Some U.S. veterans continue to denounce American military intervention in Iran as the war now enters its second week.
Protests were held this weekend across the nation, including in Concord, where attendees said Congress needs to stop the Trump administration before more service members or innocent civilians are killed.
Jesse Gillis, an Air National Guard veteran and New Hampshire chapter coordinator of the group Veterans For Peace, said the president has failed to justify his actions.
"It’s not worth the money. It’s not worth the loss of service members, nor to the people there," Gillis contended. "This isn’t going to help them by any means."
President Donald Trump pledged to keep U.S. casualties “to a minimum" before overseeing the dignified transfer of six service members killed by a drone strike in Kuwait. Gov. Kelly Ayotte has announced the deployment of the New Hampshire Air National Guard as part of Operation Epic Fury.
The U.S. Senate failed to pass a bipartisan resolution last week to stop American military action in Iran without congressional approval. Democrats said the war is costing up to $1 billion a day, and U.S. taxpayers are paying the price in cuts to education, health care and veterans’ services. Studies show American soldiers are now more likely to die from suicide than any other cause.
Gillis noted what happens in war always comes home.
"The point of supporting the troops is not to give them the equipment that they need, it’s to get them out of wars they’re not supposed to be in – to not send them in the first place," Gillis emphasized. "For those who disagree, they’re going to be sent because the American public isn’t outspoken enough."
Some veterans organizations have set up hotlines for service members concerned about the legality of the war and the growing number of civilian deaths, including the dozens of children killed in a Feb. 28 strike on an elementary school in southern Iran.
Gillis added it is hard to believe the U.S. has started what he called another “illegal” war when troops just returned home from Afghanistan and Iraq.
Source: Public News Service
