally wounded by Hidden Wounds ie moral injury, PTSD, etc. After trying to get help from the VA, Jeff committed suicide on June 22, 2004. Kevin has a M.Ed. He is a retired Chief Probation Officer and presently is a therapist. He is a member of Military Family Speak Out, Gold Star Families Speak Out and an associate member of Veterans For Peace.
Maggie Martin is Co-Director of Iraq Veterans Against the War. She served in the Army from 2001-2006, deploying three times. She holds an M.A. in Social Justice and has been working since 2007 with fellow IVAW members to oppose expanding US Militarism, to fight for the "Right to Heal", and to build a healing community for those impacted by war.
Michael T. McPhearson is the Executive Director of Veterans Fort Peace and co-chair of the Don't Shoot Coalition in Saint Louis, MO that formed in the wake of the killing of Michael Brown Jr. McPhearson joined the Army Reserve as an enlisted soldier and attended basic training the summer between his junior and senior high school years. He is a ROTC graduate and served as a field artillery officer in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division during Desert Shield /Desert Storm, also known as Gulf War I. He separated from active duty in 1992 as a Captain. Michael's son joined the Army in January 2004 and served one tour in Iraq in 2005-2006. He separated from the military in 2007.
5 pm -6:30 pm: World Beyond War: An Alternative Global Security System
Speakers: David Swanson, Matthew Hoh, and Robert Fantina
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. Swanson co-founded the website After Downing Street (now War Is a Crime.org) and is the director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include, War is a Lie (2010), When the World Outlawed War (2011) and War No More: The Case for Abolition (2013). Swanson blogs through various political sites, including his own co-founded site, WarIsACrime.org
Robert Fantina is an author and journalist whose main interest is in human rights. He has written extensively on the oppression of the Palestinian people by Israel. He also writes on the political situation in the United States. He is the author of 'Desertion and the American Soldier: 1776 - 2006', a detailed history of desertion from the U.S .military; Look Not Unto the Morrow' a Vietnam era, anti-war novel, and Empire, Racism and Genocide: A History of U.S. Foreign Policy.
Matthew Hoh (Bio above. See 11:00 am panel info.)
Spring Rising Schedule VETERANS FOR PEACE
www.cindysheehanssoapbox.com/schedule-of-events.htm www.veteransforpeace.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
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The UN's Syria Special Envoy tells me on 'Mehdi Unfiltered' that Israel's unlawful actions in Syria need to stop. pic.twitter.com/G7jSWJ8oP0
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) December 9, 2024
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Watch StateSpox justify Israel’s invasion of Syria based on hypotheticals.@shauntandon: Israel has gone across the Golan Heights, the UN said it’s a violation, does the US agree
Miller: Every country would be worried about a possible vacuum that could be filled by terrorist… pic.twitter.com/AA7lNhfSt1
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) December 9, 2024
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