Iraq Veterans Against the War speak out:
Members of a leading Iraq war veterans’ organization voted this weekend to launch a campaign encouraging U.S. troops to refuse to fight.
The decision was made at the group’s annual membership meeting, held this weekend in Saint Louis, Missouri alongside the annual convention of the Veterans for Peace organization.
“Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) decided to make support of war resisters a major part of what we do,” said Garrett Rappenhagen, a former U.S. Army sniper who served in Iraq from February 2004 to February 2005.
“There’s a misconception that they’re cowards,” Rappenhagen said. “Most war resisters have already gone on a tour in Iraq. They’ve seen the war firsthand and have come to the conclusion that it’s morally wrong. This is something we all should support. So to break that timidness of how we view war resisters in America, IVAW decided to embrace them.”