Stuart Naismith
Veterans For Peace

76 year-old Stuart Naismith, active with Veterans for Peace told Indymedia "Itâ??s terribly important because we need to take back the country. This is an unconstitutional venture, just as the last several wars. Iâ??ve seen a few signs around here that indicate that it is Congress, according to the Constitution, and I believe itâ??s Article 8, ... It says Congress has the right to declare war and the obligation.They have no right to assign that to the President or anybody else. This is wrong, itâ??s destructive of our nation."

Naismith thinks this war is about several things. "I think it's about oil, I think itâ??s about vindication of George Bushâ??s father, I think itâ??s about money. I do not believe that Saddam Hussein poses any threat whatsoever to our nation." When asked what, if anything, the U.S. should do concerning well-armed, authoritarian regimes such as Iraq and North Korea, Naismith said "I certainly think they should keep negotiations open, watch them carefully as to terrorists. We certainly have every right to pursue terrorists and find them, but that has nothing to do with North Korea, or Iraq, or Iran directly either."

Stuart Naismith's first involvement in the peace movement was in 1946, but not with a particular group. "I didnâ??t get involved in a particular group, I never joined a veteranâ??s organization until I joined this one. I became part of the occupation force of Japan shortly after the end of hostilities and saw the destruction which we had wrought there. I was of course desperately pleased when I heard they had dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima because it meant that I was going home and after all these people were subhuman. But, when I got there, they werenâ??t subhuman, they were no different than I was. They didnâ??t want the war. They certainly have evil people, we have evil people too."

Naismith has been involved with Broome County, NY Veterans for Peace for four years. He joined them because "veterans have a particularly strong voice to speak on the issues of peace. They have served their country, they have served it well. They have faced the horrors of war. Itâ??s a personal matter with them and they see the wrongness of it." "It's a gorgeous day," said Naismith as the march continued.

www.veteransforpeace.org/