DECLARATION 2002

There are important moments in history that require people to put it all on the line. To do the right thing you often must live outside of the law. To take this stance in times such as these require great courage and belief in the necessity that as individuals take action, it can change the course of history.

Voices in the Wilderness and Bert Sacks have repeatedly defied the criminal U.S. sanctions on the people of Iraq. They have done so deliberately and knowingly, aware of the great stakes to the lives of the Iraqi people.

As veterans of the U.S. military we know all too well what is required to stand up to the entire U.S. government. Our organization supports the actions of Voices in the Wilderness and all of its members and recognizes them as the true heroes of this war on Iraq.

Sanctions, in all their entirety, are weapons of imperialism.

This means in Iraq sanctions have been used, from the beginning, as a weapon of oppression and domination against the people of Iraq. While the stated aim of the sanctions is against the government of Iraq to prevent its building weapons of mass destruction (an irony not lost on the many of us who know that the U.S. is, and has been, the world's largest producer and user of these kind of weapons), the fact is that the sanctions are aimed squarely at the people of Iraq.

We will financially support this battle by sending in a small donation, and pledge to be there shoulder to shoulder with the Voices in the Wilderness activists as they battle to end the illegal war on Iraq.

Vietnam Veterans Against The War Anti Imperialist
Seattle, Washington.