Wars and Militarism

We recognize that this is a long-term process due to the pervasive culture of violence in our country.
Modern war cannot continue because it is increasingly genocidal, ethnocidal, and ecocidal.
If possible, we would like to have these demands posted on the website in an appropriate place to further the dialogue our country needs to have.

We submit the following demands:

We must acknowledge the truth of the US's violent history
We must acknowledge that we have LOST the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as we did in Vietnam, and immediately withdraw.

We must pass the Peace Tax Amendment so the consciences of our people can be respected.

We insist that the US honor ALL of its treaty obligations and join the International Criminal Court.

We should change the name of the Department of Defense BACK to the Department of War and establish and fund a Department of Peace.

We must begin to turn our youth AWAY from violence and militarism:
       - End JROTC
       - End military recruitment in schools
       - Teach conflict resolution in schools
       - Do effective counter-recruitment, especially encouraging veterans to share their REAL military experiences with our young people.

We must improve the lives of our soldiers and veterans and their families.
       - We need to institute changes to democratize our military, like many other countries have done
       - We must require our armed forces to honor the terms of their recruitment agreements
       - We must require our armed forces to provide QUALITY post-service care to vets and their families who need it.

Finally, as a society, we need to HONESTLY assess the impact of our militarism on our veterans, our civil society, and our world.