DECORATED VIETNAM VET PETITIONS PM TO REFUSE CONDOLEEZZA
Kamloops March 17, 2005—A decorated Vietnam veteran now living in Kamloops says he is coming to Saturday’s Vancouver Global Day of Action rally with a petition asking Prime Minister Paul Martin to withdraw Canada’s welcome to U.S. Secretary of State. Condoleezza Rice, until the U.S. is in compliance with international law in Iraq.
Rice is tentatively planning to visit Canada in April, and John McNamer of Kamloops, 57, who was awarded a Bronze Star medal by the U.S. Army’s Fourth Infantry Division in Vietnam, says he believes that it is clear that “crimes against humanity” are now taking place in Iraq after an invasion that was “illegal under international law to begin with.”
He said it is morally unacceptable to welcome a U.S. leader who has personal responsibility for the decision to invade Iraq, a move he says clearly violated the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations charter. “Not only is it objectionable, but it is also probably illegal under Canadian law, according to Canadian legal experts with Lawyers Against the War (LAW),” he said. “I know from their website that LAW advised the prime minister of this legal liability when President Bush visited recently, and I hope they are still working on this avenue.”
McNamer launched his petition at a rally in Kamloops last Sunday and says he has sent it to organizers of at least 39 war protest rallies to be held across Canada this weekend. “I fully expect to have enough signatures virtually overnight to get the prime minister’s attention,” he said, “and I am actively looking at some different possibilities for delivering the petition in a way he can’t ignore.”
He said the StopWar.ca coordinating committee in Vancouver has warmly welcomed him to the demonstration and has indicated it will announce the petition from the stage and encourage people to endorse it. In addition, McNamer said, organizers for the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War have said they will attempt to circulate his petition at the huge rally planned for Toronto on Saturday.
The petition is headlined "NO CONDOLEEZZA IN CANADA." It reads: “Petition to Prime Minister Paul Martin: We Canadian citizens respectfully request that you decline to welcome U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice into Canada until the United States is in compliance with international law regarding the illegal military invasion of Iraq and related violations of international law. We further request that you do not welcome President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for future visits into Canada under the same terms.”
McNamer says the U.S. is mostly responsible for the deaths of an estimated 100,000 civilians in Iraq, but that the petition is not anti-American and that he in fact feels pity for the troops currently in Iraq. “I’ve been there, done that, in Vietnam,” he said. “I often wonder what George W. Bush was doing while I was risking my life in Vietnam . . . All of us but George Bush still seem to be learning something about the horrible realities of war.”
McNamer emigrated to Canada from Montana in 1987 to purchase a cattle ranch north of Cache Creek. He is now a Canadian citizen.
For more information, contact:
John McNamer TEL/FAX 250 374-1058 jhnmcnamer@yahoo.ca ;
StopWar.ca coordinating committee, Vancouver: Derrick O’Keefe
Toronto Coalition to Stop the War: Dylan Penner peace@nowar.ca
Lawyers Against the War: Gail Davidson law@portal.ca
Kamloops March 17, 2005—A decorated Vietnam veteran now living in Kamloops says he is coming to Saturday’s Vancouver Global Day of Action rally with a petition asking Prime Minister Paul Martin to withdraw Canada’s welcome to U.S. Secretary of State. Condoleezza Rice, until the U.S. is in compliance with international law in Iraq.
Rice is tentatively planning to visit Canada in April, and John McNamer of Kamloops, 57, who was awarded a Bronze Star medal by the U.S. Army’s Fourth Infantry Division in Vietnam, says he believes that it is clear that “crimes against humanity” are now taking place in Iraq after an invasion that was “illegal under international law to begin with.”
He said it is morally unacceptable to welcome a U.S. leader who has personal responsibility for the decision to invade Iraq, a move he says clearly violated the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations charter. “Not only is it objectionable, but it is also probably illegal under Canadian law, according to Canadian legal experts with Lawyers Against the War (LAW),” he said. “I know from their website that LAW advised the prime minister of this legal liability when President Bush visited recently, and I hope they are still working on this avenue.”
McNamer launched his petition at a rally in Kamloops last Sunday and says he has sent it to organizers of at least 39 war protest rallies to be held across Canada this weekend. “I fully expect to have enough signatures virtually overnight to get the prime minister’s attention,” he said, “and I am actively looking at some different possibilities for delivering the petition in a way he can’t ignore.”
He said the StopWar.ca coordinating committee in Vancouver has warmly welcomed him to the demonstration and has indicated it will announce the petition from the stage and encourage people to endorse it. In addition, McNamer said, organizers for the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War have said they will attempt to circulate his petition at the huge rally planned for Toronto on Saturday.
The petition is headlined "NO CONDOLEEZZA IN CANADA." It reads: “Petition to Prime Minister Paul Martin: We Canadian citizens respectfully request that you decline to welcome U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice into Canada until the United States is in compliance with international law regarding the illegal military invasion of Iraq and related violations of international law. We further request that you do not welcome President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for future visits into Canada under the same terms.”
McNamer says the U.S. is mostly responsible for the deaths of an estimated 100,000 civilians in Iraq, but that the petition is not anti-American and that he in fact feels pity for the troops currently in Iraq. “I’ve been there, done that, in Vietnam,” he said. “I often wonder what George W. Bush was doing while I was risking my life in Vietnam . . . All of us but George Bush still seem to be learning something about the horrible realities of war.”
McNamer emigrated to Canada from Montana in 1987 to purchase a cattle ranch north of Cache Creek. He is now a Canadian citizen.
For more information, contact:
John McNamer TEL/FAX 250 374-1058 jhnmcnamer@yahoo.ca ;
StopWar.ca coordinating committee, Vancouver: Derrick O’Keefe
Toronto Coalition to Stop the War: Dylan Penner peace@nowar.ca
Lawyers Against the War: Gail Davidson law@portal.ca
