The documents presented in these web pages have been chosen because they tell the stories and express the views of people who have refused, partially or totally, the orders of the military. The opinions expressed in these documents are the sole responsibility of their authors. Payday, who is publishing these pages, does not necessarily endorse all the opinions expressed.

NEW	Evicted from their islands by the UK government between 1965 and 1973, Chagossian people are reclaiming back their land from the biggest US military and nuclear base outside the US. Read their appeal
NEW Letters to Stephen Funk	You speak loudly to remind the whole world that you should not be forced to pull the trigger, that the woman, the child, the man in front of you is no longer a dummy, that he is not your enemy and that he lives just like you…
NEW Stephen Funk transferred to Camp Lejeune	Yesterday, Wednesday, September 10 the Marine Corps flew Stephen Funk under guard to Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina where he will serve his sentence in the military prison for unauthorized absence during the Iraq War. The military prison in North Carolina is the same brig where dozens of Marine conscientious objectors were detained and harassed during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
NEW Burned Iraqi Children Turned Away	the two Army doctors who arrived about an hour later refused to help the children because their injuries were not life-threatening and had not been inflicted by U.S. troops.
US troops' anguish: Killing outmatched foes	"For lack of a better word, I feel almost guilty about the massacre," says one soldier privately. "We wasted a lot of people. It makes you wonder how many were innocent. It takes away some of the pride. We won, but at what cost?"
Army Orders Troops to Seize TV Station in Northwest Iraq	During the two-hour meeting last night, the head of the Army public-affairs office in Mosul, Maj. Charmaine Means, said she could not agree to seizing the station and posting troops there. She argued that the presence of armed soldiers would intimidate the station's Arab employees into airing only programming produced by, or acceptable to, the American military.
Reservist found guilty of leaving unit	A jury of four Marines on Saturday found Lance Cpl. Stephen Funk, 21, guilty of unauthorized absence but innocent of a more serious charge, desertion with intent to shirk important duty.
Patriots for Peace - Stop This Ugly War	I thought freeing the country from the Taliban would help. So right after Sept. 11 I signed up and joined the U.S. military invasion of my home country, Afghanistan. But the U.S. has done nothing to improve our lives.
Bring the troops home now - End the occupation of Iraq	Be it further RESOLVED: that San Francisco Labor Council endorse the October 25, 2003 International March on Washington, D.C. behind the banner: Bring the Troops Home Now -End the Occupation of Iraq -Repeal the Patriot Act -Money for Human Needs, not for War and Empire
Guard, Reserve short on recruits	The nation’s largest auxiliary forces — the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve — are beginning to have trouble meeting their recruiting targets. As of April 30, the Guard was nearly 6,000 recruits short of where it needed to be on that date to meet its Sept. 30 target of enlisting 62,000 soldiers, Pentagon statistics show.
Support Stephen Funk	Stephen Funk is a US conscientious objector who refused to fight in Iraq. He is 20, gay and Filipino. He needs your support as he will go on trial on 4 September 2003. He risks two year in jail for refusing to kill.
ARMENIA: More conscientious objectors in prison	Armenia continues to arrest and sentence conscientious objectors, in spite of its commitment to the Council of Europe to pass a law on conscientious objection by 2003.

Refusing to serve in apartheid South Africa	The instance of drug abuse, of nervous ailments and of suicide was particularly high in the unit in which I spent the whole of my second year of national service. I lost three friends in the course of that year, one to an overdose and two to suicide.
Morale Lags For Some U.S. Troops In Iraq	"Those who did the killing should not be the ones keeping the peace," said one soldier, who asked to remain anonymous. "They need to send us home."
The first Greek professional soldier refuses to fight	Acting on the basis of my conscience, I refuse to take part or contribute by any means in the relentless slaughter of the Iraqi people. I refuse to take part in a war that is not ended, as even now after its official end people and among them many children are being killed.
Marine who said no to killing	The first American conscientious deserter from the Iraq war will give himself up at a marine base in California this morning. He said he believed the war was "immoral because of the deception involved by our leaders".
US military now turning its back on deserters	Soldiers are usually classified as deserters when they have been absent without leave for 30 days and show no intention of returning. Last year 3,800 Army soldiers deserted, meaning that the Army's desertion rate was one-sixth of what it was during the Vietnam War, when it totaled 5 percent of the rolls.
A Genuine "Support Our Troops" Resolution	Be it Therefore Resolved that the U.S. Congress calls for the immediate return of U.S. troops to the U.S.

