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Operation Refuse War
15 May - International Conscientious Objectors' Day 2006
Stephen Funk was one of the first resisters who went to prison for his conscientious objection to the war in Iraq in 2003, serving six months. For The Broken Rifle, he tells his story.
I joined the United States Marine Corps when I was 19 years old. I was looking for adventure, for a sense of purpose, and for a sense of belonging. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. When I entered Basic Training and was forced to be violent, shout "kill, kill, kill!" constantly, shoot human shape targets, and stab human shaped sandbags, I knew I had made a grave mistake by enlisting in the military. Unfortunately, like most people who enter a military contract, I had not seriously asked myself the questions military recruiters will never ask. Why does war exist? Is war justifiable? Could I kill another human being?
When I discovered I was a conscientious objector I didn't know that I had any rights to act on those beliefs. Military indoctrination leads one to think that their own beliefs are insignificant and selfish, and that no enlisted personnel have the power or the right to act as individuals. While in rifle training I happened to qualify as an expert rifleman. Instead of congratulating me, my instructor told me that in a real situation I wouldn't have "scored" so well. At first I was angry, after all I had excelled at what was asked of me, but then I thought about what he had said and realized he was right. I told him that he was right, that I would not "score" as well in a real situation, because I believe that killing is wrong. Although it may seem insignificant, stating out loud what had been repressed throughout my training, that I am a pacifist, had an amazing effect. It was if I had been holding my breath underwater the entire time and I had finally surfaced for fresh air.
In late 2002 I lived in San Francisco and spent one weekend a month as a Marine reservist. The rest of the time I spent marching in the streets to protest the invasion of Iraq, and to work on my application for conscientious objection. With support from other activists I organized a press conference in April of 2003 to declare myself a conscientious objector. I was among the earliest applicants for conscientious objector status in this war and the very first to go public with my beliefs. I went public because it was the right thing to do; I was able to go public because of all the support I was receiving from the peace community.
With continued support I began a public campaign to let others in military service know that they have the right and the duty to disobey unlawful and immoral orders. The military wanted to silence my voice and sought to make an example out of me. In September 2003 I was brought before a military court martial. I was sentenced to six months in military prison, my military rank was reduced to Private, and I was given a Bad-Conduct Discharge.
I went to prison proud of what I had accomplished, but sad that I was being incarcerated for speaking out for peace. While I was imprisoned the antiwar movement marched on without me but I continued to receive support from people who had heard about my story. I received thousands of letters from people all around the world who supported my act of peaceful resistance. The continued support meant so much to me, it meant I had not been imprisoned for no reason, it meant that others were out there and were working for a peaceful world.
I was released in 2004 and continue to work for peace and justice. I work with various organizations including Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, and Vets4Vets. I transferred to Stanford University last fall and have declared a major in International Relations.
May 15th is International Conscientious Objectors' Day. It is a time to celebrate the victories made by CO's such as the recent release of Mehmet Tarhan of Turkey, as well as the progress of the peace movement. It is also a time to renew support for those who are continuing to struggle in their work for peace. Most recently, Flight Lieutenant Dr Malcolm Kendall-Smith was imprisoned for his refusal to serve. In the U.S. Kevin Benderman is serving a prison sentence and the military is threatening action against Katherine Jashinsky for her public resistance. These men and women, and others who are being persecuted in the quest for peace, deserve and need our support.
Peace,
Stephen Funk
Editorial
15th May is International Conscientious Objectors' Day, and in 2006 War Resisters' International focuses on the situation of and support to US war resisters: Gis applying for conscientious objector status, going AWOL, or finding other ways to get discharged from the US military.
The ongoing war in Iraq lead to growing dissatisfaction among soldiers, especially from the US forces, who form the main foreign contingent in Iraq. Those who apply for discharge as conscientious objectors, or who go AWOL, are only the visible tip of the iceberg. The 'stop-loss' policy of the US military - a policy which means that a soldier has to continue to serve although his/her contract has come to an end - is not only a reaction to the growing counter-recruitment movement (see page 3), but also a reaction to soldiers' unwillingness to re-enlist after the end of their contract. However, at the same time this policy adds to the growing dissatisfaction.
For anti-war activists it is important to build bridges to soldiers who oppose the war, and who want to get out of the military. The US anti-war movement has a better understanding of this than most other anti-war movements, especially in Europe. Focusing on soldiers' resistance from within - in order to get out - therefore also provides an opportunity to learn from the US experience, and to build support structures for soldiers/conscientious objectors in other countries.
