Author: Veterans For Peace

The historic Golden Rule anti-nuclear sailboat is preparing to sail to Cuba at the end of December. The storied wooden boat, which was sailed toward the Marshall Islands in 1958 to interfere with US nuclear testing, is currently in Tampa Bay, Florida. The 34-foot ketch belongs to Veterans For Peace, and carries out an important part of its mission, “to end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons.”

“We are on an educational mission,” says Golden Rule Project Manager Helen Jaccard. “We are three-and-a-half months into a 15-month, 11,000 mile voyage around the “Great Loop” of the midwestern, southern and northeastern United States. When we saw we would be in Key West, Florida at the end of December, we said, ‘Hey, look, Havana is only 90 miles away!’ And the world almost had a nuclear war over Cuba.”

Continue reading “The Golden Rule Peace Boat Is Sailing to Cuba”

Dear President Biden,

We, members of Veterans For Peace who are concerned about the growing possibility of nuclear war, have researched and written our own Nuclear Posture Review, with the goal of reducing the risk of nuclear war and ultimately eliminating all nuclear weapons. Because your own Nuclear Posture Review has not yet been released, we strongly encourage you to put it on hold while you review the Nuclear Posture Review of Veterans For Peace.

The war in Ukraine, with its relentless escalation toward a possible nuclear confrontation, is of great concern to the American public, including those in uniform and veterans who have experienced the chaos and trauma of war; so we are also eager to see your Nuclear Posture Review, Mr. President. We deserve a full accounting of your nuclear planning. We want to know what you and your advisers consider reasonable during this time of confrontation between the US and Russia, which between them hold the lion’s share of the world’s 15,000 nuclear weapons.

Continue reading “Open Letter to President Biden from Veterans For Peace: Read Our Nuclear Posture Review Before Releasing Yours”

The Veterans for Peace Nuclear Abolition Working Group was honored to present an important talk by Ray McGovern, who discussed the origins of the war in Ukraine and how it could too easily escalate into a nuclear war.

Ray speaks for about 40 minutes, followed by a lively Q&A and discussion. The entire recording goes over 2 hours.

Also see “US Counting on Putin To Signal Before Using Nukes” by Ray McGovern, May 12, 2022 and “Intel Vets: Nuclear Weapons Cannot Be Un-Invented.”

Thanks to Ellen Thomas and Helen Jaccard for uploading the Zoom recording and posting it on YouTube.

The U.S.-based international organization Veterans For Peace has released its own assessment of the current global threat of nuclear war, ahead of the anticipated release of the Biden Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review. The Veterans For Peace Nuclear Posture Review warns that the danger of nuclear war is greater than ever and that nuclear disarmament must be vigorously pursued. Veterans For Peace plans to deliver their Nuclear Posture Review to the President and Vice President, to every member of Congress, and to the Pentagon.

With the first anniversary of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on January 22, the Veterans For Peace Nuclear Posture Review calls on the U.S. government to sign the treaty and to work with other nuclear-armed states to eliminate all the world’s nuclear weapons. The TPNW, approved by a vote of 122-1 in the UN General Assembly in July of 2017, reflects the international consensus against the existence of such weapons.

LINK to the Veterans For Peace Nuclear Posture Review

Continue reading “Veterans For Peace Releases Nuclear Posture Review”

Over one hundred years ago the world celebrated peace as a universal principle. The first World War had just ended and nations mourning their dead collectively called for an end to all wars. Armistice Day was born and was designated as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated.”

After World War II, the U.S. Congress decided to rebrand November 11 as Veterans Day. Honoring the warrior quickly morphed into honoring the military and glorifying war. Armistice Day was flipped from a day for peace into a day for displays of militarism.

Continue reading “Veterans for Peace: Help Us Celebrate Armistice Day 2021!”

Veterans For Peace is pleased to hear that President Trump has ordered a total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, where they had no legal right to be in the first place. Whatever the reasoning, withdrawing US troops is the right thing to do.

It is incorrect to characterize the US military intervention in Syria as “fighting terrorism,” as much of the media is doing. Although the US fought against the ISIL Caliphate (aka “ISIS”), it also armed and trained Islamist groups, including al-Qaeda aligned forces, who are seeking to destroy the secular, multi-religious Syrian state and establish a harsh fundamentalist order of their own.

Furthermore, the US aerial bombardment of the city of Raqqa, Syria, similar to its bombardment of Mosul, Iraq, was itself terror in the extreme, causing the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. These are huge war crimes.

Continue reading “Veterans For Peace Statement on Withdrawal of US Troops From Syria”