[News] “Utterly Dismayed”: Air Force Engineer Resigns as Dissent Against Gaza War Slowly Spreads Within Military

[Anti-Imperialist News]

theintercept.com
<https://theintercept.com/2024/06/18/israel-gaza-war-military-resign-dissent/>
“Utterly Dismayed”: Air Force Engineer Resigns as Dissent Against Gaza War
Slowly Spreads Within Military
Prem Thakker
June 18 2024
------------------------------

Sixteen years ago, Riley Livermore enlisted in the Air Force. His path to
the military was shaped by his evangelical Christian upbringing and growing
up amid the war on terror. His ensuing career as a flight test engineer
took him to Israel, where he spent two years doing missile guidance
research. And shortly after October 7, he decided he couldn’t continue
anymore.

Livermore is “utterly dismayed” by how President Joe Biden and the
Department of Defense “has been complicit in the genocide in Gaza,” he told
The Intercept. So much so that he is in the final steps of separating from
the Air Force, a monthslong process he initiated in late October. Once he
officially exits the military, he said, he will never again work in what he
describes as the military–industrial complex.

“I don’t want to be working on something that can turn around and be used
to slaughter innocent people,” he said. “I think the dissonance just kind
of continued to get louder and louder, it’s like ‘I can’t really do this
anymore.’”

Livermore joins a burgeoning wave of dissent within the Biden
administration and the military over U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza
— including nine prominent resignations in recent months; 25-year-old
Airman Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation
<https://theintercept.com/2024/02/28/aaron-bushnell-reddit-fire-protest-israel-palestine/>
in February; and a new service member-led campaign to help soldiers speak
out against elected officials’ support for Israel’s war.

The latter campaign comes in the wake of Jewish Maj. Harrison Mann’s public
resignation <https://x.com/tariqhabash_/status/1790036014376878534> from
the U.S. Army, in protest of America’s “nearly unqualified support for the
government of Israel, which has enabled and empowered the killing and
starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians.”

In the weeks since Mann’s resignation, The Intercept has heard from members
of the armed forces who expressed emotions ranging from guilt and
frustration to outrage and repudiation regarding the Biden administration’s
unconditional support for Israel, which includes billions of dollars in
military aid as well as political
<https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/israel-human-rights-gaza-report/>
and diplomatic
<https://theintercept.com/2023/12/21/joe-biden-un-resolution-gaza-delay/>cover.
The testimonies, while limited in scope, nevertheless signal dissent within
American power structures bubbling beyond the public resignations and
protests seen thus far. The Department of Defense declined to comment.

“Every single one of my friends in the military agree that this is a
genocide,” one seven-year member of the Army wrote in a message. “We’re all
outraged by the repeated war crimes and depravity of Israel, as well [as]
America’s complicity/enabling.”
[image: Riley Livermore joined the Air Force 16 years ago. At the onset of
Israel's war on Gaza, he decided to leave.] Riley Livermore joined the Air
Force 16 years ago. At the onset of Israel’s war on Gaza, he decided to
leave. Photo: Courtesy of Riley Livermore An Airman’s Evolution

Livermore first commissioned with the Air Force in 2012, and after
graduating with a master’s degree from the Air Force Institute of
Technology two years later, he was selected to go to Israel for an
engineering sciences exchange program.

During his two years there, Livermore researched missile guidance
algorithms while learning Hebrew, immersing himself in the culture, and
making friends. “Israel had kind of a special place in my heart,” he said.
Ironically, Livermore’s open-armed experience in Israel is what helped lead
him to his belief today that the U.S. government may be complicit in
supporting an Israeli genocide against Palestinians.

The first seed was planted by a Palestinian friend in the Air Force who
pulled him aside before he departed for Israel. The friend warned him of
possibly being met with a lopsided story about Israel and Palestine,
Livermore recalled. He said his friend introduced him to the Israel lobby —
like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
<https://theintercept.com/search/aipac/>, or AIPAC — and its influence on
U.S. politics. He also recalled his friend advising him simply to note
where people “start the story” when they talk about the country’s history:
Do they acknowledge historic Palestine, or is their starting point the
Balfour Declaration or the creation of the state of Israel in 1948?

“I’m so grateful for that because it kind of helped me, maybe inoculate a
little bit from what I see now is like heavily Zionist propaganda. And it
always didn’t sit well with me, in general, just some of the Zionist
talking points as far as, like, we’re a nation surrounded by enemies, but
yet we’re the strongest around,” Livermore said. “There’s also this sense
of being an American, being in the American military — it’s like America
owes Israel something. There’s a lot of things, dynamics I didn’t super
like.”

In language classes he took before his deployment and in interactions with
people from around the world upon arriving, he added, his conversations
with peers began to challenge his preexisting assumptions.

“‘We’re the good guys. They’re the bad guys. We’re protecting interests
abroad. We’re the fighters for democracy.’ Like, it kind of put a lot of
cracks in that,” Livermore said.