Three British soldiers sent home after protesting at civilian deaths

Three British soldiers in Iraq have been ordered home after objecting to the conduct of the war. It is understood they have been sent home for protesting that the war is killing innocent civilians.

Declaration of Greek conscripts against war	We will refuse to participate in any way in the military operations against Iraq and in any kind of occupational force after the war with or without the approval of the un security council.
Call to conscience from veterans to active duty troops	In the last Gulf War, as troops, we were ordered to murder from a safe distance. We destroyed much of Iraq from the air, killing hundreds of thousands, including civilians. We bulldozed trenches, burying people alive. The use of depleted uranium weapons left the battlefields radioactive. Massive use of pesticides, experimental drugs, burning chemical weapons depots and oil fires combined to create a toxic cocktail affecting both the Iraqi people and the Gulf War veterans today. One in four Gulf War veterans is disabled.
Never forget the real war against terrorism started 500 years ago	I believe that all of the Native American soldiers and marines over there in Iraq, along with every one of the Black and Hispanic troopers who, put together, make up sixty percent of the U.S. military's front line, should be asking themselves, "Why are we doing the white man's dirty work?" and "Why are we serving the empire that stole our homelands and massacred our people?"
28 Spanish military officers sign a manifesto against the war	The concept of ‘preventative war’ is contrary to the United Nations Charter. We do not believe Iraq to be a threat to other countries. We firmly believe that the solution to these problems is not through armed force which causes additional suffering to oppressed people.
Greek conscripts: “we won't fight for their interests.”	WE DEMAND: No Greek participation or involvement in the imperialistic wars and interventions. We won't fight for their interests. All Greek troops must return immediately from Bosnia and Kosovo. No Greek soldiers outside the border. No to the mercenary army. 12-month duty for everybody. Better and more human duty. Increase of leaves and free time of conscripts.
Brothers and sisters in the military: "Refuse to fight! Refuse to kill!"	We, the undersigned, are convinced that war is the greatest evil on earth. We believe that humankind must end war, or war will end humankind, and, in fact, all of creation. Our convictions have driven us time and again to the Pentagon, White House and Congress in acts of civil resistance to war. Now, we bring our plea to you, sisters and brothers, in the armed forces. Refuse to kill.
1944 -- pilot and crew refuse to bomb	George Wilson was part of an American bomber crew in 1944. One night the pilot called the crew together and told them he planned to refuse to fly missions against non-military targets. He would do so, he said, even if the military threatened to court-martial him. After a discussion that lasted almost until dawn, the crew decided to join the pilot in his refusal.
Portland police refuses cooperation with FBI	The Portland police will not cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in its efforts to interview 5,000 young Middle Eastern men nationwide because such questioning violates state law, the department's acting police chief, Andrew Kirkland, said yesterday.
One in three UK reservists try to get out of call-up for war	HUNDREDS of reservists are refusing to fall in for war on Iraq. More than one in five of those called up have already asked to be excused duty - or have simply not answered the call. And backbench MPs warn that many others may follow suit, bringing the final number of drop-outs to one in three - the highest percentage of "refusniks" in British military history.
Muslim GI refuses to fight	Khalil, 26, is of Pakistani decent and an American citizen. He served 4 years in the Marine Corps and transferred to the Army National Guard to finish his military enlistment. He announced: "If I'm ordered to go to the Middle East, I will not go".
Fighting not to fight	In the first world war, there were 3,800 COs; in the second world war, 42,000; in the Korean war, 4,300; in the Vietnam war, about 170,000 of the 2.15 million drafted; and in the 1991 Gulf war, 111.

