Resolutions Approved At The 2011 Veterans For Peace National Convention

Resolution 2011-2 - US Military Budget Resolution (2011)

Resolution 2011-3 - Abolition Of Corporate Personhood

Resolution 2011-4 - Abolishment Of Nuclear Power Plants

Resolution 2011-5 - Resolution On The Abolition Of Nuclear Weapons By The Year 2020

Resolution 2011-7 - Impeachment Of President Barack H. Obama For War Crimes

Resolution 2011- U.S. Dumping Of Toxic Chemicals In South Korea

Resolution 2011-11 - Supporting Red Por La Laz Y La Justica (Network For Peace And Justice) In Mexico

Resolution 2011-12 - Depleted Uranium Suppressed Study

Resolution 2011-14 - Support Of Palestinian Rights Under International Law

Resolution 2011-15 - Clinical Research On The Consequences Of Inhaling Depleted Uranium Dust

Resolution 2011-17 - AGENT ORANGE LEGISLATION: VICTIMS OF AGENT ORANGE RELIEF ACT OF 2011, HR 2634, SUPPORT FOR - 2011 11-8

US MILITARY BUDGET RESOLUTION (2011)
Whereas, the US military budget FY 2012 (DOD spending) is $707 billion, and Therefore Be It Resolved that Veterans For Peace endorses a proposal to reduce the DOD expenditures in FY 2012 and each subsequent year budget by 50% - i.e. for FY 2012 cut it from $707 billion to $353 billion. The $354 billion cut would be invested into two protected funds. The first one containing $254 billion would be used to fund a 21st Century Marshall Plan. This would be used to alleviate the ravages created in countries by wars around the world and help them rebuild their infrastructures, economies, and centers of commerce. It could also be used to alleviate the problems that countries face when struck by natural disasters like the Tsunami in Indonesia, the earthquake in Haiti, etc; Be It Further Resolved that for FY 2012 the remaining $100 billion (from the cut in DOD expenditures) be allocated to a special fund for the relief of the national debt burden; Be It Further Resolved the amounts deposited in the two funds annually be increased as the DOD expenditures are increased; Be It Finally Resolved that these two funds be protected and used only for the stated purposes of relieving the effects of war/natural disasters and relieving the US national debt. It is strongly urged that upon approval of this proposal by Veterans For Peace National organization, that all local Veterans For Peace chapters solicit their national and state representatives to identify potential supporters and sponsors. Of necessity this must be a grass roots campaign to succeed.

ABOLITION OF CORPORATE PERSONHOOD
Whereas, government is created by consent of the governed, and Therefore Be It Resolved that Veterans For Peace calls for the passage of a Constitutional amendment that would substantially state the following: Section 1. The rights and privileges granted to citizens of the United States as enumerated in this Constitution, its amendments, and extended through case law, are exclusively reserved for human beings. Section 2. All non-biological entities in the United States shall be subject to the requirements of any and all laws enacted by the people and their elected governments. Section 3. The minimum regulation of corporations by the states shall be that their charters will include banning direct or indirect funding of candidates for office and the requirement that the corporations operate in the public interest. Corporations will be liable for any and all costs and damages that their operations create to the government and the taxpayers who support it.

ABOLISHMENT OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
Therefore Be It Resolved that Veterans For Peace opposes any effort to expand nuclear energy and calls for the rapid reduction of existing nuclear power plants, and the complete elimination of nuclear power plants by 2020, and Be It further Resolved that Veterans For Peace supports the development of a safe, sustainable, and democratic energy system based on solar, wind, and other sustainable sources.

RESOLUTION ON THE ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS BY THE YEAR 2020
Whereas, President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in large part for his "vision of a world free from nuclear arms," but until the underlying roots of the nuclear weapons complex are addressed such words remain empty rhetoric, and Whereas, in 1967, a few months before his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., another American Nobel laureate, in speaking about the war in Vietnam, noted that the United States government was "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today," a sentiment which continues to resonate in light of the continuing wars in the Middle East, and Therefore Be It Resolved that Veterans For Peace endorses the Mayors for Peace Vision 2020 campaign for the complete abolition of nuclear weapons by the year 2020;

Be It Further Resolved that Veterans For Peace urge President Barack Obama and other U.S. policymakers, as well as our members and supporters, to read Dr. King's "Beyond Vietnam" speech and reflect on its meaning for the Twenty First Century.

IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT BARACK H. OBAMA FOR WAR CRIMES
Whereas, Barack H. Obama is Commander In Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces and the head of the Executive Branch of the United States government, and Whereas, President Obama, on 19 March 2011, committed a criminal act by ordering the U.S. military to war in Libya without first obtaining the consent of the U.S. Congress in a direct violation of the U.S. Constitution, and Whereas, the illegal U.S. invasion, bombing and occupation of Iraq initiated by the Bush administration continues under the Obama administration; and Whereas, the U.S. government is currently engaged in illegal wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya, and President Obama pledged to increase the number of military personnel and tax dollars spent on the these wars, and Whereas, the U.S. military used and continues to use depleted uranium munitions, cluster bombs and white phosphorous in densely populated areas in violation of U.S. laws and international laws and treaties prohibiting the indiscriminate killing of civilians; and, Whereas, the Geneva Conventions specifically prohibit the use of especially injurious weapons and materials causing unnecessary harm that remain active and lethal after battle, and over large areas of land, and Whereas, large numbers of babies born in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer life-long illness and deformity like severe disfigurements and brain damage, Down's syndrome, and weak hearts doctors state are caused by the U.S. military's massive and widespread use of toxic and radioactive materials, and Whereas, millions upon millions of Iraqi, Afghani, Pakistani, Yemeni, Somali, and Libyan civilians have been maimed, poisoned, displaced from their homes, and killed in a direct result of ongoing, illegal acts of war by the United States, and Whereas, illegal, immoral and counterproductive detainee torture and brutalization at the hands of the U.S. military's Immediate Reaction Force continue at Guantanamo under the Obama administration and in particular, the torture of Pfc. Bradley Manning at Quantico, Virginia, and Whereas, President Obama is an accessory after the fact in obstructing justice by failing to order the Department of Justice to initiate investigations into numerous and blatant U.S. war crimes committed by the Bush administration, for which it is manifestly accountable under the law, and Whereas, millions of Americans, including Veterans For Peace and Prosecute Them Now, supported the impeachment of Bush/Cheney for the same war crimes that are being committed now by Obama in violation of the U.S. Constitution, U.S. federal laws, the United Nations Charter, the Hague Convention, the Geneva Conventions, The United Nations Convention Against Torture and the Nuremberg Tribunal Charter, and Whereas, Veterans For Peace and Prosecute Them Now are committed to the stated mission to restrain our government from intervening overtly and covertly in the internal affairs of other nations, to seek justice for veterans and victims of war, to increase public awareness of the exact costs of war, and to abolish war as an instrument of national policy; Therefore Be It Resolved that Veterans For Peace call on the U.S. House of Representatives to immediately begin impeachment proceedings against President Barack H. Obama for failure to uphold his sworn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America from all enemies foreign and domestic, and for his commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity, obstruction of justice and the violation of numerous national and international laws, treaties and conventions.

U.S. DUMPING OF TOXIC CHEMICALS IN SOUTH KOREA
Whereas, on May 13, a Phoenix-based TV station KPHO aired an investigation report, based on the testimony of three U.S. veterans, regarding a secret burial of hundreds of 55-gallon toxic chemical drums, including Agent Orange, at a U.S. military base, Camp Carroll, South Korea in 1978, and Therefore Be It Resolved that Veterans For Peace (VFP), meeting at its national convention in Portland, Oregon, August 6, 2011

1. Applauds the courageous declarations of conscience on the Agent Orange scandal by Stephen House and other U.S. veterans who had been directly involved in the secret burial of the Agent Orange drums in South Korea, and calls upon other veterans who have further information on this issue to come forward with their accounts;

2. Calls upon the Congress to hold its own independent and full investigation and hearing on this dangerous scandal, and provide a free Agent Orange medical check-up to all U.S. veterans who served in South Korea in the past;

3. Calls upon the Obama administration to disclose all information and documents regarding the past use and abuse of toxic chemicals in South Korea, conduct a full investigation into the possible burial of toxic chemicals at all U.S. military bases in South Korea, clean up the polluted land, offer a full apology and remedy, including just compensation, to all the victims — both U.S. and Korean veterans as well as South Korean civilians — of the reckless use or dumping of toxic chemicals in South Korea by the U.S. military; and Urges all VFP members and local chapters, as an expression of our concern on this issue, to send a copy of this resolution to our Representatives and Senators in Congress.

SUPPORTING RED POR LA PAZ Y LA JUSTICA (NETWORK FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE) IN MEXICO
Whereas, the United States war on drugs, as President Obama acknowledged four years prior to taking office, has been an utter failure, and Be It Further Resolved that all Chapters and all members are urged to undertake actions and initiatives which aid, assist and support Red por la Paz y la Justicia in their quest to bring peace and justice to the people of Mexico.