Andreas Speck
Women Resisting War
War Resisters League Peace Award
Since 1958, WRI's US section War Resisters League honours a person or organisation whose work represents the WRL's radical platform of action with the WRL Peace Award. Recipients have included peace agitator A.J. Muste, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, feminist and pacifist theorist Barbara Deming, Plowshares movement founder Daniel Berrigan, Gulf War Resisters, and many others. The 2006 Peace Award goes to Women Resisting War from within the US Military.Anita Cole
In late November, 2001, Anita Cole received her discharge from the U.S. Army as a conscientious objector (CO) to war.
Before I entered the military, I felt as many people do. Generally speaking, I felt murder was wrong, but at times I considered killing unavoidable and even justified, such as in war.
I am a person of intense conviction. My parents raised me believing that service to society - volunteering time and donating resources - is a moral imperative. Since I was a child, I have always been grateful that I am an American citizen and felt everyone should serve his or her country. The Armed Forces appealed to me as a meaningful, shared public effort. After graduating from college I decided to join the Army. I was not motivated to join the military for - nor did I receive - college loan repayment or any other monetary incentive. At the time of my enlistment, I felt full of pride and deeply fulfilled by my commitment to serve my country.
During Basic Training, bayonet training coupled with the mantra, "What makes the grass grow? Blood, blood, blood makes the grass grow," shocked me. But even at the time, I thought if I were called to war, then I would embrace the warrior spirit, too
In August 2000, I was sent to the range to qualify on my assigned weapon, the M-16A2. I was deeply tormented and traumatized as I fired a deadly weapon at human silhouettes. Perceiving my obvious distress, one sergeant tried to offer me encouragement saying, "Come on, you're a killer!" At the time, I was so distraught that I was not able to qualify.
I told myself that I would only be, "poking holes in paper." This act of willful self-deception enabled me to qualify; however, the range NCO's words, "Come on, you're a killer," have continually haunted me. This comment cemented in my mind my objection to my duty as a soldier.
My conscience, ensuing meditation and reading, and introspection have compelled me to honor the true nature of my self. I will not be able to live in any sort of peace if I kill, let others kill, or support any act of killing in my thinking or in my way of life...In other words, I am a conscientious objector in the literal sense.
Diedra Cobb
A female African American Army vet who applied for CO status.
"I joined the Army thinking that I was, quite possibly, upholding some of the mightiest of ideals for the greatest, most powerful country on this earth. Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage; these are the seven Army values, values that I wanted to be able to say that I cherished and possessed... There had to be some good that would come of the carnage, in the end. But this is where I made my mistake, because in war there is no end. We are still in Germany, we are still in Korea, we are still in Bosnia, hell, we're still in America. The list goes on and on, and the only things that are determined are who will stay and who will go, who will live and who will die, who will rule and who will serve."
Katherine Jashinski
I am a SPC in the Texas Army National Guard. I was born in Milwaukee, WI and I am 22 years old. At age 19 I enlisted in the Guard as a cook because I wanted to experience military life. When I enlisted I believed that killing was immoral, but also that war was an inevitable part of life and therefore, an exception to the rule.
After enlisting I began the slow transformation into adulthood. Like many teenagers who leave their home for the first time, I went through a period of growth and soul searching. I encountered many new people and ideas that broadly expanded my narrow experiences. After reading essays by Bertrand Russel and traveling to the South Pacific and talking to people from all over the world, my beliefs about humanity and its relation to war changed. I began to see a bigger picture of the world and I started to reevaluate everything that I had been taught about war as a child. I developed the belief that taking human life was wrong and war was no exception. I was then able to clarify who I am and what it is that I stand for.
The thing that I revere most in this world is life, and I will never take another person's life. Just as others have faith in God, I have faith in humanity
I have a deeply held belief that people must solve all conflicts through peaceful diplomacy and without the use of violence. Violence only begets more violence.
Because I believe so strongly in non-violence, I cannot perform any role in the military. Any person doing any job in the Army, contributes in some way to the planning, preparation or implementation of war.
For eighteen months, while my CO status was pending, I have honored my commitment to the Army and done everything that they asked of me.
Now I have come to the point where I am forced to choose between my legal obligation to the Army and my deepest moral values. I want to make it clear that I will not compromise my beliefs for any reason. I have a moral obligation not only to myself but to the world as a whole, and this is more important than any contract.
I will exercise my every legal right not pick up a weapon, and to participate in war effort. I am determined to be discharged as a CO, and while undergoing the appeals process; I will continue to follow orders that do not conflict with my conscience until my status has been resolved. I am prepared to accept the consequences of adhering to my beliefs.
Kelly Dougherty
Kelly Dougherty, 27, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, served with the National Guard in Kuwait in February 2003 and then served in Iraq from April 2003 to February 2004. She was stationed in southern Iraq, near the city of Nazaria.
