We Are Not Your Soldiers in the Schools 2021/2022
Debra Sweet | July 14, 2022
It seems the U.S. military is having a recruitment crisis. Good.They're offering up to $50K recruitment signing "bonuses" and still their numbers are lower than they want. The military's explanation is that there's something wrong with the culture that people aren't into "serving" now; they don't have an immediate family history of people in the military, and there's no immediate crisis drawing enlistment.
Twelfth anniversary of the publication by Wikileaks of "Collateral Murder"
Today, July 12, is the twelfth anniversary of the publication by Wikileaks of "Collateral Murder." Since then, we have shown it frequently during many of the We Are Not Your Soldiers classroom visits. As one college student wrote in an essay, "I was surprised to know that the U.S. is not part of the International Criminal Court and wouldn’t even allow investigators in the country to conduct an investigation. The video that we watched was leaked, and that is how we got to know about the atrocities and the war crimes committed by the U.S. military. Had it not been for the leak, we would have never known. Chelsea Manning, who leaked the video, was sent to prison for her deed. Even after the leak went public, nothing was done to reprimand the war crimes committed by the U.S. military… " And, Julian Assange remains in deplorable conditions in prison in London under imminent threat of extradition to the U.S. for the "crime" of releasing this kind of information to the U.S. and world public.
A way to help Guantanamo survivors
It's an outrage that men who were held completely illegitimately in the U.S. torture camp in Guantanamo were sent upon release to countries they did not know, isolated from their families and often left without basic needs or medical care. They should be paid reparations by the criminal government that held them. Nevertheless, good people will step up to support them, as we always do.
We received the following request:
Revealing the Warmakers at Schools and on the Air
Debra Sweet | June 22, 2022
In May and June, the school year winds down in high schools and colleges and We Are Not Your Solidiers made our final visits for the spring semester. Lyle Rubin addressed a NYC college ethics class. Rosa del Duca spent a full day with classes at a large NYC high school, our third visit and third speaker to present to those classes this semester. Rosa had been in the National Guard and told of her struggle to get out as a conscientious objector. One student sent her a note later saying, “I read your book and found it fascinating. Everything you said was very informative, especially for someone looking to join the National Guard.” We finished with John Burns speaking to a class of recent immigrants in a Washington state high school.
Inspiration to Act Now
June 12, is an historic date. It marks the time 40 years ago in 1982 when at least one million people marched and rallied in NYC demanding an end to nuclear weapons and nuclear war. A great on-line program, from 12:00-4:00 pm EST with wonderful speakers and important topics has been lined up. Do register now.
Other related online and in-person events and actions are planned for today and the next couple of weeks - more will be added. Please take a look here.
Memorial Day Thoughts
Even when I was very young I felt strangely about Memorial Day. We would drive to relatives' graves and put flowers, out of respect, as my older family members called it "Decoration Day." My father did not like the holiday at all. He was drafted into World War II at 19 and sent to Okinawa in 1944 at the end of the U.S. battle against the people of Okinawa (and also against Japanese soldiers) and kept there during the U.S. occupation. When finally he talked about it, after age 80, it was to explain to his grandchildren why he hated war. He was proud that he never used his weapon, as was the case with the majority of conscripts there.
No Nuclear War, No WW III
As we considered how to approach the contradictory aspects and on-going frightening prospects of the current war in Ukraine that could lead to nuclear war ending life on earth, we read Nan Levinson's most recent article in TomDispatch. We quote from Tom Engelhardt's introduction:
Revealing war crimes and other societal crimes
During the month of April We Are Not Your Soldiers traveled remotely to educational institutions in three states: New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Our speakers – Joy Damiani, Miles Megaciph and John Burns – also were located in three different states but all our “voyages” worked well via Zoom.
Endless War is Destoying the Earth
Earth Day? It's being used to sell things, like the Democrats' claims their unrealized plans could ever limit climate destruction, or to sell electric vehicles, or to focus people on objectives like recycling or gardening more.
But I want the earth and its people to survive, and so do you if you're reading this. So we can't settle for platitudes, or worse yet, accept the idea that things are just going to get worse.
As a freshman student on the first Earth Day in 1970, I organized a collection of garbage on the campus, which we dumped in a big mound at the administration building. (I was already a protester!) I knew the custodians at the college weren't the problem, that it was "the system" at fault, and that mere conservation efforts weren't enough. I couldn't identify "the system;" I was just outraged at the destruction of the environment, which at that point could have been turned around if not for the system.
We Are Not Your Soldiers
In March We Are Not Your Soldiers presenters spoke remotely at three alternative NYC high schools, a NYC middle school and to Spanish-dominant bilingual high school students in Philadelphia. A co-teacher at one of the NYC high schools wrote following Will's talk:
Thank you so much for your visit and your presentation today! I can't tell you how valuable of an experience that was for our students. We have been discussing and debriefing since you left. You touched on many issues we have been discussing in class, and your personal experience as a veteran adds so much that we can not. You had a huge impact on our students, and I can't thank you enough for that. We appreciate you taking the time to be with us and share some of your experiences today.
Both are worse
At age 14, I decided the Democrats were the "war party," having only looked at WWII and the wars on Korea and Vietnam. Then R. Nixon and H. Kissinger considered using nukes to hold onto Vietnam and threaten China, and I was persuaded the Republicans are every bit as bad.
Since 2005, every time I write to World Can't Wait supporters about how dangerous the party in power is, I get responses saying, essentially - wait, the other party is worse!
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