Open Letter to Amy Goodman and Democracy Now!

Dear Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!

We are a group of military veterans who are hoping NOT to be blown off the face of this planet in a nuclear exchange precipitated by events in Syria.

The U.S. is close to confronting nuclear-armed Russia over Syria. This situation was triggered by the recent Assad-Did-It-Again story, “gassing his own people,” that we first heard in 2013. Once again evidence was lacking, and worse, there was a total lack of interest in finding evidence, or in asking the obvious questions of motive, cui bono?

As former military persons, we see no military advantage or rationale for the Assad regime to have used poison gas in those situations. On the other hand, there are people who would be glad to use the incident to pull the U.S. into the war. This should be clear to even the most casual observer, and yet it is being ignored by the mainstream media.

Why is there no need for evidence? This looks to us like yet another replay of “Gulf of Tonkin,” “WMDs in Iraq,” and numerous other false provocations going back to 1898 and “Remember the Maine!” Once again the mainstream media is pushing for war. Rush to judgment with no penetrating questions asked.

Unfortunately, with only rare exceptions, DEMOCRACY NOW has NOT been raising such questions either in regards to Syria. On your Friday, April 7th show, you featured numerous guests discussing Syria, some openly accusing Assad, but nobody asking about evidence. Listeners of your show were left to take for granted that the Assad regime is guilty as assumed. This is particularly disappointing to us as we are long-time listeners of your show; we have over the years trusted you as a reliable source of information.

We are asking you to take another and closer look at Syria. Consider the credible investigations by Seymour Hersh and others, including the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), on the chemical weapons incident of August 21, 2013. Their reports indicate those chemical weapons were launched by armed opposition NOT the Syrian government. This seems very relevant to the current situation.

And please start including guests who know about Syria and have a different perspective from your usual guests. For example, the vice president of Veterans for Peace was in Syria last year. There are many others and we would be happy to provide contact information.

This is important because, as President Donald Trump’s recent actions in Syria seem to be leading to a face-off with nuclear-armed Russia, we are wondering whether Vladimir Putin can afford to back down. And if he can’t, what then? Will we be alive on this earth at this time a year from now?

Hoping to stay alive,

Daniel Borgström (moc.liamgnull@enoytrofleinad)

for

VETERANS FOR PEACE, East Bay Chapter #162