Dear Editor,
Instead of offering an opportunity to mourn those whose lives have been taken by war, Memorial Day all too often brings with it sales at the malls, barbecues ... and the predictable platitudes from members of Congress – only 17% of whom ever have been in the military – asking us to thank our troops for sacrificing their lives to "protect our freedoms.”As a veteran myself, I would remind them that every single war waged by the U.S. since World War II and every single onebefore that has been about protecting the interests of the war profiteers, not about protecting our freedoms. Our freedoms are protected by our Constitution, and they would be just fine if elected politicians stopped trying to take them away from us by passing laws that criminalize dissent and make it harder to vote. I will also add, that the massive funding of the military-industrial complex drains a huge portion of our tax dollars that could go instead to much more needed human and social services.
This Memorial Day, let us grieve for the millions of lives needlessly taken by the foolish notion that our bombs will keep us safe and free. They do nothing except cause massive suffering and make the war profiteers obscenely rich. Our safety and our freedoms depend, instead, on all citizens putting public pressure on those politicians whose militaristic policies make us less free and safe.
Tarak Kauff
NYC Veterans For Peace