By Amanda Goode
I write today to the young people of my community who are considering joining a branch of the U.S. military or are being recruited.
You have an obligation to yourselves to obtain as much information as possible about what you will be asked to do in the name of your country. It is easy to think of these wars as necessary until the moment you see the suffering with your own eyes.
Consider recent evidence of brutal civilian deaths at the hands of U.S. soldiers.
Once you choose to take part in these wars, you will not be able to change the impact it has on your life.
For example, do you know U.S. war veterans are more likely to commit suicide than ordinary civilians? Or that vets are more likely to be homeless?
Do yourselves an important favor and seek this information before you make a decision with such life-altering consequences.
Organizations like Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW.org) and the “We Are Not Your Soldiers” campaign from World Can’t Wait can give you information on the real-world consequences of the so-called “war on terror.”