[image: Riley Livermore spent two years in Israel as a member of the U.S.
Air Force.]
Riley Livermore spent two years in Israel as a member of the U.S. Air
Force. Photo:
Courtesy of Riley Livermore

Livermore’s experience in Israel also challenged his faith. He grew up
evangelical Christian and was active in his church, where he met his wife.
In Israel, he joined what’s called a messianic congregation: a
self-proclaimed Jewish sect that embraces evangelical Christianity.

Having grown up as a Christian nationalist, he began to see self-avowedly
moral and pro-life people setting those values aside for the sake of their
political interests, which intersected with Israeli policy aims, pointing
to widespread support
<https://time.com/5052363/president-trumps-decision-on-jerusalem-welcomed-by-evangelical-voters-pro-israel-groups-and-major-donors/>
for President Donald Trump’s moving
<https://theintercept.com/2018/05/14/ivanka-trump-opens-u-s-embassy-jerusalem-israeli-massacre-palestinians/>
of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
<https://theintercept.com/2022/12/15/us-embassy-israel-biden-jerusalem/> as
an example. He saw his faith being used as a “cudgel for capitalism and
power and oppressing people.” While maintaining a strong connection to a
Jesus who preached love today, he added, he “doesn’t believe in white Jesus
anymore,” the Jesus “wrapped in an American flag with an M4.”

Livermore slowly grew disenchanted with the military, especially as he
reflected more on how the U.S. waged war in Iraq and Afghanistan
<https://theintercept.com/collections/the-911-wars/>. “I’ve had friends who
died,” he said. “It’s like, what’s this all for?”

Then came October 7. His exposure to Israeli military brass during his
training, as well as the rhetoric he heard from Israeli friends in October,
primed him for how ugly things could get.

“I knew just how bad it was going to be and how there would be wholesale
acceptance from the Israeli population,” Livermore said, offering “demolish
Gaza, wipe it off the face of the earth” as an example of the types of
comments he heard.

Before October 7, Livermore said, he would “have been a little bit more of
an Israeli apologist, or like ‘it’s complicated,’ kind of
take-a-both-sides-type approach.” Israel’s war on Gaza, however, was a “pry
bar that kind of ripped it wide open.”

Livermore’s work in the Air Force has mainly focused on research and
development, he said, though he’s worked with several contractors he
reckons had a more direct link with operations in Gaza. He said that
learning more about Israel’s use of targeting systems like Gospel and
Lavender — artificial intelligence systems that have mechanized Israel’s
war <https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/>on Gaza, with
little oversight — scared him. He credits his wife for helping him “cut
through the bullshit” and not simply put his head down without engaging
with the moral stakes.

It’s not an easy process to leave, Livermore noted. “The joke is the only
harder thing than getting into the military is getting out of it.” He said
it’s typically a multi-month ordeal, including congressionally mandated
training and bureaucratic exit processing. There are also varied
contingencies and approval processes based on how long members have served.
In his case, the process he commenced last year will be finalized later
this summer.

“Not only do I want to get out of active duty, but I want nothing to do
with anything that’s directly like the military–industrial complex,” he
said. “It’s not worth the money.”
Breaking Points

For Livermore, Mann’s resignation letter was extremely relatable. The
Jewish Army major described the anticipation of waiting for things to
improve or to end, only for them not to. It was a similar feeling that
bolstered Livermore’s resolve to act on his preexisting inclinations to
leave the Air Force.

Nemesis Hazim, who serves as a doctor in the U.S. Army, also found Mann’s
decision a source of comfort as she’s grappled with her role in the
military. “I wish I could just quit…… but at least this is validating and
makes me feel like I’m not the only one feeling completely out of place,”
Hazim wrote to The Intercept.

She said she enlisted to help pay for medical school and has rationalized
her way through because of it. “But it gets harder and harder,” she said,
adding that she’ll fulfill her time obligations in November 2025.

“I feel useless, ideally I would get out now and volunteer in Gaza, but I
don’t have that option until they no longer own me.”

One 22-year member of the Air Force who comes from a lineage of service
members described to The Intercept his evolution from committed foot
soldier to today fearing that the U.S. is enabling genocide.

In the wake of Bushnell’s self-immolation
<https://theintercept.com/2024/03/21/anti-war-veterans-aaron-bushnell-gaza/>,
he appealed to higher-ups to lead conversations around mental health and
Gaza. Those efforts didn’t go anywhere, but he himself broached the subject
of Bushnell with his unit to indicate it was safe to talk about the war on
Gaza. After Mann resigned, the Air Force member wrote a letter to a senior
officer that invoked some of Mann’s own words and once again requested
internal conversations to help people cope with the war*.*

“At some point — whatever the justification — we’re either advancing a
policy that enables the mass killing and starvation of innocent people and
children or we’re not,” he wrote. “We’re either advancing the destruction
of schools, hospitals, and life-supporting infrastructure of 2+ million
people or we’re not.”

In a message to The Intercept, he wrote that he condemns Hamas’s attacks on
Israel as well as “any and all anti-semitism and Islamophobia.”

