West Point Graduates Against the War

West Point Graduates Against the War

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 21, 2006 10:21 AM

CONTACT: West Point Graduates Against the War 914-772-2310

West Point Graduates Against the War Launches Campaign Against the Deceit of the US Government

NEW YORK - April 21 - Three alumni of the United States Military Academy at West Point have launched a grassroots movement to convert the disgrace of governmental lies and evasions about the assault on Iraq into a force to redeem the honor of their country. At issue –which directly assaults the West Point honor code which forges the character of all graduates – are the falsehoods by administration officials, culminating in Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation to the United Nations on February 5, 2003, which catapulted the United States into a preventive war. “This fraudulent war has done such enormous damage to the reputation and prestige of the United States and its military forces,” said co-founder James Ryan. “Unless remedied, this will prove catastrophic to our country’s interests over the longer term.” “The West Point honor code, which mandates cadets will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do, defines honor and duty,” said Joseph Wojcik, co-founder of West Point Graduates Against the War. “And this provides us with a lifelong sense of duty, a shared responsibility for graduates to do the right thing, even if that means admonishing our country’s leadership.” West Point Graduates Against The War calls on all graduates of the military academy to speak out against the destruction of the honor of the United States and the dissipation of its military caused by the deceitful policies of the present administration. Instilled by the Cadet Honor System with a fundamental, longstanding respect for truth, the founding alumni and member graduates of the United States Military Academy believe honor is a basic attribute of character and abides lifelong. To that end, they are uniting to speak out about the deceitful behavior of the government of the United States and its widely known malefactors. At issue is the lying, cheating, stealing, delivering evasive statements and quibbling, which is placing vast numbers of innocent people in deadly peril and adversely affecting the country’s integrity domestically and internationally. The war in Iraq was launched illegally. It has since killed tens of thousands of innocents, causing incalculable damage to Iraq and the Iraqi people, as well as the reputation of the United States of America. The grassroots organization seeks justice for all victims of this illegal war, both servicemen and servicewomen, and the citizens of Iraq. When West Point graduates took their commissioning oath of office, they swore to protect the nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The deceitful connivances of the current administration have resulted in a war catastrophic to our nation’s interests: politically, economically, militarily, and morally. The time has come for West Point graduates to speak out about these deplorable conditions. “We are a positive organization, pro-military and pro-USA,” notes William Cross, a co-founder of West Point Graduates Against the War. “We have been inspired by the words and actions of great leaders, including the 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who said ‘never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion’ – and those honorable words inspire action.” The three founding members, James Ryan, William Cross, and Joseph Wojcik graduated from West Point in 1962, and have been close friends since 1958, their first year as cadets. To help support its grassroots case, the organization cites the statements of earlier graduates of West Point: “Wars can be prevented just as surely as they can be provoked, and we who fail to prevent them, must share the guilt for the dead,” Omar N. Bradley, Class of 1915, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York And regarding the current obsession with the protection of Homeland USA in conjunction with the suspension of Constitutional protections: “The powers in charge kept us in a perpetual state of fear – kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor – with the cry of grave national emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant sums demanded. Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seem never to have been quite real,” Douglas MacArthur, Class of 1903, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York Membership is open to all alumni of the United States Military Academy, and widows, widowers, parents, and children of deceased graduates. Membership has been growing steadily since the website was launched earlier this month, and includes retired and active duty graduates.