Soldiers' mothers & fathers protest

NEW Dissent on the home front: families of US soldiers in Iraq lead anti-war protests	Poor conditions and low morale among troops have produced an undercurrent of dissent among US military families. We received more than 70 emails and phone calls from relatives, all but two were negative - about the treatment of soldiers, the reasons for the Iraq war, the pain of family separation and the insensitivity of the military bureaucracy.
Military Wife Rebuked for E-Mail	A campaign to raise awareness of the need for the [3rd Infantry Division] to return.
Our children will die	This is not some abstract war that they are talking about. Our sons and daughters will die, as will so many others.
A Colonel Runs	The army wives, normally a bulwark of stoicism, staged a near-mutiny. A colonel at Fort Stewart, who had been sent to soothe a meeting of 800 of them, had to be escorted out of the hall under a torrent of jeers and angry questions.
Bring Them Home Now!	So we are going to give troops, their families, and critical veterans a voice. That's the reason-for-being of "Bring Them Home Now!"
They spend billions of dollars in war and can’t spend a dollar on a child	40% of the US Army is Black and 60% of the US Marines are Latino. One in 12 young Black men are in prison. Should these be the only choices?
Bring Them Home Now!	We parents --many of us --know that our enemies are not in Iraq. Our enemies are in office, and they have the blood of children –some of them ours --on their hands. Everyone is someone's child, even when they are grown. Even when they take paths we don't approve of. Even when they become soldiers, and are sent to pay for lies with their bodies and hearts and the blood of others.
In Iraq, U.S. Troops Are Still Dying -- One Almost Every Day	The family of Army Spc. Rasheed Sahib, 22, of Brooklyn is particularly suspicious of the military's explanation of his death. According to the Pentagon, Sahib and another soldier were cleaning their weapons when the other soldier's weapon accidentally fired on May 18 in Balad, Iraq. The round hit Sahib in the chest.
The Working Class on the War Front and the Home Front	On March 20, the Congress overwhelmingly passed a resolution to "express the gratitude of the Nation to all members of the United States Armed Forces." Then, early the next morning, the House of Representatives voted to cut funding for veterans' health care and benefit programs by nearly $25 billion over the next ten years.
Parents of soldiers in the Gulf want a delay	Nancy Lessin, one of founders of Military Families Speak Out has a stepson, Joe, in the marines. She is a union activist from Jamaica Plain near Boston, Massachusetts who was previously active in opposing the Vietnam War. “If Iraq's main export was olive oil, we wouldn't be facing the possibility of war. This war isn't worth the life of one American soldier.” (17 January 2003)
US soldier mother speaks out for peace	Dear Mr. Bush, This is my son Tim. You have been referring to him as "military force." […] I want you to be continually mindful of the fact that your "military force" has a mother and two sisters that want you to value his life as we do. Not only do you have the future of our nation to decide, you have my son's future in your hands.
5000 mothers and fathers in Bolivia demand their sons to be discharged	Bolivia is again in the midst of grassroots insurrection, with road blockades and other actions to press the demands of a broad array of sectors. But this article (in Spanish) reports on a march by more than 5000 parents in La Paz demanding that the government immediate discharge their sons from the military, and not put their lives at risk in the road blockades and confrontations.

Sabotage and desertion

NEW Is the Philippine government bombing its own people for dollars?	On July 27, 300 soldiers rigged a giant Manila shopping mall with C-4 explosives, accused one of Washington's closest allies of blowing up its own buildings to attract US military dollars
US sergeant in custody after grenade attack at US base	An American army sergeant was in custody yesterday after one soldier died and at least 12 were injured in a grenade attack on a US command Centre in Kuwait. . . . The phenomenon of soldiers deliberately attacking those on the same side became known as "fragging" during the Vietnam war, because fragmentation grenades were often used. The attacks were often sparked by confrontations involving racism.
Reservists pay steep price for service	Thousands of citizen soldiers charged with rebuilding Iraq face an even more daunting prospect when they return home: repairing the damage to their careers and personal finances.
Guard, Reserve short on recruits	"I think it is reasonable to conclude that people are looking at the last 19 to 20 months of mobilization and they are voting with their feet," says Tom White, a former secretary of the Army. "I think we're seeing the leading edge of a problem."
Harass the brass! mutiny, fragging and desertions in the military	A friend who was in the US military during the Persian Gulf War told me that when George Bush visited the troops in Saudi Arabia before the war, many enlisted men and women in Bush's immediate vicinity had their rifle and pistol ammunition taken away. The bolts were also removed from their rifles.
Saddam Hussein in fear about the loyalty of his troops	When during the Gulf War in 1991 the defeat of Iraqi troops became obvious, mass desertions occurred. The number of desertions has remained high ever since: it is estimated that 13,000 deserters fled to Kurdish controlled Northern Iraq between 1990 and 1994.
A Duty to Disobey All Unlawful Orders	Military personnel have an obligation and a duty to only obey Lawful orders and indeed have an obligation to disobey Unlawful orders, including orders by the president.

Israeli Refusniks

NEW Israeli Air Force pilots in reserves: We refuse to attack in the Territories	We, who were raised to love the state of Israel and contribute to the Zionist enterprise, refuse to take part in Air Force attacks on civilian population centers. We, for whom the Israel Defense Forces and the Air Force are an inalienable part of ourselves, refuse to continue to harm innocent civilians.
NEW Israel: The trial of the five	Both Matar and Kaminer, replying to the prosecutor's questions regarding the duty to obey the law in a democratic state, said that Israel is not fully democratic.
NEW CO Yinnon Hiller exempted from military service.	in October 1998, Hiller, then 16 years old, notified the Israeli Minister of Defence of his conscientious objection to perform military service on pacifist grounds.
NEW Third of youth evade conscription	About 34 percent of youngsters of conscription age are not recruited to the army or are ejected from after joining,
APPEAL FOR ACTION FROM NEW PROFILE	"I, Noam Bahat, 'a soldier in the army of non-violence', hereby declare "On Thursday, 16 January, I began a hunger strike, protesting the occupation of the Palestinian people, the human rights violations in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, the detention of conscientious objectors in military prison, our recurrent sentences and the turning of the State of Israel into a fascist state before our eyes.
Refuseniks before the Court Marshal	"Already for years I know that i am not going to join the army. I know it with as much certainty as I know that I will never kick a homeless person lying on the sidewalk, never rape a woman, and when I will have a child - never abandon it.
"We Refuse The Occupation" demo of Friday -	From the podium a call was made of solidarity with the 3 UK soldiers and 1 US marine, imprisoned for their refusal to join the War Against Iraq.
A Refusenik Scientist Against Science Neutrality	No, science of the American variety has no recourse. I, personally, cannot see myself anymore sharing a common human community with American science. Unfortunately, I also belong to a culture of a similar spiritual deviation (Israel), and which seems to be equally incorrigible.
Statement of refusnik Shimri Tzameret, Jaffa Military Court	Already for years I know that I am not going to join the army. I know it with as much certainty as I know that I will never kick a homeless person lying on the sidewalk, never rape a woman, and when I will have a child - never abandon it.
Refuseniks' claim: IDF is releasing us to pretend we don't exist	The Israel Defense Forces has recently begun to release soldiers from reserve duty when they refuse to serve in the territories, activists in the Courage to Refuse movement claim. This new policy, the group claims, is aimed at creating the false impression that the refusal movement has waned.

