In Star-Ledger Op-Ed, Nutley Attorney and Vietnam Vet Craig Livingston Calls for End to Wars that Needlessly Claim American Lives
Nutley, NJ (PRWEB) June 09, 2014 -- In a Memorial Day op-ed published in the Star-Ledger newspaper, Craig Livingston, a partner in The Workplace Lawyers law firm and a veteran of the Vietnam War, urged citizens to resist calls for war in Iran, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine, pointing to the extensive loss of American life in the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, wars which he says the country entered under false pretenses. In Memorial Day observance of those who died in American wars, Livingston argues in the opinion piece that staying out of conflicts that do not truly serve American interests is the proper way to honor our nation’s fallen.
“The proposition of these undeclared wars should be met with deep skepticism based on a real understanding of the price of war paid by those who serve,” Livingston writes.
That price includes the death of 56,000 Americans in Vietnam—a war which America entered under the false pretenses that a U.S. Navy warship had been attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin—and the more than 4,000 who have died in Iraq, a conflict justified by now-discredited reports of Iraqi “weapons of mass destruction.”
Livingston recognizes the need for a strong national defense but believes that it should be a last resort in conflicts vital to American interests. Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Barack Obama are cited as examples of leaders who projected American strength while recognizing the human costs of war.
“Eisenhower knew firsthand the tragic price of war paid by our soldiers, Marines, and sailors. As a presidential candidate, he pledged to get us out of the war in Korea. It was a promise Eisenhower kept seven months after his inauguration as the 34th president of the United States,” said Livingston in his May 26 op-ed.
You can read the full text of Livingston's opinion piece here.
The Newark-based Star-Ledger is the most widely-circulated newspaper in New Jersey as well as NJ’s largest online newspaper.
Craig Livingston is a trial attorney at Livingston Dimarzio Baptista, LLP, a Nutley, NJ-based law firm specializing in workers compensation claims. He drove a truck during a tour of duty in Vietnam before returning to the United States to pursue a career in law. A graduate of Rutgers University, Livingston advocates for working class people and is the founder and President of the New Jersey Advisory Council on Safety and Health (COSH).
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Charlie Kowalski, Livington Dimarzio Baptista, http://www.workplacelawyers.com, +1 (973) 661-4545, [email protected]
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