'BRING THE TROOPS HOME!'
Reaching out to workers in uniform
By Judi Cheng and Dustin Langley
"In the face of this unjust war based on deception by
our leaders, I could not remain silent. I spoke out so that
others in the military would realize that they also have a
choice and a duty to resist immoral and illegitimate orders.
You don't have to be a cog in the machinery of war ... I
wanted those who may be thinking about enlisting to hear and
learn from my experiences."
--Stephen Funk, Marine Corps resister and
political prisoner
President George W. Bush demonstrated utter
disregard for the lives of U.S. soldiers on July 2 when he said
"Bring 'em on"--essentially inviting attacks against enlisted
personnel in Iraq for the purpose of selling his "war on
terrorism." More than 200 soldiers have died since Bush's
invitation.
Bush--on behalf of Big Oil and Corporate America--put U.S.
soldiers in the position of being enforcers of a racist
colonial occupation. Now a broad, justified resistance is
building among the Iraqi people. As U.S. casualties mount, more
and more GIs, not content with being cannon fodder for the
Empire, are speaking out and looking for ways to resist.
One soldier wrote home about Bush's boast: "We are here
because he ordered us to be here and now for him to make such a
ridiculous statement inviting violence towards us causes us to
lose respect for him and his judgment. We are learning that we
never should have come here in the first place." (Nashville
Tennessean online bulletin board, July 4)
Many soldiers want out, as evidenced by the flood of calls
received by the GI Rights Hotline, which have increased by 75
percent since Bush's statement. Many of these calls are
questions about the penalties associated with going AWOL
(Absent Without Leave), according to volunteers and
staffers.
'Organize the barracks!'
Plummeting morale offers new opportunities for
revolutionists to organize among soldiers and their
families.
Marxists have a long history of organizing soldiers in the
imperialist military, going back to World War I. In his book
"The Bolsheviks and War," Sam Marcy--founder of Workers World
Party--noted that Russian revolutionary leader V.I. Lenin
praised anti-militarist work carried on among the soldiers
throughout Europe, particularly in Belgium, during WWI.
Lenin wrote: "Anti-militarism propaganda does not halt at
the threshold of the barracks, and socialist soldiers form
propaganda groups within the army. At the present time there
are about 15 such groups." The Bolshevik leader reported that
the Belgian example was followed in France, Austria, Switzer
land and other countries. Russian and German revolutionaries
also organized soldiers to resist the war.
Marcy explained: "During the Vietnam War, only one such
group was formed in this country which had a somewhat similar
program and was oriented towards the working class. It was the
American Servicemen's Union (ASU), founded by Andy Stapp."
The ASU, founded by activists from Youth Against War and
Fascism (YAWF)--the youth group of Workers World Party--had
over 30,000 members. It organized and supported GI resistance
in Southeast Asia and at home. It assisted soldiers who were
punished for standing up against the racist war.
Resistance inside the U.S. military became an important
factor in ending the war of aggression against Vietnam, as GIs
became aware that they were fighting and dying for the
interests of big banks and corporations.
"Very wealthy people are sending working-class people to war
and the people commanding the troops are from a wealthier
class," said ASU founder Andy Stapp. "That causes antagonism,
no doubt about it. In Vietnam, most soldiers were against the
war, but everyone hated the officers. Many troops sided with me
because I fought against the officers."
Larry Holmes, a Vietnam-era resister and ASU organizer,
said: "Class structure in the army is a microcosm of class
structure in society. The top management, the CEOs, are like
the generals. Management is the officer caste. The
non-commissioned officers are like foremen and forewomen.
Workers are like the rank-and-file GIs. It may not always seem
this way, but the ordinary soldiers' class interests are
diametrically opposite and opposed to those of the
officers."
Activists support GI resistance
Soldiers and families are beginning to speak out against the
war and occupation. This shows that the time is ripe to
organize among the disaffected troops.
Listen to Tim Predmore, a U.S. soldier on active duty with
the 101st Airborne Division based near Mosul in northern Iraq.
He said: "I once believed that I was serving for a cause--'to
uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.' Now I
no longer believe that. I have lost my conviction, as well as
my determination. I can no longer justify my service on the
basis of what I believe to be half-truths and bold lies."
Soldiers are also deserting. Between September 2002 and
September 2003, Fort Bragg listed 235 total cases of absent
without leave and desertion, up from 107 the prior year. The
Army said 133 deserters and AWOL soldiers turned themselves in
this year versus 73 the previous year. And 100 were apprehended
this year compared to 43 the previous year. (Reported by NBC
affiliate Channel 17 in Raleigh, N.C.)
The Support Network for an Armed Forces Union (SNAFU) was
formed in January 2003 by activists working with the
International ANSWER coalition on the eve of the invasion of
Iraq. Inspired by the ASU example, SNAFU has been active in
counter-recruiting, discharge counseling and other support for
GI resisters.
The SNAFU website at www.join-snafu.org contains information
on GI rights, discharges and cases of resistance. It receives
over 300 hits each day, many from military personnel and their
families. SNAFU organizers traveled to Ft. Drum, N.Y., to
defend Kamila Iwanowska, who refused to take the military's
potentially dangerous anthrax vaccine. The group also organizes
support for Marine Corps resister Funk.
On Nov. 15, SNAFU activists traveled to the Camp Lejeune
Marine Corps base in Jacksonville, N.C., where Funk is serving
a six-month sentence for refusing to fight. They went to visit
Funk, demonstrate public support for him and speak with
military personnel in the community.
At a roadside rally, SNAFU members held signs reading,
"Bring the troops home now!" and, "Big Oil gets rich while GIs
die!" The rally met with much support and enthusiasm--a
striking fact given that the town is 80 percent active and
retired military personnel. The positive response to this
effort is more evidence that the time is right to reach out to
GIs.
Funk continues to garner worldwide support. He's received
more than 700 letters while in prison, from nearly every state
and 11 countries.
SNAFU, meanwhile, receives phone calls and emails daily from
soldiers looking for ways to oppose the war or get out of the
military.
The coming months will offer many opportunities to reach out
to military personnel as long tours of duty stretch on and the
Iraqi resistance movement grows. SNAFU says activists are
needed to do outreach at military bases and reserve centers,
organize public forums around issues like the dangers of
depleted uranium (DU) weapons, speak to high school students
about recruiters' lies and abuses, and counsel GIs about their
rights.
Cheng and Langley are SNAFU organizers.
Reprinted from the Dec. 11, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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