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Iraq Vets Form Antiwar Group
A major new development in the opposition to the Iraq war took place on July 28 with the founding of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). Its website (www.ivaw.net) describes IVAW as "a group of Iraq war veterans who are committed to saving lives and ending the violence in Iraq by an immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces. We also believe that the governments that sponsored these wars are indebted to the men and women that were forced to fight them and must give their Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen the benefits that are owed to them upon their return home." The founding membership totals just 12, but that is double the number that launched Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) in 1967. Within two years VVAW grew to more than 30,000 active members. "Until now there's been no outlet for antiwar feeling [among soldiers]," IVAW co-founder Michael Hoffman says. "I expect a lot of people to come out of the woodwork." Hoffman was a Lance Corporal in a Marine Corps artillery battery during the March 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent occupation of Tikrit. "The experience confirmed my worse fears. Not only was the war based on lies," he says " U.S. troops are the problem in post-Saddam Iraq, not the solution." Hoffman recently received a promotion to corporal and is still a member of the Individual Ready Reserve. He could be called back to serve at any time. SOLDIER MORALE PLUMMETSOne of the groups Hoffman contacted upon his return from Iraq was Military Families Speak Out. MFSO began with two families in November of 2002; it now numbers more than 1,500 families. "The organization (IVAW) will fill a void," says Hoffman. "It's really hard for guys over there to express themselves. Any of their stories that we can relay is a big thing, because the picture we're getting is filtered. The guys with the lowest morale are the guys with the least access to computers—in Najaf, Samarra, Fallujah. The guys in Baghdad who have it the best have the access to the computers all the time." This March the Army published a study that found morale was "low or very low" among a majority of U.S. soldiers. Almost three-quarters felt that battalion-level leadership showed a "lack of concern" for their safety. Kelly Dougherty, one of the two women among the IVAW founders, was a member of the Colorado National Guard when she did her stint in Nazariah. "We formed it [IVAW] just to give returning Iraqi veterans who are disillusioned and angry with the government and with this war in Iraq, a way to come together and organize a voice because we think it's powerful to have returning veterans especially who have seen what it is like over there, to speak against it." IVAW is trying to inform service people about their rights. "Although the military severely restricts individual rights, we want to make sure that people active in the service are familiar with what they can and cannot do as regards speech and action," says Hoffman. The group is also building a contingent to march in the Aug. 29 demonstration against the war at the Republican National Convention in New York City. Hoffman says: "No matter who wins the election, IVAW will continue to fight for peace in Iraq and for the rights of U.S. service people." Bob Wing is managing editor of War Times and a national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice. |
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