ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <!-- saved from url=(0129)http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/topics/article80e9.html?cu_no=1&item_no=764&version=1&template_id=279&parent_id=258 --> <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Al Jazeera - objective and balanced global news coverage and analysis- Global Reaction</TITLE><!-- Mirrored from english.aljazeera.net/topics/article.asp?cu_no=1&item_no=764&version=1&template_id=279&parent_id=258 by HTTrack Website Copier/3.x [XR&CO'2003], Tue, 25 Mar 2003 19:13:09 GMT --> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-16"> <META http-equiv=Content-Type><LINK href="article-ex-soldiers_files/style.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2722.900" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY leftMargin=0 topMargin=10 rightMargin=0> <DIV align=center xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <CENTER> <TABLE style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px" align=left><IMG src="article-ex-soldiers_files/banner.gif"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD><IMG src="article-ex-soldiers_files/mainheader.jpg"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <DIV align=center> <CENTER> <TABLE id=AutoNumber2 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#999999 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=1> <TBODY> <TR> <TD> <TABLE id=AutoNumber3 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=dates id=hDate dir=ltr style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px" width="80%" bgColor=#cccccc></TD> <TD dir=ltr width="20%" bgColor=#cccccc></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <TABLE id=AutoNumber4 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=768 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width=565> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD colSpan=2 height=5></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px" colSpan=2> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=indicationLink2 vAlign=top><A class=indicationLink href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/index.html">Homepage<IMG src="article-ex-soldiers_files/spacer.gif" width=2 border=0></A><IMG src="article-ex-soldiers_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0><IMG src="article-ex-soldiers_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0>/ <IMG src="article-ex-soldiers_files/spacer.gif" width=2 border=0><A class=indicationLink href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/topics/indexb735.html?cu_no=1&amp;template_id=279&amp;temp_type=42">Global Reaction<IMG src="article-ex-soldiers_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0></A>/ </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=6></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD><INPUT id=item_cu_no type=hidden value=1 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=item_no type=hidden value=764 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=version type=hidden value=1 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=date1 type=hidden value=25/03/2003 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=dateTime type=hidden value=" 6:58PM" xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=articalText type=hidden value="<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The experience of war left its brutal&amp;nbsp;stamp on Barry Remo. Now he wants to impress it on everybody else.</FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>“No war with Iraq. No blood for oil or ego,”&amp;nbsp;the answering machine&amp;nbsp;declares in his deep voice's pre-recorded message.</FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>A US soldier who fought and survived the Vietnam war, Remo is clearly not passing up any opportunity to drum up popular support against his country’s newest war. </FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>“We have gone to war against the government’s decision to wage another war,” he maintains.</FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>He&amp;nbsp;is not&amp;nbsp;alone. Thousands of other US war veterans have joined the protests in opposing the war as well. A silent sit-in today, a noisy demonstration tomorrow — American war veterans like Remo are battling the Bush administration’s decision to wage war against Iraq with as much vigor and zeal as they fought in the jungles of south east Asia.</FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Binding the war veterans together in their opposition to the new war&amp;nbsp;are their personal insights into the blood and gore that every war invariably spills.&amp;nbsp;Remo, for one had a ringside view in what later came to be known as the Killing Fields of Vietnam. That he survived the ten-and-a-half months of bloody carnage as an infantry commander was indeed a small mercy. The ground gave way under him when he had to shoulder home the lifeless body of his nephew — serving in&amp;nbsp;the same brigade. He had bled to death&amp;nbsp;from a shotgun wound in the neck.</FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>“The savagery is surely avoidable,” insists Remo. Even at the risk of being mistaken as unpatriotic, other veterans of the Second World War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the&amp;nbsp;1991 Gulf War feel just about the same. “There is no honour in murder. War is another name of murder.