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The military needs fresh recruits. They are in our high schools, they are on our college campuses, and they are in our cities. They are preying on youth. They make war seem like a video game. But it’s not a game; it’s real life. It is real for the over one millions Iraqis that have been killed. It’s real to toddlers in Afghanistan who were blown to pieces by U.S. air strikes in May. These are not policy mistakes; they are crimes against humanity.
One-third of female G.I.’s report being raped or sexually harassed by their fellow soldiers. They often suffer dehydration in Iraq, because if they drink water after a certain time in the evening they will have to go to the bathroom by themselves in the dark and run a risk of being raped. New photos reportedly show the U.S. Military raping Iraqi prisoners. Guantanamo Bay, despised around the world for its brutal torture remains open, the torture prison of Bagram in Afghanistan is doubling in size and laws remain in place that authorize the military to torture.
Some youth don’t really believe all the hype about spreading “freedom” and “democracy” to the Iraqis, BUT they think that joining the military is the best “career option,” the only way to pay for college. Murder, Rape and Torture are not career options. What is the military buying and selling? They are buying young peoples’ futures and selling death and destruction all over the world! They have no “right” to be in our communities (or anywhere else) – since their “right” to recruit is in conflict with the right of the Iraqi people to live, and to be free from unjust occupation. So we have to decide: Do we think American lives are worth more than Iraqi lives…Which “right” do we respect?
Like a used car salesman, recruiters will tell any lie to not only get youth to join but get people to support what the military is doing. But what is there to support? Yes, good people are lied to and manipulated into joining. Its true that vets get suffer severe psychological disorders and do not receive proper healthcare from the U.S. Government. These disorders are a direct result of the things that they were ordered to do such as shooting anything that moves and targeting civilians. The “troops” are not doing anything honorable. They are part of a U.S. Military machine that is committing war crimes and that is not something that should be supported.
The cliché “ support the troops is nothing but war propaganda intended to paralyze people. Luckily, “the troops” are thinking human beings who have the ability to change their minds and resist the war if they are challenged with the truth about what they are a part of.
People voted for Obama because they wanted change. Well, what change did they get? Obama is not only continuing Bush’s war in Iraq, he is escalating the war in Afghanistan, and sending unmanned planes to drop bombs on Pakistan. He has refused to prosecute the Bush administration that carried out war crimes like torture or even release the photos that show these crimes. If you’re still hoping for “change you can believe in,” then you’re not paying attention. This is not a “new direction.” This is just a “rebranding” intended to get you to accept things you thought were wrong under Bush.
The Change We Need Right Now
Military recruitment is going up right now as Obama is sending 21,000 more troops to the war in Afghanistan, calling for 92,000 more soldiers for the U.S. military, and hoping for “a new spirit of patriotism and service.” Where are these soldiers gonna come from? They are in high school now. They are your classmates, your homies, your brother, your sister.
Once you join this military, you have no future. Your future become killing and dying for empire. Once you join this military, you murder and brutalize the future of millions of people around the world. If you want to a better future, don’t join or let your friends join but join a movement to drive these recruiters out of our schools and communities as a key part of stopping the war.
If you don’t think that American lives are worth more than the lives of people in other countries…
If you haven’t bought into the propaganda that these wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are somehow OK now that Obama is president…
If you want to bring this war machine to a grinding halt right now…
In your high school cafeteria…in the career center…at the mall…in your city…
What you can do:
Join us on Facebook and MySpace to build a culture of resistance to military recruiters.
Make copies of fliers and get them out at summer concerts everywhere
Print the We Are Not Your Soldiers sticker and plaster it everywhere!
Make a YouTube video about why you refuse to join the military
Get active in your local World Can’t Wait Chapter
Start the school year off with resistance! Bring the We Are Not Soldier Tour into your classroom. The We Are Not Your Soldier tour is a tour that has been happening in schools around the country with Iraq vets and activist to bring the truth to students about the military.
Begin planning for school walkouts against military recruiters on Tuesday, October 6 (the anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan).