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GI Joes replace Easter bunnies in US stores
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Some US marines refuse to fight Gulf War II
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NATION BRIEFS
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US students strike for ‘Books, Not Bombs’

Compiled by Nicholas Holt

Mar. 12 (AGR)-- On Mar. 5, college and university students across the US, as well as in Canada, took time away from studies to protest an impending US war on Iraq. The one-day event was organized nationally by the National Youth and Students Peace Coalition, and called “Books Not Bombs,” in partial imitation of the long-standing activist movement Food Not Bombs, and to emphasize that education might be one of the victims of the Bush’s administrations redirection of resources from domestic social needs to war.

More than 300 high schools and colleges participated in the protest, characterized as a national student strike.

In Europe, thousands rallied in Britain, Sweden, Spain, and Australia in solidarity with their counterparts in the US, who wanted to highlight the effects of war on domestic issues, including education, health care, and the economy.

Events at the University of California, Los Angeles drew more than 1,000, according to school officials, and about 500 students marched on campus at the University of Berkeley.

Students at Berkeley demanded “that the chancellor takes an antiwar stance and at least give attention to our voices, because all over the world right now, protesters are just being ignored by the president,” said junior Amanda Crater.

In Orange County at least 13 schools, universities, and colleges participated in walk-outs against war, while in Oakland, a peaceful march of 300-400, mostly high school students, was broken up by motor cycle police and two local journalists were arrested.

Three hundred people, mostly from San Diego City College and San Diego High School, gathered in the morning in a march that was later broken up by baton-wielding horse police. At the University of Texas at Austin, about 100 people attended a protest.

Between 700 and 1,000 students, staff, and faculty took part in the strike at the University of Maryland. During the rally, speakers addressed the deaths of innocent civilians, the implications of Turkish troops in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the redirection of billions of dollars to the military.

In Baltimore, students from the Towson area high schools came together to hold an evening candlelight vigil and walk.

At Ithaca High School in New York, over 400 students walked out of their third period classes to show their opposition to war on Iraq. About 100 students from the Alternative Community School in the same area marched to Ithaca High to join them.

A large crowd gathered in the southern plaza of Union Square in New York City following a walkout by thousands from local high schools and colleges. The crowd watched speakers, poets, drummers, and singers and representatives from each school were invited to address the crowd.

Fifty students and professors gathered at the iron-gated entrance to Connecticut State University’s Midtown campus, and numerous other colleges, universities, and high schools in the area had protests as well.

At Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, about 200 students, faculty, and community members held a three-hour rally and strikes took place at several high schools across the state.

In the Five College Area of western Massachusetts, 400 students marched in Amherst and blocked the main intersection in town for an hour while people took turns speaking against war.

In St. Louis, Missouri, students from 15 metro-area high schools filled the cavernous basement of a downtown bookstore to listen to speakers and participate in activism workshops.

In the Washington, DC area, about 800 students attended a sit-in at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville. An additional 200 students rallied at Howard University.

Eight students were suspended at a Washington, DC private school after an on-campus anti-war rally.

As the noon hour struck, University of Arkansas students walked out of class for a rally against war that drew more than 400 attendees.

At the University of Wisconsin in Madison, as many as 2,000 -- including hundreds of high school students -- attended a rally.

At Evanston Township High School north of Chicago, about 1,000 teen-agers walked out and circled the 3,600 pupil school in a march that lasted for one class period.

At Shippenburg University, a small, state-administered school in Pennsylvania, students who oppose a war on Iraq organized a four-hour indoor peace rally.

“This is a pretty conservative college, so we’re the minority,” said John La Rosa, a senior environmental studies major who serves as co-director of Shippenburg’s Student Peace Action Network.

“The point for us is to join with campuses across the nation and show that there is dissent at this university.”

In Gainesville, Florida, some 40 high school students bearing signs reading “Drop books not bombs” and “Peace is a family value,” skipped school entirely to protest the war at a gathering near the University of Florida campus.

At least 20 public school students, were suspended after staging a protest walkout in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where about 70 students attended an anti-war rally.

In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, hundreds of University of North Carolina students, faculty, and area high school students walked out of class. Close to 80 Chapel Hill High School students walked out from their classes, despite what they characterized as threats and direct attempts to prevent them from reaching the protest by teachers and faculty.

“There are times when it is up to the next generation, the youth, to begin to take leadership and help the world move toward justice and peace,” said Dennis Markatos of Students United for a Responsible Global Environment. “There are times when the utter urgency of a historical moment, [such] as the war Bush may declare within days, move us to discontinue our daily routines and stand strong to prevent injustice. This is one of those times.”

“I am this Iraqi whose family and friends have been victims of Saddam for the past 24 years,” said UNC senior Ramiz Dabbagh, who has 50 family members living in Iraq. “It is a myth that a democratically elected Iraqi government would elect a pro-US government. I cannot for a moment imagine a cousin of mine forgiving Americans for killing his father and mother even if it is a mistake.”

Sources: Associated Press, Baltimore IMC, DC Indymedia, IMC Cleveland, Indymedia, LA Indymedia, Mad Hatters IMC, Michigan IMC, North Carolina IMC, Post-Gazette, Reuters, San Diego IMC, San Francisco Bay View, Washington Post, Western Mass IMC

Some US marines refuse to fight Gulf War II

By Lee Gough

New York City, New York, Mar. 6— “I cannot sign any petitions, pledges or post my name because I am not allowed to disagree with my commander in chief. I did not realize when I joined the military that I gave up my basic right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly,” wrote an anonymous Marine this month during an internet anti-war forum.

The Marine continued: “I have been amazed at just how many military members have suddenly become a democrat [sic] recently. And we are very scared that this will be like Vietnam all over again. We are afraid that we will come home and be called baby killers. We want the people to know that we did not ask for this job.”

