Veterans for Peace
1,000 signatures reached
To: President Obama
President Obama: Act Now to Avoid War over Ukraine
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Petition Text
President Obama, now is the time for you to take definite steps toward Peace. Veterans For Peace and our many supporters urgently petition you to:
1. Exercise your considerable influence to immediately halt all military activities within Ukraine and in the region, whether by the U.S. military, NATO, the Ukrainian Army and police, or right-wing extremist militias. There should be an immediate and total ceasefire. Then, those who reject the February 22 putsch in Kiev can find some hope that the interim government will be restrained from bringing on full-scale civil war.
2. Publicly disavow any wish to incorporate Ukraine into NATO. Then you, Putin, and Ukrainian leaders can work toward a Ukraine with considerable regional autonomy domestically, and neutrality in foreign policy.
3. Schedule a meeting, one-on-one, with President Putin as quickly as possible, to discuss ways to defuse the crisis and to respect the legitimate interests of the various parties.
4. End U.S. support for the Ukrainian government as long as it includes fascist elements. Instead of sending billions of taxpayer dollars to Ukraine, the United States should be funding adequate healthcare for GI's and veterans who are suffering the wounds of multiple U.S. wars and occupations, as well as other human needs like housing, education, and our crumbling infrastructure.
Mr. President, the people of the world are tired of war. Follow the Path of Peace.
1. Exercise your considerable influence to immediately halt all military activities within Ukraine and in the region, whether by the U.S. military, NATO, the Ukrainian Army and police, or right-wing extremist militias. There should be an immediate and total ceasefire. Then, those who reject the February 22 putsch in Kiev can find some hope that the interim government will be restrained from bringing on full-scale civil war.
2. Publicly disavow any wish to incorporate Ukraine into NATO. Then you, Putin, and Ukrainian leaders can work toward a Ukraine with considerable regional autonomy domestically, and neutrality in foreign policy.
3. Schedule a meeting, one-on-one, with President Putin as quickly as possible, to discuss ways to defuse the crisis and to respect the legitimate interests of the various parties.
4. End U.S. support for the Ukrainian government as long as it includes fascist elements. Instead of sending billions of taxpayer dollars to Ukraine, the United States should be funding adequate healthcare for GI's and veterans who are suffering the wounds of multiple U.S. wars and occupations, as well as other human needs like housing, education, and our crumbling infrastructure.
Mr. President, the people of the world are tired of war. Follow the Path of Peace.
Why is this important?
In 2014, on the one century anniversary of World War I, European nations are again mobilizing for war. The “War to All End Wars” began on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918, killing more than 9 million combatants. A 2014 war, involving the major European powers and the U.S., could kill many millions more.
The Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors loaded with a 1000 tons or more of radioactive fuels. The largest nuclear reactor in Europe is on the Dnieper River, a little north of Crimea. Plus, there are the 4 Chernobyl reactors, still leaking radiation, still needing constant attention. The world cannot afford war in a region with nuclear reactors.
Veterans For Peace, a U.S.-based organization of ex-military members and associates, has been following the crisis in Ukraine very closely. We who have experienced the horror and futility of war feel compelled to act urgently to head off the very real threat of war between nuclear-armed nations.
We are appalled at the misinformation coming from the U.S. government officials and the mass media alike. The American people are not being told the truth: that the U.S. and western European nations bear much responsibility for this crisis by aggressively expanding NATO, even to the borders of Russia; that neo-Nazi militias played key roles in the violent overthrow of the Ukrainian government, that those same right-wing extremists now hold key positions in the interim Ukrainian government, which is being advised by CIA and FBI agents as it attacks Russian-speaking activists in eastern Ukraine, now conveniently labeled “terrorists.”
It is critically important that we understand and take into account the legitimate concerns of different national groups and regions within Ukraine, and that we encourage diplomacy and a nonviolent outcome to this dangerous crisis. Washington and its European allies ought to reverse course and turn Ukraine into a field of cooperation rather than confrontation with Russia.
Good relations with both Russia and the European Union are in the best interests of all the Ukrainian people. A just and peaceful resolution that averts the threat of war is in the interests of all the world's people.
Veterans For Peace wishes to thank Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) for providing us with some of the analysis and wording for this petition.
The Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors loaded with a 1000 tons or more of radioactive fuels. The largest nuclear reactor in Europe is on the Dnieper River, a little north of Crimea. Plus, there are the 4 Chernobyl reactors, still leaking radiation, still needing constant attention. The world cannot afford war in a region with nuclear reactors.
Veterans For Peace, a U.S.-based organization of ex-military members and associates, has been following the crisis in Ukraine very closely. We who have experienced the horror and futility of war feel compelled to act urgently to head off the very real threat of war between nuclear-armed nations.
We are appalled at the misinformation coming from the U.S. government officials and the mass media alike. The American people are not being told the truth: that the U.S. and western European nations bear much responsibility for this crisis by aggressively expanding NATO, even to the borders of Russia; that neo-Nazi militias played key roles in the violent overthrow of the Ukrainian government, that those same right-wing extremists now hold key positions in the interim Ukrainian government, which is being advised by CIA and FBI agents as it attacks Russian-speaking activists in eastern Ukraine, now conveniently labeled “terrorists.”
It is critically important that we understand and take into account the legitimate concerns of different national groups and regions within Ukraine, and that we encourage diplomacy and a nonviolent outcome to this dangerous crisis. Washington and its European allies ought to reverse course and turn Ukraine into a field of cooperation rather than confrontation with Russia.
Good relations with both Russia and the European Union are in the best interests of all the Ukrainian people. A just and peaceful resolution that averts the threat of war is in the interests of all the world's people.
Veterans For Peace wishes to thank Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) for providing us with some of the analysis and wording for this petition.