UK: Veterans to throw down medals, urge disobedience in Downing Street Syria protest

December 7, 2015 By administrator

Special Forces veteran Ben Griffin has called on military personnel and munitions workers to disobey and block the bombing of Syria ahead of a Downing Street protest in which ex-services personnel will throw down their medals in disgust at the war.

“If you work in a bomb factory, walk out. If you fill up bombers with fuel, stop it. If you fly missions over Syria, don’t release your bombs,” Griffin, who served with the Parachute Regiment and SAS in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland, told RT on Monday.

“Our attack on Syria will make things worse. You only need to look at the outcome of our attacks on Iraq and Libya to see that.”

“We have no confidence in the government of this country to do the right thing, so we call on the public to resist participation in the ongoing slaughter,” he added.

Griffin made his comments ahead of a planned protest by other decorated British military veterans of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and Libya.

https://youtu.be/tDYtnH_IuMs

According to a blog by ex-services group Veterans for Peace UK (VFPUK), four military veterans of recent wars will cast off their medals outside Downing Street on Tuesday in protest at MPs’ decision to bomb Syria.

The action is set to take place at 1:00pm GMT on Tuesday and aims to oppose what the group terms “yet another attack on a Middle Eastern country.”

MPs voted on Wednesday to extend UK airstrikes from Iraq into Syria, despite widespread public opposition to the move.

Writing on the VFPUK website, Daniel Lenham, a Royal Air Force (RAF) veteran of Iraq and Libya, said he was casting off his decorations “in protest at the decision to bomb Syria.”

“We will hand back medals given to us for participating in previous attacks on the Middle East,” he said.

David Smith, who served with the Royal Green jackets infantry regiment, said: “I want to express my utter disgust at the decision to unlawfully bomb Syria, god help all those who are likely to suffer as a result of this action.

“I renounce all forms of state sanctioned warfare and violence.”

VFPUK claims to have 265 members, some of whom served as along ago as D-Day. The group hopes “to convince people that war is not the answer to the problems of the 21st century,” according to its website.

The borders of Armenia are well defended by the veterans of the war in Nagorno Karabakh

July 22, 2015 By administrator

“Our children surprised us. These are young people who can face the enemy who are disciplined and professional education in the military, “said at a press conference in Yerevan, Vova Vartanian the founder of the first group specialized in the Armenian fighters commandos. V. Vartanian also said the enthusiasm of youth to integrate the Armenian Army. “Our soldiers know perfectly handle weapons’ stated his side Youra Mikaelian, president of Veterans Affairs with the Nagorno Karabakh and add “at any time, the whole Armenian nation is ready to take up arms.” Youra Mikaelian however, told that the borders of Armenia were well defended. Y. Mikaélien the war continues with the shooting of Azerbaijan and Armenia answers. “Let our people be reassured, borders are well defended,” he said.

Krikor Amirzayan

The VVA (Vietnam Veterans of America) Magazine “Commemorating the Armenian Genocide”

May 27, 2015 By administrator

by Michael Manoog Kaprielian

Times Square Photo Caption: V.V.A. 273 flag bearers Roger DiPierro & Karl Antonevich Begin forwarded message:

Times Square photo Berge Ara Zobian Caption: V.V.A. 273 flag bearers Roger DiPierro & Karl Antonevich Begin forwarded message:

The Rhode Island State Council and its three chapters—James Michael Ray Memorial Chapter 818, Washington County Chapter 325, and Providence Chapter 273—joined hundreds of others from Rhode Island traveling to New York City to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.

Twelve buses left Providence in the early morning of Sunday, April 26. One hundred years earlier one and a half million Armenians were slaughtered by the crumbling government of the Ottoman Empire. The Times Square demonstration also paid tribute to those who perished in subsequent genocides.

National Chaplain Fr. Phil Salois, State Council President John Weiss, and other Rhode Island VVA members joined six hundred demonstrators from the state representing many ethnicities. Armenian Americans were joined by Jews, Guatemalans, Cambodians, Native Americans, African Americans, Greeks, Kurds, and refugees from the Ivory Coast.

We don’t go silently into the night. VVA in Rhode Island sees its role as a leader. Twenty-five years ago VVA rallied three hundred Rhode Islanders to the State Capitol for a candlelight commemoration emceed by Chapter 325 member Tom Suprock, who was shot down nine times in Vietnam. That event paid homage to the victims of the Armenian Genocide and called for the universal recognition of human rights.

Now, a quarter century later, VVA members carrying VVA and Rhode Island flags joined many thousands at Times Square, including many other veterans of the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. They committed themselves to helping those who had escaped persecution for “Hope”—Rhode Island’s one-word motto and guiding principle.

One 19-year-old refugee from the Ivory Coast was put on VVA’s bus by her mother, who witnessed the killing of her elder daughter in Sierra Leone. The surviving daughter dreams of becoming a lawyer for human rights. Rhode Island VVA members are focused on doing what they can to advance that dream.

M. Manoog Kaprielian is a founding member of Chapter 273 and the former Rhode Island State Council president. He is very active in VVA and Armenian affairs. He can be reached at: aniprov@earthlink.net