“At the same time,” he continued, “I also condemn what I feel is not a
proportional response by Israel (as it related to international Law of
Armed Conflict). I also feel like our country and leaders are enabling what
seems to be genocide.”

“It was indeed preparing us to potentially do harm to others but also to
desensitize us to that fact.”

It’s a remarkable turnaround for someone who enthusiastically enlisted in
the wake of 9/11. “I remember feeling proud that I would be able to join
the Armed Forces to help rid the world of terrorism.” He recalled the
“hype” videos that were part of training in the academy. “We would see
videos of jets flying at high speed, dropping bombs, tanks firing
munitions, etc. while Bombs Over Baghdad by Outkast
<https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-apr-12-war-hilburn12-story.html>
or Bodies (‘Let the Bodies Hit the Floor’) by Drowning Pool played.”

Reflecting on the academy atmosphere now, he said, “whether intentional or
not … it was indeed preparing us to potentially do harm to others but also
to desensitize us to that fact as well.”

His time as an intelligence analyst in Afghanistan, where he said he
observed military abuses
<https://theintercept.com/2021/08/21/deconstructed-afghanistan-richard-ojeda-anand-gopal/>
of ordinary Afghans, contributed to his eventual disillusionment with the
U.S. military.

Still, he’s decided to remain enlisted in hopes of encouraging younger
soldiers to view things more critically — even as America’s relentless
support for Israel’s campaign against Gaza makes it increasingly difficult.

The seven-year member of the Army who expressed outrage at the war enlisted
at the age of 21, they said, because they had just become homeless, had to
drop out of college, and didn’t know where else to go. The military changed
their life for the better, they said.

“I would do 20 years if our country didn’t use the armed forces to commit
war crimes and violate international law at every step.”

But the war on Gaza has taken its toll. “I’ve been at the edge of my limits
pretty much since the conflict started,” they said. And the recent
U.S.-supported Israeli operation
<https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/09/middleeast/israel-hostage-rescue-gaza-intl-hnk/index.html>
to rescue four Israeli hostages that killed at least 274 Palestinians
<https://theintercept.com/2024/06/10/nuseirat-massacre-israel-hostage-rescue-gaza/>
and injured hundreds of others felt like a “breaking point … one that feels
too little too late, but better late than never I guess.”

They are “experiencing tangible mental health consequences as a result of
watching a genocide in real time while simultaneously wearing a uniform
that represents it,” they said. Consequently, they plan to exit when their
contract is up next year and also stay away from any Department of
Defense-related work.

“I would do 20 years if our country didn’t use the armed forces to commit
war crimes and violate international law at every step,” they wrote. “It
feels like every conflict we participate in or facilitate is fucking
sinister and evil.”
[image: Capitol Police Captain Rani Brooks warns Brittany Ramos DeBarros
and other U.S. military veterans occuping Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-NY)
office that they risk arrest if they do not stop blocking the door as they
demand a ceasefire in Gaza. They refuse to leave until they speak to
Gillibrand - known for her support of veterans - in person or by phone.
(Photo by Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via AP)] A Capitol Police officer warns
U.S. military veterans occupying New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office
that they risk arrest if they do not stop blocking the door as they demand
a ceasefire in Gaza. Photo: Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via AP Organized
Resistance

Earlier this month, a coalition of veterans and anti-war organizations
launched a campaign to help people in the military who are similarly
struggling with U.S. support for Israel’s “continued war on the people of
Palestine” to advocate against it.

The campaign — led by Veterans for Peace, the Center on Conscience and War,
About Face: Veterans Against the War, and the Military Law Task Force of
the National Lawyers Guild — provides people in active duty, the National
Guard, and the reserves with guidance and legal advice on how to raise
concerns about the war with elected officials.

The groups have prepared templates that service members can use to reach
out to elected officials. “We are not mere pawns in a political game; we
are human beings with the capacity for empathy, compassion, and moral
discernment. It is time for us to reclaim our humanity and refuse to be
complicit in the genocide of an entire people,” one template reads.

As of Monday, about 30 service members had engaged with the process,
according to Mike Ferner, special projects manager at Veterans for Peace.

The “Appeal for Redress v2
<https://www.veteransforpeace.org/take-action/redressv2>” effort is
inspired by a campaign of the same name that took place in 2006 and 2007.
That campaign, the groups say, led to nearly 3,000 armed service members
sending protected communications to their congressional representatives
calling for an end to the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Former Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich helped deliver
<https://www.npr.org/2007/01/16/6874417/military-personnel-present-iraq-petition-at-capitol>
over 1,000 signatures to Congress on a statement that carried the calls.

Senior Airman Larry Hebert, who is seeking conscientious objector status,
told The Intercept he views the new effort as baseline action that every
service member should take part in. “This is your constitutional right and
I advise everyone to exercise that right,” he said. “Whether you like to
believe it or not, the Department of Defense supports the missions that
kills innocent Palestinians. We cannot just ignore this fact.”
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