"We Refuse The Occupation"	From the podium a call was made of solidarity with the 3 UK soldiers and 1 US marine, imprisoned for their refusal to join the War Against Iraq.
'I realised the stupidity of it'	His uncle is the hawkish former prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. But Jonathan Ben-Artzi is a conscientious objector who has already spent months in prison for refusing conscription - and today faces a full court martial.
Women's Draft Resistance in Israel	Israel is the only country in the world that practices conscription for women. It is thus also the only country in the world where women's draft resistance exists. The movement of women draft resisters in Israel is constantly on the rise
Women’s resistance must be visible - a letter from a draft resister	A letter from Shani Werner, a draft resister who has already received her exemption from the Israeli army on grounds of conscience. Shani is one of the initiators and organizers of the high school seniors group that wrote two open letters to the Prime Minister declaring refusal to serve in the army.
Statement of a conscientious objector to the service in Israeli army	I fail to understand how the repression of the Palestinian resistance to Israel by means of state terror - more cruel and of wider scale even than the counter terror which it provokes - serves the society that I am part of. How does the activity of the state, implemented through the army, benefit me and those I care for?
Declaration of refusal of service in the occupied territories by 100 Israeli Reservists	We, combat officers and soldiers […] have served the State of Israel for long weeks every year, in spite of the dear cost to our personal lives, have been on reserve duty all over the Occupied Territories, and were issued commands and directives that had nothing to do with the security of our country, and […] had the sole purpose of perpetuating our control over the Palestinian people.
Leaflet to soldiers by Yesh Guvl (There is a limit)	Wouldn't it be preferable to use the money to reinforce our social structures ? Wouldn't it be preferable to channel the funds to our crumbling health and education systems? Is it just to neglect the aged, the handicapped and the unemployed in favour of further settlements?
Reservists balk at occupation	Since the start of the current Palestinian uprising in September 2000, at least 400 Israelis, mostly reservists, have refused service in the Israeli-occupied territories, and in most cases they were quietly released from duty, according to a resisters' group, Yesh Gvul, which means, There is a Limit.
Israel jails 600 reserve soldiers in crackdown on draft dodging	So they are not willing to pay the price and risk their lives for something they don't believe in. This is a big problem for the army because it will affect their operations. The army needs to understand that fewer and fewer people are willing to do their dirty work in the territories.
Personal testimony of an Israeli refusenik	Without thinking, I turned into the perfect occupation enforcer. I settled accounts with "upstarts" who didn't show enough respect. I tore up the personal documents of men my father's age. I hit, harassed, served as a bad example - all in the city of Kalkilia, barely three miles from grandma and grandpa's home-sweet-home. No. I was no "aberration." I was exactly the norm.
To the courageous soldiers who say "NO!"	A friend of mine served in the Israeli Defence Force. He realized the insanity of it when his best friend was blown to pieces right next to him. He quit the army and quit the country. But he also told me about the fascination to hold a gun, the surge of power that one feels when you "can take somebody down from a 100 meters distance as a sniper". This is the disease of a male society. We get trained and taught what it means to be a man right from the beginning. We hardly get taught what it means to be a human.
A Letter from an IDF soldier to his mom	Good morning mom. Don't be ashamed for my behavior. I'm feeling very sick, I have the impression I'm becoming like a beast. I can't believe what I'm doing. I obey orders so I don't look like a sissy in front of my friends. You could never understand what it means to enter a house with ten children inside, woman and old people, pointing the rifle on them, shouting, "freeze!" in Arabic. Only a few months ago I was going to school, a nice sweet boy, now I'm an assassin.
Soldiers imprisoned for refusing to take part in human rights violations	Amnesty International calls on the Israeli government to release immediately and unconditionally all those who have been imprisoned because they refused to serve in the Israeli army for reasons of conscience or profound conviction.
Prisons are filling up with conscientious objectors	In a time in Israel when poverty is at its highest level since the 1950s, many career soldiers, among them pilots and intelligence officers have chosen jail and unemployment rather than carrying out orders that they feel are immoral.
Dear friends of Israeli refusers:	"I hereby call upon all young people facing conscription or already conscripted: use your power of judgment. Do you intend to cooperate with the horrifying regime of [Israeli Prime Minister] Sharon, as the instrument of execution? And if you do intend to enlist, do not forget for a single moment that the army takes away from you, at the moment of mobilization, your power of judgment. Consequently, you must consider in advance what are the lines you shall never be willing to cross, because once you are inside, everything gets blurred up.

Civil disobedience

Anti-war train drivers refuse to move arms freight	Railway managers cancelled the Ministry of Defence service after the crewmen, described as "conscientious objectors" by a supporter, said they opposed Tony Blair's threat to attack Iraq. The anti-war revolt is the first such industrial action by workers for decades
Stopping “death trains” in Italy	Over the course of the last week, a national mobilization against american military trains traveling through Italy has taken place. The week started last Friday, Febuary 21 when a small group of desobedients took to the station of Monselice to stop an american military train transporting war goods from base Ederle in Vicenza to Camp Derby in Pisa.
Fiat Pomigliano shut down against the war	The mass meeting of the workers stated that they wanted: “… to connect the struggle against redundancies and the ever-increasing speed of production to a conscious refusal of a war which will yet again slaughter workers and poor people in Iraq, and will worsen the situation of rights and conditions of life of workers and poor people in our country, since the billions of dollars and euros spent on the war will be taken from our pensions, our health service and every other service and social care”.