Before I even found out I was going to Iraq, I was completely against the idea of going to war with Iraq and I couldn't believe the reasons that were being given - the weapons of mass destruction and the league of terrorists and all of that. When I first got to Iraq, one of the things that I was really struck by was the poverty there - and how poor the population was and how little they had, and how much had been destroyed by this war and previous wars.
And when I left, things hadn't much changed for them - things actually got worse. Lots of people still didn't have any water. ... We weren't helping them at all. And to add, the continual degradation of the area - not only by the insurgents - but you don't hear every day how the Iraqi people are suffering at the hands of the U.S. Military, and how so many people are arrested or detained, shot and killed, or whatever - that are completely innocent, or that are trying to go about their daily business. So I think all that really solidified my views that the war was wrong, and first-hand how violence just creates more violence. We're really not accomplishing anything positive there.
I saw, a lot of times, abuses of power by people in the military - using excessive, unwarranted force against the Iraqis because they could get away with it.
And after a while we got some riot control stuff, what's called "less than lethal" ammunition - bean bag shots for guns, and rubber bullets and smoke grenades. I saw a lot of abuse of those things, like indiscriminate firing with rubber bullets, because you know it's probably not going to kill someone. So, for some it was funny to do drive-by shootings with rubber bullets. And the things are no joke! It could kill someone, like a small child. ... Or if it hits you in the face. ... It's something you don't play with.
Abstracts taken from: http://www.alternet.org/story/24076/
Tina Garnanez
"I was a lost Native," Tina Garnanez reflected on her journey in the Army.
Tina grew up on a Navajo reservation and attended public school in Farmington, New Mexico. The only daughter of five children raised by a single mom, Tina enlisted when she was 17, to get money for college.
"I wanted to attend college, and I knew that between my family situation and being from the reservation, I had few options to get a college education."
Tina was stationed in Kosovo in March 2003 when U.S. Planes started bombing Baghdad.
In July 2004, Tina was deployed to Iraq. Tina had already completed her tour of duty, but the Army can extend a soldier's enlistment through a policy known as stop-loss.
As a medic in Iraq, Tina transferred patients from the ambulances into the hospital where she saw the high cost of war. "I saw disfigured bodies, limbs blown off, soldiers who lost their sanity."
She also traveled with convoys delivering medical supplies to bases. On one of these convoys, Tina barely escaped an explosion. A bomb exploded and dust, rocks, shrapnel flew everywhere.
"I was so angry. Not angry at the Iraqis, but angry at the reason I was there. For what, I asked myself? My mom would have received a triangle-folded flag in exchange for her only daughter."
She knew at the moment that she could no longer serve in this war. "I'm done," she said, "I am not fighting for anyone's oil agenda."
Tina is home in Silver City, New Mexico, honorably discharged. "I really wish I never went into the military. I now have Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder. I jump at everything."
Tina says she speaks to a lot of high school students about why the recruiters target poor, minority students. These youth are looking for a way out, out of the ghetto, out of poverty, out of places where there is little hope for advancement. "The military is not the only option but it's usually only the military recruiters that are there in schools."
Tina has struggled to understand how she as a Native American could be part of the same machine that nearly exterminated the Native Americans. "Broken treaties. Forcing us on reservations. I was a lost Native."
But Tina Garnanez has found her way as part of a growing movement of soldiers speaking out against the war in Iraq.
Tina Garnanez interviewed by Christine Ahn, Women of Color Resource Center, War Times; Tiempo de Guerras
Military Service in the United States of America: Issues of Conscience and Human Rights
War Resisters' International released a report to the United Nations' Human Rights Committee in March 2006, highlighting "issues of conscience and human rights" in relation to the US Armed Forces. The report forms part of WRI's activities in preparation for 15 May 2006 - International Conscientious Objectors' Day - which focuses on US Cos and resisters. WRI's main concerns are:
- The procedure for recognising conscientious objectors of the present all-volunteer military is solely in the hands of the military, and therefore is not independent and impartial, as required by Commission on Human Rights resolution 1998/77;
- In practice, conscientious objectors who are denied the right to conscientious objection and who refuse orders to deploy are sentenced to prison;
- The denial of educational benefits and other forms of discrimination against those who fail to register for a potential draft under the Military Selective Service Act is a violation of the right the education, and also amounts to punishment without trial;
- The military has access to private data of high school students for recruitment purposes, which is a violation of the right to privacy;
- Counter-recruitment activists face intimidation and arrest from police, military, and university authorities, which amounts to a violation of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly;
- The military's "stopp loss" orders to extend the length of military employment contracts without the consent of the soldier concerned are a violation of the Forced Labour Convention.
