World Peace Day 2006Statement by Bob Boyce
Father of a U.S. Marine temporarily back from serving in Iraq
I
am here to express my opposition to the illegal invasion of Iraq and to
oppose any attack on Iran. We see the same terrifying progression of
events with Iran that we saw with Iraq--a wildly exaggerated picture of
Iran as a threat to peace, sanctions, demands and deadlines. The next
step, already planned, is the invasion of a country which has not
threatened the United States and does not have and will not soon have
the nuclear weapons capability the administration claims justifies an
invasion.
The tragic result of our invasion of Iraq and its
bungled aftermath is seen in the newspapers every day--more and more
U.S. and Iraqi lives torn apart by violence. The war has cost over $315
billion dollars, resulting in over 2,600 U.S. soldiers dead and 20 to
40,000 U.S. wounded, over 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead.
We are
involved in a "War on Terrorism" which has no end, and we have given
fuel to the fires which breed terrorists by our violence and
unwillingness to see reality.
Worse than this, terrible as it
all is, the administration has lost its moral compass. We invaded a
country which did not threaten us! We have 14,000 "detainees" in
Guantanamo and other prisons--prisoners who, the administration claims,
may be held for years without being charged. Although we claim not to
torture, the evidence of Abu Ghraib and other prisons is clear. We do
torture, and the administration claims the right to do so--by
redefining "torture." Right now Bush is trying to have laws passed to
legitimize military tribunals denying the accused the right to know
what evidence is being presented against him.
I never thought
to see the day when the United States would invade a country without
just cause, when torture would be justified as necessary and proper,
when the United States would ignore the Geneva Conventions.
I
have to take a stand against all this. I want my country back-- the
United States which did not invade other countries, the United States
where people were innocent until tried and found guilty, the United
States ruled by law, the United States standing tall as the moral
leader of the world.