CHAPTER FORTY ONE. SOLDIERS FOR PEACE: A CALL FOR RECRUITERS

Written by: Rick Staggenborg, MD on Oct 17, 2009 7:25 AM PDT

This essay is dedicated to General George Washington, who led patriot forces in the battles of the American Revolution and who in his farewell address to the troops wished that “America become the most liberal nation in the world.” It is also dedicated to General Eisenhower, who led the first fight against world-wide fascism and who warned us in his farewell Presidential address of the rise of the Machine.

To all military veterans and active duty service members of every country:

You are asked to serve your nations and the world once more n the greatest battle of the life of the American Republic. This is the war to complete the American Revolution. Only by restoring democracy in America can we win this war to truly end all wars. I ask you to join the Soldiers For Peace International in this monumental and historic task. The lives of your families, the existence of your nations, and the very future of humanity hinge on you rising to this call.

Soldiers For Peace International is dedicated to achieving worldwide peace in our lifetimes. Although formal membership is restricted to men and women such as yourselves, who have pledged their lives and sacred honor to the cause of freedom and justice, in truth all who fight for these aims through nonviolent means are members of the Army of Soldiers For Peace. Ours is a volunteer Army that takes orders from no one. As its founder, I only ask that you do what you can to further this effort, and to that end I make some specific suggestions to carry out what I call the Battle Plan to Take Back America for the People.

Aside from the war profiteers in the oil industry and their co-conspirators, we all want to see the end of war. While many of us simply hope and pray, our brothers and sisters, children and spouses and our parents continue to die for the fatuous promise of freedom and security. There are two basic freedoms; freedom from fear and want, and freedom to act as our conscience dictates. These are not mutually exclusive, despite the lies our leaders and even our parents have taught us. We can choose to fight no more forever and follow the dictates of our conscience. We must resist killing in the name of security and freedom, and encourage others to do the same. Only living by this simple truth can we be set free from the prison of our own creation.

The most difficult part of the task before us is to change the collective consciousness in such a way that war becomes inconceivable. We must educate a willfully ignorant public that peace is indeed possible, if we can learn to accept that the crimes that have been committed against humanity are a fait accompli and move forward toward a peaceful future together. There will be more murders of our young service members and more innocent civilians may die, but our goal is such as to make the struggle worth waging. We cannot succeed if we focus on revenge. We must contain our anger at injustice and resolutely maintain our nonviolent stance if we are to have any hope of success.

Achieving democracy in America and Israel is the key to attaining worldwide, eternal peace. When the American and Israeli governments function as the true guardians of liberty and security that they claim to be, they cannot help but work for the cause of peace that they and all nations claim to want. Accordingly, I ask that we all join groups such as Peace Now and Combatants for Peace in their struggles to pressure the Israeli government, Hamas, Hezbollah and other principles who are promoting permanent Jihad through their constant saber-rattling.

There are many groups in America fighting to pressure our government to urge negotiations for peace with preconditions such as the destruction of illegal settlements and the return of Israel to its 1967 borders, although both parties have the right to negotiate compromises on these terms. This could include a fair exchange of arable land for land seized by Israel that may threaten the peace process if demanded to be returned. We join Peace Now in demanding on an immediate cessation of the further construction of settlements on illegally seized lands.

An Israeli of my acquaintance argues persuasively that the right of return should be restricted to these lands exchanged by Israel for peace. When Israel dismantles its apartheid system and Palestine is a democracy, there will be no need for the Wall, and Semitic peoples shall again be as one, with freedom of movement across the borders. Let us pray together to the one God that this happens soon. Then let us get off our bended knees, un-prostrate ourselves and get to work. Peace will not happen but through our own efforts.

I have further asked that American Soldiers For Peace work to educate themselves, their families, friends and neighbors about the importance of demanding that we have single payer health care in America. The highly publicized display of the process of bailing out the medical insurance industry has highlighted the essentially fascist nature of the US Congress. It is critical that we make the sleeping and complacent in America understand that we cannot idly sit by and watch this continued subversion of the democracy promised in our Constitution, which Jefferson eloquently argued is the God-given and therefore inalienable right of all men and women. When enough Americans make clear to the Senate that we know who is causing our wars and other miseries, they will be forced to act responsibly, if only out of fear of the loss of their privileged positions.

In the words of Ozzy Osbourne:




Generals gathered in their masses,
just like witches at black masses.
Evil minds that plot destruction,
sorcerers of deaths construction.


In the fields the bodies burning,
as the war machine keeps turning.
Death and hatred to mankind,
poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!


Politicians hide themselves away,
they only started the war.
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor.


Time will tell on their power minds,
making war just for fun.
Treating people just like pawns in chess,
wait till their judgment day comes, yeah!


Now in darkness, world stops turning
as the war machine keeps burning.
No more war pigs of the power.
Hand of God has struck the hour.


Day of judgment, God is calling.
On their knees, the war pigs crawling,
begging mercy for their sins.
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
All right now!


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Shalom and Salaam,


Rick Staggenborg, MD


Founder, Soldiers For Peace International


From the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA