Letter: Grateful for courageous anti-war activists

Friday, June 1, 2007 | 6:52 a.m.

Although Las Vegas is not generally associated with socially conscious movements, it does have a nascent activist community. Some Las Vegans have devoted a considerable amount of time and effort to effect changes not only locally, but also nationally and internationally in response to irrational decisions made by the Bush administration.

As a veteran of the U.S. Army, I want to thank all of the activists who have done so much to thwart attempts at nuclear proliferation at the Nevada Test Site, the buildup of the military-industrial complex, and to protest the illegal and immoral war in Iraq.

The deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians has instilled in many anti-war protesters a sense of urgency, a passion, and a seriousness of purpose. They understand that as taxpayers, they help fund a military that either directly or indirectly has generated a death toll that exceeds even that which has been attributed to Saddam Hussein. In the face of that carnage, there have been some activists willing to risk arrest and prolonged litigation to ensure that their voice of protest is heard.

In any illegal and immoral war, protest is not only a reasoned response, but also an obligation. Anti-war protesters fulfilled that responsibility despite encountering abuse, scorn and vilification.

Although many Americans remain reluctant to provide any praise for anti-war protesters, they cannot dispute that these courageous men and women were right from the very beginning. Anti-war protesters are war heroes. They deserve our nation's highest praise.

Algirdas Leskys, Las Vegas