Letter from a Vietnam Vet

Letter follows intro:

Dear family and friends,

It's showdown time. Will be keep our democracy or go over the precipice into tyranny? Democracy is not a spectator sport. I urge you to act.
Here is a letter that I just sent to my senators and congressman via Congress. They have a "for a fee" service whereby they print-out then hand deliver your letter to the congressman's office. It cost me $15 to have three letters delivered. Because of the (probably CIA initiated) anthrax scare, mail is TOOOO slow getting to congress. This method has the most impact. I encourage you to do likewise.

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It is abundantly clear that President Bush is preparing to attack Iran and he is not going to ask congress for permission. This administration has repeatedly stretched (and often broken) the authority of the presidency through various ruses and, if congress allows him to continue with his attack on Iran, we can pretty well kiss our democracy good‐bye. For the past six years congress has been complicit in the building of the new American tyranny. The people elected the new, democratically oriented congress precisely because we did not want any further erosion or our freedoms and liberties a la the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act, and to disengage our nation from our misbegotten military involvement in the Middle East.

When World War III starts, as it surely will if we attack Iran, President Bush will have no choice but to order a national emergency, the suspension of habeus corpus, the renewal of the military draft and the forced labor (enslavement) of the masses to support this god awful policy of global hegemony.

When will congress find the backbone to stand up to this madman and tell him "ENOUGH"?!!!

Democracy and the great social/political experiment known as AMERICA hang in the balance. What will be your response? As he has done many times already, President Bush will claim extraordinary powers that congress and the constitution never intended him to have. That is why it is incumbent upon the 110th congress to pass legislation making it clear that the military is not to follow any administration orders for war that congress has not authorized and that if the President gives any orders for attacking Iran without first asking Congress for a declaration of war, that will be considered an impeachable offense.

I spent two years in the army in Viet Nam and I sure as hell didn't give my service only to see my country become a police state.

I, like you and the president, took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I still hold this duty dear; that is why I write to you today. The Bush administration has assaulted our Constitution and it's time to put a stop to this madness.

Ken Ashe
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Ken, as myself and some 6000 Veterans, is a member of Veterans For Peace



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