DEPLETED URANIUM SUPPRESSED STUDY
Whereas, from 2002 through 2004, scientists at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) in Bethesda, MD carried out an important experiment designed to assess the ability of depleted uranium to cause gene mutations in various tissues and organs of mice, and Whereas, in this experiment, 80% of the mice exposed to the highest dose of depleted uranium developed cancers, and Whereas, these cancers included testicular cancer, bladder cancer, and thyroid cancer which are malignancies not commonly linked to uranium exposure, and Whereas, these experiments have important public health implications not only for military personnel who have served in Iraq and other lands contaminated with depleted uranium dust but also for the civilians who live in those lands, and Whereas, no detailed report describing the results of these experiments has been published in the more than seven years since these experiments have been completed; Therefore Be It Resolved that Veterans for Peace calls upon the Secretary of Defense to release a full report on the results of the experiments on uranium-exposed mice which were concisely summarized at a conference titled: "Depleted Uranium Weapons: Toxic Contaminant or Necessary Technology?" held on March 6, 2004 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and to provide an explanation of why the results of these experiments have been suppressed for more than seven years; and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a Registry of Veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars [GWI and the ongoing Iraq War] who have developed malignancies or whose children have developed malignancies; and Congress to support epidemiological studies of all veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and their families, and of the rising incidence of cancer among Iraqi civilians, including studies designed to assess the possibility that depleted uranium may act as a transgenerational carcinogen, i.e., that D.U. may increase the incidence of malignancies in the children of individuals exposed to D.U.

SUPPORT OF PALESTINIAN RIGHTS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW
Whereas, the indigenous Arab population of Palestine, representing two-thirds the population and owning over 90% of the land in 1948, were denied their right of self-determination specified in Article 55 of the United Nations Charter, and Therefore Be It Resolved that Veterans For Peace urges

1. The U.S. government to recognize and support the right of self-determination for Palestinians and discontinue imposition of pre-conceived projections of what Palestinians may choose for their future.

2. The U.S. government to only adopt policies that conform with international law including the UN Charter, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and UN resolutions.

3. The U.S. government to discontinue commitment to the "two-state solution "known as the Geneva Initiative and support the consideration of other alternatives for peace and justice acceptable to Palestinians including creation of a single, secular, democratic state with equal rights for all ethnic and religious populations.

4. U.S. confirmation of all rights of Palestinian refugees under international law, which cannot be negotiated away by others, and establishment of mechanisms for all Palestinian populations to participate in crafting a solution for the future of Palestine.

5. The U.S. government to acknowledge the majority representation won by Hamas in the Palestinian parliamentary election of January 2006 and to accept Hamas within the unity government of occupied Palestine.

6. The U.S. government to recuse itself from "peace process" negotiations due to its reflexive, unconditional support for Israel and allow more objective international mediators approved by all negotiating parties. Be It Further Resolved that this resolution shall supersede any previous VFP resolutions endorsing a "two-state solution."

CLINICAL RESEARCH ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF INHALING DEPLETED URANIUM DUST
Whereas, uranium (including depleted uranium) is known to be a kidney toxin, a neurotoxin, an immunotoxin, a carcinogen, a mutagen and an inducer of birth defects, and Therefore Be It Resolved that Veterans for Peace calls upon Congress to fund:

1) Clinical studies of adverse health effects occurring in cohorts of veterans who have had documented inhalational exposures to depleted uranium dust particles or who have had, by virtue of their duties, highly probable inhalational exposures to depleted uranium dust particles; and

2) Research aimed at identifying novel biomarkers of uranium exposure which are persistent and durable and which may be useful for identifying individuals whose exposure to depleted uranium occurred in the distant past - for example in 1991 or in 2003.

AGENT ORANGE LEGISLATION: VICTIMS OF AGENT ORANGE RELIEF ACT OF 2011, HR 2634, SUPPORT FOR – 2011
Therefore, Be It Resolved, Veterans for Peace calls for all Congress members to co-sponsor and support HR 2634, Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2011, And Be It Further Resolved, Veterans for Peace calls on all Senators to enact and support similar legislation. And Be It Further Resolved, Veterans for Peace calls for Dow Chemical, Monsanto, and the other chemical companies to assume their responsibility by allocating funds to make a significant contribution to meet the needs of victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam.

Approved at the 2011 VFP National Convention Printed August 14, 2011