3 March, 2005
Governor Christine Gregoire
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002
Governor Gregoire:
We, the members of Western Washington Veterans For Peace
Chapter 92 in the Seattle area, hereby proclaim our support and endorsement of
the proposed efforts to return all Washington State National Guard personnel to
our home State.
The United States has been lied to and conned by the
Administration in Washington D.C. into supporting an illegal and unjust war
against the peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Because this country now has military personnel spread over 152 different
countries around the world in support of protecting big oil and corporate
profit, the President has found it useful and expedient to borrow Guard
personnel from the various states to fight genocidal foreign wars of aggression
for which Guard personnel were neither intended or equipped to support.
It is time to end this charade. It
is time to demand our Guard personnel be returned to Washington to serve as
intended in protecting this State and, if necessary, protecting this country
against foreign invasion.
Time has shown there were no weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq as the President claimed. It
was a lie. Time has shown that
Saddam Hussein was not a threat to the United States.
It was a lie. Time has shown
that the Iraqi people did not orchestrate or conduct the 911 terrorist strikes
against the United States. It was a
lie. Because of these lies by the
present Administration, our Guard personnel are dying in Iraq and being forced
to kill innocent Iraqi people. It
is time to stop the madness. It is
time to demand the return of our Guard units.
Our Guard units were established to protect the citizens of
Washington from natural disasters or threats of violence within our state
boundaries, as well as protect U.S. borders.
The current Administration’s foreign miss-adventures for corporate
profit and global dominance are decimating our Guard in terms of both personnel
and morale. Few people are now
willing to join our Guard which will quickly become under strength.
Who would want to serve in a state militia which is forced to fight
illegal foreign wars of genocide based on a pretext of lies?
We face a historic challenge this coming summer in
Washington due to a historic winter drought and oncoming potentially massive
forest fires. The Guard would
normally be utilized to assist in efforts to control this forthcoming natural
disaster. They can’t protect us
if they are fighting criminal wars overseas.
For these and many more reasons, Western Washington Veterans For Peace Chapter 92 supports and endorses all actions to return the Washington State National Guard home as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
Board of Directors
Western Washington Veterans For Peace
Chapter 92