The statement was signed, “the silenced few, the proud, the Marines.” It suggested that resistance to aggressive adventurism in Iraq may be growing within the military. The Marine’s words drew into relief the dilemma that those individuals who have voluntarily chosen to serve in the military lose the right to publicly dissent from political and military policies they oppose. They are even forced to participate in them.

Marines are currently banned from applying for discharges from military service (unless the applicant is gay or lesbian); to date, the Marines are the only branch of the military actually barred from applying for discharge. Members of the military can be court marshaled or imprisoned for voicing public opposition to any military action. Consequently, many military servicepersons (and regular citizens concerned about the selective service or a possible draft) are desperately looking for more information on their rights. In fact, Teresa Panepinto, coordinator of the GI Rights Hotline, says, “Since 9/11 our workload has quadrupled.” Specifically, in 2001 there were over 17,000 calls to the hotline, which is a component of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, based in Oakland and Philadelphia. In 2002 there were 21,218 calls. The number of hotline branches has doubled since 9/11.”

Although there are no statistics for 2003 yet, Panepinto notes that “the number of people wanting selective service (“draft”) information has gone through the roof” and “the number of GIs seeking Conscientious Objector (CO) status has also vastly increased.”

Moreover, “those who signed up for the military through the delayed enlistment/entry program, and have changed their mind and want out of the military, have made up another large portion of calls â¤| not only has the number of calls gone up, but the nature has changed as well. We’re seeing way more GI’s interested in CO discharges, and we’re getting contacted by way more reservists than pre-9/11.” “Most callers are between the ages of 18-30, who have just joined, or have been in under 2 years. That said, though, we are receiving many calls from older people, who have been in the military a long time.”

According to Panepinto, “Almost everyone who calls the hotline calls because they want out,” though the “reasons range from CO to those who have gone AWOL/UA to those with medical and/or psychological problems. Although there is nothing in military regulations that allows for COs to be treated poorly, that doesn’t stop it from happening. COs are often ostracized by their peers. Many commanding officers tell COs that they will flat out refuse to read their application for discharge.”

During the first Gulf War, peace groups estimated that 2,500 military men and women sought CO status. A subsequent General Accounting Office investigation placed the number closer to 500. But Youth and Militarism Magazine, a publication of the American Friends Service Committee, observed that this number failed to include those who were jailed for refusing orders.

Also growing in number are veterans and military families who oppose what they see as an unjustified military attack on Iraq. Military Families Speak Out is one such group. It has made alliances with many other relatively new resistance organizations, such as September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, and veterans’ groups, such as Gulf War Veterans against War on Iraq, Veterans for Common Sense, and Citizen Soldier, which challenges domestic militarism.

Two billion dollars a year are spent on recruiting youth into the armed forces. But as one 19-year-old Army infantryman’s mother, Carol Korreck, wrote to the White House, enclosing a picture of her son, “Dear President Bush, This is my son, Tim. You have been referring to him as a “military force.” I want you to be continually mindful of the fact that your “military force” has a mother and two sisters who want you to value his life as much as we do.” Carol Korreck has yet to receive a reply to her letter.

Source: NYC Indypendent

GI Joes replace Easter bunnies in US stores

By Erik Baard

New York, New York, Mar. 8— While Pentagon war planners may be gunning for an attack on Iraq by mid-March, heavily armed soldiers have already quietly seized a strategic position: kids’ Easter baskets.

US retailers like Kmart and Walgreens have stocked their shelves with baskets in which the traditional chocolate rabbit centerpiece has been displaced by plastic military action figures. Tri-state Rite Aid, Genovese and Wal-Mart stores promise their martial Easter baskets will arrive soon.

At the Astor Place K-Mart in New York’s Greenwich Village, the encampment is on display just inside the main entrance. A camouflaged sandy-haired soldier with an American-flag arm patch stands alert in a teal, pink and yellow basket beneath a pretty green-and-purple bow. Within a doll-arm’s reach are a machine gun, rifle, hand grenade, knife, pistol and round of ammunition. In the next basket a buzz-cut blond with a snazzy dress uniform hawks over homeland security, an American eagle shield on his arm, and a machine gun, pistol, Bowie knife, grenades, truncheon and handcuffs at the ready.

One must hunt a little harder to find the Easter sniper at Walgreens, but what lies in wait among the bunnies and chicks there is perhaps even more surreal. The Super Wrriors (sic) Battle Set and Placekeepers (sic) Military Men Play Set bristle with toy assault rifles and machine guns, tanks and bomber planes.

The assortment also includes a space-age ray gun and other imaginary hardware for orbital combat. Packets of jellybeans are tossed in as if an afterthought, nestled in the cellophane underbrush like anti-personnel mines.

Not surprisingly, the merger of religious observance and jingoistic lust has sparked the ire of Christian leaders. Bishop George Packard, who oversees spiritual care for Episcopalian members of the armed services, is concerned about creating a backlash against the military. He also questions the message sent to Muslims by the melding of a Christian holiday with images of war.

The products themselves, Packard said, are “really, really bizarre. It’s a crass embrace of the far end of a range of options for parents to provide their kids. Easter baskets have been deteriorating for a long time, but they’ve really gone over the edge. I am so disturbed, I am so confounded by this bad taste.”

Other Christian groups agree. Dr. Richard Land, president of the conservative Southern Baptist Convention commission on ethics and religious liberty, said: “Well, of course, it certainly would be a jarring note for the celebration of Easter. I certainly wouldn’t buy one for my children, when my children were small.”

But the religious leaders noted that the eggs, bunnies, and chicks so intimately associated with the holiday are also unrelated to the narrative of Jesus. They are instead the trappings of Ostara (also known as Eostra), a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility.

Source: Toronto Star