Individuals Against the Crime of Silence

From KeyWiki

The Individuals Against the Crime of Silence Declaration which was signed by 100,000 during the Johnson Administration, is an ongoing petition that serves as a permanent record.^[1]

Text of the Declaration

The declaration reads as follows:^[1]

A Declaration To Our Fellow Citizens of the United States, To The Peoples Of The World, And to Future Generations:

1. We are appalled and angered by the conduct of our country in Vietnam.
2. In the name of liberty, we have unleashed the awesome arsenal of the greatest military power in the world upon a small agricultural nation, killing, burning and mutilating its people. In the name of peace, we are creating a desert. In the name of security, we are inviting world conflagration.
3. We, the signers of this declaration, believe this war to be immoral. We believe it to be illegal. We must oppose it.
4. At Nuremberg, after World War II, we tried, convicted and executed men for the crime of OBEYING their government, when that government demanded of them crimes against humanity. Millions more, who were not tried, were still guilty of THE CRIME OF SILENCE.
5. We have a commitment to the laws and principles we carefully forged in the AMERICAN CONSTITUTION, at the NUREMBERG TRIALS, and in the UNITED NATIONS CHARTER. And our own deep democratic traditions and our dedication to the ideal of human decency among men demand that we speak out.

We Therefore wish to declare our names to the office of the Secretary General of the United Nations, both as permanent witness to our opposition to the war in Vietnam and as a demonstration that the conscience of America is not dead.

Signatories

The following are signatories of the declaration:^[1]

References