Soldiers with Picket Signs

Soldiers with Picket Signs
More than five years after war began in Iraq, veterans speak out against the occupation.
By Amber Healy
September 13, 2007


(This is the first in series of articles about local sentiment to the war in Iraq.)

Being a good soldier means following the orders given by higher ranking officers, out of a sense of duty and loyalty to protect his country.

But what happens when a soldier feels his commanding officers, even the Commander in Chief, has betrayed and abandoned the Constitution?

Tony Teolis of Fairfax wrestled with that question for years before joining Veterans for Peace, one of many organizations that help veterans find the courage and the voice to speak out against the current occupation of Iraq.

"As veterans, we believe in the Constitution as the law of the land, and we took an oath to preserve, protect and defend it," Teolis said. It is the same oath congressmen, senators and the president also take when they step into office, and Teolis and other like-minded veterans believe those elected officials have abandoned the Constitution by going into Iraq under false pretenses.

"A declaration of war without a direct order from Congress, combined with the abuse of human rights, the abuse and threat of invasion to other nations are all signs that Congress and the president are not fulfilling their duties," Teolis said.

A VETERAN of the first Gulf War in the early 1990s, Teolis spent several years in Japan following his combat duty. With a long family history of military service, he was proud to serve his country and for the work he had done in helping to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi control.

"The Army let me travel and gave me training because they thought I had a skill with languages," he said.

That sense of pride changed for him shortly after Sept. 11, 2001.

"When I heard Bush essentially say you're either with us or you're against us, that didn't sit well with me," Teolis said. "The world is too complex to speak in absolutisms."

more...

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=87184&paper=63&cat=104

with soldiers from in New Jersey..