MAR 20, 2013 – Pearl Jam and MoveOn.org have launched a campaign on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War, to read and share a letter from an Iraqi vet who had to fight this immoral war. Pearl Jam's spokesperson Nicole Brandenburg said,"Our brave and incredible friend Tomas Young is dying. He asked us to pass along Chris's story along with his letter in the hope that — as uncomfortable as it is — people will take a moment to look death in the eye and remember him and the many others like him as more than a war statistic." The brave Iraqi War veteran is Tomas Young, and he penned a letter to former Vice-President Dick Cheney and former President George W. Bush criticizing the decision to go to war with Iraq, as he lies dying from a bed in hospice care. He writes:
"I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole."
To help out soldiers like him, contact and pressure your representatives to direct more funding to veteran care, and one can also help out by donating to the Wounded Warrior Project which helps out disabled veterans. For more information and to read the letter in full, check out TruthDig.com. Also, check out a great article about Tomas Young by Chris Hedges on TruthDig.com here, , and finally, check out the full MoveOn.org Iraq War campaign here. Pearl Jam's website also shares Tomas' letter, and also points out the 2007 documentary titled, "Body of War" which followed around Tomas Young and can be viewed on Netflix and purchased; read more on Pearl Jam's website here.
Share this letter with your friends, and join the conversation on Justice Through Music's Facebook Page here: http://www.Facebook.com/justicethroughmusic
