US veterans organization criticizes policymakers, calling them 'madmen arsonists'

By Merve Aydogan

TORONTO, Canada (AA) - An organization of US veterans released a statement Thursday on Aaron Bushnell, a US soldier who self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. to protest Israel's assaults on the Gaza Strip, blaming policymakers for his death.

"We could call our policymakers ‘madmen arsonists’ because they go around the globe setting fires much faster than we can extinguish them," said Veterans for Peace (VFP) in a statement.

Saying that policymakers are taking "their orders from those who profit from death and suffering," they also blamed "the people who run Boeing, Raytheon (and) General Dynamics" for financing death.

The veterans stressed that contacting elected officials, staging public protests and blocking roads over the issue of Palestine "never feels like enough."

"Few who care deeply will have the courage to fast to the death or do what Aaron Bushnell did," it said.

The organization accused the "madmen arsonists" of lighting "the match for Aaron Bushnell."

"The fire that killed Airman Bushnell was simply the ‘collateral damage,’ as it’s so callously called, of the ongoing conflagration in Palestine," it added.

Bushnell, a 25-year-old serving in the Air Force, declared in front of the Israeli Embassy on Sunday that he refused to be involved in what he deemed acts of “genocide.”

“I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal,” he said during a livestream on his mobile phone.

He then proceeded to douse himself in gasoline, setting himself ablaze.

Dressed in military uniform, Bushnell shouted “Freedom for Palestine” repeatedly until he could no longer speak.

An embassy police officer was seen aiming his firearm at Bushnell, who was engulfed in flames, while another attempted to put out the fire, saying “I don’t need guns. I need a fire extinguisher.”

The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that Bushnell died after setting himself on fire.

The US Air Force has deemed Bushnell's protest a “tragedy.”