Declaration of Greek conscripts against war

by: Diktio Spartakos

Greece: We are all soldiers serving our military duty in the Greek army and we wish to join our voices with the voices of millions of people who demonstrate every day showing their opposition to the on going war in Iraq.
We unequivocally condemn the murderous attack of US, and their allies against Iraq. We place our selves wholeheartedly on the side of the Iraqi people.
We also condemn the involvement of our country in the military operations.
This involvement is being expressed by the presence of Greek battleships in the Persian Gulf and in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the presence of Greek pilots in the AWACS patrolling over northern Iraq and the use of the military base of Souda-Crete as well as other naval and air bases by the American and British killers. We are also very much concerned by the intention of the Greek government to send a whole brigade to Iraq after the war in order to act as an occupying force. Even the health of the conscripts and officers of the Greek army seems to be a dispensable item in this war for the government. This is proven by the plans of the military leadership to inoculate the crew of the battleship “Koyntoyriotis” (that is patrolling in the Persian Gulf.)

On the other hand the cost of the Greek involvement in this war as well as in the various “peace keeping” forces around the world is about 235.000 euros per month placing a heavy economic burden on the Greek people.

Unfortunately, the state of alert situation imposed to the army by the government due to the ongoing war in Iraq has caused a serious deterioration of our living conditions inside the army. The bombs dropped on Iraqi civilians result also in the increase of our duties, the exercises with real fire and the pressure on the soldiers.

We declare that:
We will refuse to participate in any way in the military operations against Iraq and in any kind of occupational force after the war with or without the approval of the Security Council. We will refuse to provide any direct or indirect assistance to the NATO killers in our camps.

We call the Greek government:
To withdraw from the Middle East all the Greek military forces involved in the war. To shut down all American and NATO military bases that exists in Greece.
To condemn in public the murderous attack of the US and their allies against the people of Iraq.

Conscripts from 31 units of the Greek Army signed this declaration.