The report is available in English (http://wri-irg.org/news/2006/usa0603-en.htm) and Spanish (http://wri-irg.org/news/2006/usa0603-es.htm) on this website.
Student or Soldier: Youth Take the Lead in Countering Recruitment
Kevin Ramirez and Steve Morse
2005 has been a pivotal year for counter-recruiters as the Army, Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve and Air National Guard all missed their recruiting goals by thousands, effectively bringing about the worst year in recruiting since 1979!
Last year also saw an explosion of interest and membership in the movement to end the war in Iraq, particularly among those most at risk of being recruited in that war: American youth aged 18-22. Despite the barrage of war-promoting video games, fashion, music, and pop culture aimed at youth, young adults can't ignore the daily news of their peers dying in war. This forces them to put themselves in their peers' combat boots and wonder, "would I ever sign up for this?" The growing answer among high school and college students seems to be a resounding 'NO"!
The strength of our movement last year was put to the test in many ways. Parents and other adults such as veterans, educators and activists have for years been working to demilitarize high schools; they organized Opt Out Week to distribute flyers about the No Child Left Behind Act (The No Child Left Behind Act, Bush's education law, contains a paragraph that requires school districts to make student contact information available to military recruiters unless the student or parent "opts out" in writing) and have directed pressure on school boards to adopt policies that restrict recruiting and advocate for more "truth" in recruiting. Policy changes at high schools regarding military recruiters are happening in states such as Maine, Maryland, Ohio. Likewise, the struggle to remove JROTC units from high schools has garnered more interest as the war in Iraq drags on, as more former JROTC cadets return home from Iraq in body bags, and more people begin to realize the direct link between JROTC and military recruitment.
On college campuses, the counter-recruitment efforts differ significantly from the high school model and center mainly around organizing actions and protests to recruiter visits to the school, ROTC recruitment and training, and organizing opposition to the military's discriminatory policy against homosexuals known as "don't ask, don't tell".
One of the largest and fastest growing counter-recruitment groups on college campuses today is the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN). They recently co-organized a very successful counter-recruitment regional conference in the San Francisco Bay Area, and were recently building relationships abroad at the International Peace Conference that took place in London, England.
CAN is largely responsible, all across the country, for organizing anti-war and counter-recruitment conferences and events, building chapters on college campuses, and picketing and protesting military recruiters at their schools. Recruiters have been forced to leave schools early, visits have been cancelled, sit-ins have been organized, with the end goal being to shut them down. This has become a tense subject among college administrators as highly visible and at-times confrontational protests have occurred and conflict among student counter- recruiters, military recruiters, and campus police continues to draw negative media attention to the school. These types of counter-recruitment actions are increasingly being viewed by the military, and by educational institutions, as potential "threats", and students are being threatened as a result. Luckily, as successful as CAN is in organizing protests, they are equally as effective at organizing support campaigns for students facing disciplinary actions by the school.
A similar effort taking place in the high schools is the group Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR), with several chapters in Washington State, Minnesota and Massachussetts. YAWR recently called for and organized a student walkout on November 2, culminating in thousands of high school and college students walking out of their classes to protest the war in Iraq at the nearest military recruitment center. With groups and actions like this, high school and college students are bulldozing their way to the forefront of the counter-recruitment movement. Countless stories in the media detail students leading protests at their schools against military recruitment for a needless war. March and April have also seen large numbers of students walking out of school all across the US to join huge demonstrations opposing repressive legislation against undocumented immigrants
Unfortunately, some of these actions have led to severe campus repression and police misconduct, landing some student counter-recruiters in hot water in places like Holyoke Community College (Massachusetts), Kent State University (Ohio) George Mason University and Hampton University (both in Virginia) among others. Fortunately, in each of these cases, students have vigorously organized protests and defense campaigns for those students singled out for retaliation.
As 2006 rolls along, we must kick it up another notch! The Army's pool of new recruits in the Delayed Entry Program (DEP) has dropped significantly and there are predictions that it will be even tougher to recruit young people. What we need to do is keep on pluggin' away, and not be discouraged, or afraid of just how effective this work is. Counter-recruitment information empowers people every day, so we must be patient and work in small steps. It's important that we utilize all tools at our disposal and embrace a diverse range of strategies. All anti-war and counter- recruitment groups must support each other and particularly students who have faced repression for their counter-recruitment activities. As recruiters continue to make promises and guarantees to young recruits about college money, job training, and traveling the world, there must continue to be a presence in the schools to make sure that students understand that the only real thing the military can guarantee you today is war. The choice has been presented: student or soldier. It's hopeful that more youth are deci- ding to be students, and not soldiers.
