held, which was attended by progressives and conservatives alike some 70,000 people, which is a
huge number in a population of
1,300,000. The U.S. and Japanese
governments realized they had to do
something. What they came up with
was to promise to close the U.S.
Marine Corps Air Station at
Futenma, right in the middle of
densely populated Ginowan City.
People rejoiced - for a day. On
the following day they learned that
the air facility was not to be taken
out of the Prefecture, but relocated
in the village of Henoko, in Nago
City, up north. Joy was replaced by
outrage.
Almost twenty years have
elapsed since then, and so far the
anti-base protest has prevented
the new base from being built.
The Tokyo Government, finding
that it can no longer prevail
in Okinawa with its usual methods
- money, back room deals, false
promises, divide and rule - has
launched an all-out frontal attack
on Okinawa and all it stands for
and believes in. It seems they are
aiming to break the spirit of this
brave and independent-minded
people once and for all. I believe
United Kingdom - Ben Griffin
Members of VFP-UK march to The Cenotaph.
What issues are important to your
work in the U.K.?
The United Kingdom is one of the
most aggressive countries that has
ever existed. There are only 22
countries in the world that we have
not invaded at some point. So in
order to serve the cause of world
peace it is vital that there are
Veterans For Peace challenging
the war making and militarism of
the United Kingdom.
Those of us brought up in the UK
were taught to believe that Britain is
a noble defender of freedom and
rights. That we defend the helpless
from evil aggressors. That our
Armed Forces are somehow less
brutal and play ―by the rules‖. That
our Armed Forces are small but
they are the ―best‖ in the world and
as a result Britain doesn‘t lose wars.
All of this is of course nonsense, but
these ideas are commonly held
within the UK and make it a lot easier for our politicians and Generals
to lead us into war. The challenge facing VFP UK is to dispel this nonsense.
How did you find out about VFP?
What attracted you to us?
In July 2011 I was giving a talk
in Housmans Books, London
about military recruitment. At the
end of the meeting Barry Ladendorf approached me and introduced himself as President of VFP
San Diego. I told him that we were
looking to form an antiwar veterans group in the UK. Barry suggested checking out VFP and said
that he would send over some
VFP information and resources
from the USA.
That night I got home and
checked out the VFP website; the
Statement of Purpose was a document that could be followed by the
veterans of any nation. After meeting Barry we set about forming a
VFP in the UK. We had a great
amount of support from VFP members in the USA especially Barry
Ladendorf, Gene Marx and Gerry
Condon. I think that for VFP to
spread further around the world current members must be ready and
able to offer support to veterans in
other countries.
What are your main actions and
strategies?
We have been running school
workshops for a while now. We go
into schools and universities and
present an honest view of why people join the military, what happens in
training and what war is actually
like. The students are always receptive to our message and I
think we have woken up a few
teachers to the ongoing strategy
of the military to capture the imagination of our society.
In the last year we have carried
out two medal protests at Downing
Street, London (home of the Prime
Minister). The first action was carried out to challenge militarism by
discarding some of its most potent
symbols. The second action was
in direct response to the UK decision to attack Syria. It was
widely reported by the main
stream media and was viewed
online by millions of people.
This year we have been carrying
out a re-structure of VFP UK. We
are focusing on supporting and encouraging members to form local
groups and to get active in their own
towns and cities. This has been successful with new groups forming
and becoming active around the
country. We are also moving to a
much more horizontal structure with
no central executive and intend to
further our practice of the consensus model of decision making.
We hold our Annual Conference in
November on the weekend of Remembrance Sunday. This year we
were joined by VFP members from
the USA and it was something special to walk with them to The Cenotaph under our banner ―Never
Again‖ with our wreath of white poppies. This November we hope to
have veterans from Ireland, Australia, Germany and Holland with us. It
VFP Newsletter Spring 2016 7