&quot;</FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Driven by their conviction, the US war veterans have&amp;nbsp;thrown themselves&amp;nbsp;headlong into the fight. Remo’s answering machine is working over time since he is mostly not at home. If he is not demonstrating somewhere, he is busy lecturing students in schools and colleges elsewhere about the evils of war. </FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Various associations of the veterans have also gone into top gear. Vietnam Veterans Against the War is petitioning senators and public officials against the morality of the war besides staging noisy demonstrations. Other organizations have issued public appeals to serving American troops to heed their conscience and say&amp;nbsp;no to the war.&amp;nbsp;By stringing their efforts together, the veterans have surely whipped up a phenomenal&amp;nbsp;noise against their former vocation.</FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Needless to say, the&amp;nbsp;calls have&amp;nbsp;touched a raw nerve&amp;nbsp;in a country&amp;nbsp;pumped up&amp;nbsp;with jingoism. Critics have maintained that shows of domestic disapproval could sap the morale of US troops in the theatre.</FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>“But why go to the war at all,?” Remo retorts. In between the sit-ins and the demonstrations, he takes some time off to explain the horrors of the latest war. “It would almost be like 9/11 everyday in Iraq. Bombs would be dropped, buildings would collapse and people would die…,” Remo finds it difficult to check his emotions.</FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The opposition to the war is being conducted across all fronts. At the medical level, Remo argues that the US is bursting at its seams with war veterans and the Department of Veterans' Affairs can barely cope. It already takes as long as six months for a veteran to secure an appointment with a departmental doctor and the latest war will only make the queues longer. Still haunted by the savage memories of the battles they fought,&amp;nbsp;many of the&amp;nbsp;veterans suffer serious forms of stress-related disorders. </FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Others have to bear the painful burden of guilt. Over one-third of the veterans of the&amp;nbsp;1991 Gulf War, says Remo,&amp;nbsp;are suffering from various ailments they picked up in that conflict. With another round of war, the number of sick is sure to soar.</FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Above all, it is the question of morality that has set the veterans on collision course&amp;nbsp;with their own government. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991 the US was part of an international coalition to liberate a sovereign state.&amp;nbsp;This time&amp;nbsp;it is acting in breach of international law. </FONT></P>&#13;&#10;<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><STRONG>Al Jazeera<BR></STRONG>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; <BR></P></FONT>" xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TABLE id=AutoNumber5 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD> <TABLE id=AutoNumber5 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD dir=ltr width="100%"><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/xml/topics/printarticle80e9.xml?cu_no=1&amp;item_no=764&amp;version=1&amp;template_id=279&amp;parent_id=258"><IMG hspace=5 src="article-ex-soldiers_files/print.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></A><IMG onmouseover="this.style.cursor = 'hand' ;" onclick=SendByEmail(); onmouseout="this.style.cursor = '' ;" hspace=5 src="article-ex-soldiers_files/email.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=5></TD></TR> <TR> <TD class=articalTitle>Ex-soldiers place themselves in anti-war frontline</TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=15></TD></TR> <TR> <TD id=artical vAlign=top></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=12></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width="100%" background=article-ex-soldiers_files/h-dotedline-bg.gif><IMG height=1 src="article-ex-soldiers_files/spacer.gif" width=1></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD dir=ltr width="100%"><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/xml/topics/printarticle80e9.xml?cu_no=1&amp;item_no=764&amp;version=1&amp;template_id=279&amp;parent_id=258"><IMG hspace=5 src="article-ex-soldiers_files/print.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></A><IMG onmouseover="this.style.cursor = 'hand' ;" onclick=SendByEmail(); onmouseout="this.style.cursor = '' ;" hspace=5 src="article-ex-soldiers_files/email.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> if(document.all.artical) document.all.artical.innerHTML = document.all.articalText.value ; </SCRIPT> </TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD> <TD dir=ltr width=1 bgColor=#cccccc><IMG height=1 src="article-ex-soldiers_files/spacer.gif" width=1 border=0></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=202> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/index.html"><IMG src="article-ex-soldiers_files/homepage.gif" border=0></A></TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=8></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD></TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV><!-- Mirrored from english.aljazeera.net/topics/article.asp?cu_no=1&item_no=764&version=1&template_id=279&parent_id=258 by HTTrack Website Copier/3.x [XR&CO'2003], Tue, 25 Mar 2003 19:13:09 GMT --> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2> if( document.all.date1 ) { docDate = document.all.date1.value ; } </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="article-ex-soldiers_files/HomeMenu.js"></SCRIPT> </BODY></HTML>