Note: ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) and JROTC are quite different programs.
ROTC gives college money to students who do a relatively small amount of military training during college and commit to four years of active duty as an officer.
JROTC (Junior ROTC) is a high school program that includes regular drills with uniforms and weapons on campus. It doesn't require a commitment to joining the military and purports to build character among youth, but the military privately acknowledges that it is a key aspect of military recruitment. JROTC, in contrast to ROTC, is focused on working class youth who rarely become officers. Each, however, is the main way that militarism is institutionalized in the respective educational institutions.
Operation Refuse War
Through workshops, actions, and an international conference, Operation Refuse War will highlight the difficulties that current conscientious objectors face as well as help build relationships and connections between the various communities within the anti-war movement. The focus of the events is on supporting contemporary American conscientious objectors and their families, as well as examining the current potential of conscientious objection (in its various forms) as a strategy for building an anti-war movement. In addition, Operation Refuse War will bring together international and American conscientious objectors to share their experiences and ideas.
Sponsoring organizations include the War Resisters League; War Resisters' International; the American Friends Service Committee Youth and Militarism Program; the Center on Conscience & War; the Washington Peace Center; the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition; the Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild; the Fellowship of Reconciliation Disarmament Program; the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO); and the Student Peace Action Network (SPAN).
International Conscientious Objectors Strategy Session
New York City, May 11-12 2006
Bringing together conscientious objectors from across the globe, this intimate session will focus on building international strategies for supporting the right to refuse to kill. Please contact us for more information about participation.
Operation Refuse War: An International Conference Of Resisters To Global War
Washington DC, May 13-14 2006
Operation Refuse War will be an opportunity for conscientious objectors, anti-war activists, and military families to come together to share strategies and build community.
Workshop topics include:
- Conscientious Objection as a Movement-Building Tool
- Building Support for Cos From the Outside
- What does an International CO Movement Look Like?
- Personal Stories of Conscientious Objection and Draft Resistance
- Connecting Resistance within the Coalition of the Willing
- All Wars or This War? Conscientious Objection as a Political or Moral choice
- Building Bridges with Military Families
A full conference agenda is available in English and Spanish.
Please register online or contact register@centeronconscience.org. You can also download a PDF form and mail it to Center on Conscience and War. Conference registration fee is US$30, which includes lunch on Saturday, May 13th.
Other events include:
- Lobby Day on Capitol Hill for CO Recognition (organized by the Center on Conscience & War),
- Eyes Wide Open Exhibit on the Mall,
- GI Rights Hotline Gathering,
- Silent March Against the War in Iraq.
For more information, please contact: Operation Refuse War, c/o WRL 339 Lafayette St New York, NY 10012 +1-212-228 0450 x102 youth@warresisters.org operationrefusewar.org
Globalising Nonviolence
War Resisters' International Conference
Schloss Eringerfeld
Paderborn, Germany
23-27 July 2006
The War Resisters' International conference "Globalising Nonviolence" will be a great opportunity to meet activists from all over the world, to get to know what makes them tick, and to see how you can help each other make another world possible.
Around the world, a movement of movements is converging. This movement seeks to counterpose the perspective and values of people's power for those of global financial institutions, transnational corporations or governments. This is a movement of globalisation from below.
WRI believes that nonviolence has a major role to play in this globalisation from below. Hence the theme of our upcoming international conference - Globalising Nonviolence.
Conference fees
Participation costs 200 (registration, accommodation and meals) for individual participants, and 250 for representatives of organisations. There are cheaper options (bring your own tent/caravan) available, if you cannot afford the full fee. Please check the registration form, either online or download the PDF version from the conference website.
Registration information
War Resisters' International, 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX, Britain +44 20 72784040
registration@globalisingnonviolence.org
www.globalisingnonviolence.org/regform-en.html
The Broken Rifle
The Broken Rifle is the newsletter of War Resisters' International, and is published in English, Spanish, French and German. This is issue 70, May 2006.
This issue of The Broken Rifle provides information on WRI's campaign for International Objectors' Day, and was produced by Andreas Speck. Special thanks go to Stephen Funk, Steve Morse, Kevin Ramirez, and all others who provided the information used in this issue. If you want extra copies of this issue of The Broken Rifle, please contact the WRI office, or download it from our website.
War Resisters' International,
5 Caledonian Road,
London N1 9DX, Britain
tel +44-20-7278 4040
fax+44-20-7278 0444
info@wri-irg.org
http://wri-irg.org/pubs/br70-en.htm