Fighting the draft

NEW Women Against Military Service	In addition the governmental initiative that contemplates the aspect of obligation [conscription] will have future implications on women who are heads of household, displaced, or single mothers who are mostly young given the high level of pregnancy that exists in Colombia. Ademàs la iniciativa gubernamental que contempla el carácter de obligatoriedad tendrá futuras implicaciones sobre mujeres cabeza de familia, desplazadas o madres solteras que en su mayoría son jóvenes dada la alta tasas de embarazos que existe en Colombia.
NEW Not in a soldier's name	He wasn't a pacifist. He'd done his military training. Franz Jägerstätter was a devout Catholic, a peasant farmer with a wife and children. He knew the difference between a just and an unjust war. When Hitler attacked Russia, he said: "This is aggression. I will not serve."
A Black man fights the draft	I told them that I was a conscientious objector, and they told me that I wasn't. They refused to help me, the Friends Peace Committee, the whole Quaker community, there was no white group that helped me. In fact it was the civil rights movement that became a support mechanism for me
Statements by Muhammad Ali, 1967	"I am not going ten thousand miles from home to help murder and burn a poor nation." ''If I thought going to war would bring freedom and equality to twenty-two million of my people, they wouldn’t have to draft me. I’d join tomorrow.''
Fighting the draft	In addition, one part of the physical was filling out the security form to make sure you were not a security risk to the United States. My mother assured me that the organization that my step father had founded and that both she and he were members of would be on the security list and we concluded that with a strong statement calling for world revolution and the forcible overthrow of the US government, the chances of my getting drafted would be small.
Working and not working for the army	An Italian man forced to do his military service describes his work: being used as strike-breakers, being used to enforce a coup., licking officers' boots for a few days off, risking your life during exercises., getting wounded and maimed., inflicting yourself wounds to be able to go home, going to military prison if you are caught, suffering nervous breakdowns, attempting and committing suicide . . .

Vets bear witness

Reservists pay steep price for service	Thousands of citizen soldiers charged with rebuilding Iraq face an even more daunting prospect when they return home: repairing the damage to their careers and personal finances.
The men who know	A total of 24 British soldiers died serving in the Gulf war; 571 veterans have so far died since their return - almost the equivalent of an entire battalion. Of those, the MoD says 107 were suicides, but some campaigners claim suicides make up 70% of all deaths.
War is just a racket.	Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.
What can we do about terrorism?	Mr. President, you did not tell the American people the truth about why we are the targets of terrorism. You said that we are the target because we stand for democracy, freedom, and human rights in the world. Baloney! We are the target of terrorists because we stand for dictatorship, bondage, and human exploitation in the world. We are the target of terrorists because we are hated. And we are hated because our government has done hateful things.
Marine would serve time rather than serve Bush	Clark spent five years in the Marines on active duty, in Hawaii and Asia, but he will not serve a day more.
Gulf war vets say US started oil well fires in Kuwait	For the past six years, the American Gulf War Veterans Association have received numerous reports from veterans stating that US forces were responsible for the setting of the oil well fires at the end of the Gulf War. These testimonies are now being taken very seriously in light of recent revelations of the events that occurred during the first Gulf War.
Killing Destroys the Mind and the Spirit I Was a Soldier Once	I was a soldier once, although I would like to believe that only my imagination could have created anything as horrific as war. Vietnam is a continuing nightmare in my life, a nightmare from which I have never been able to awaken.
1st Gulf War, I was there	And then these people are so desperate to surrender that they walk across mine fields to come to you and some of them are blown to bits by their own mines, by their own people so that they can not fight anymore. It is absolutely heart wrenching. Some of our commanders, even when people wanted to surrender, so that we wouldn't be slowed up, they would go ahead and drop artillery rounds on them.
Ten reasons why many Gulf war veterans oppose invading Iraq	According to VA, of the nearly 700,000 veterans who served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, more than 300,000 have sought VA healthcare, and more than 200,000 have filed VA disability claims. Two weeks ago, President Bush slashed $275 million from the healthcare budget of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Don't go in without UN backing, hero pilots warn	"The general public feeling is that we are not sure we're doing the right thing. "No one wants to go to war without a sense that your nation supports you."
Supporting the troops?	When I was a Marine infantryman in Vietnam, support meant a lot to me and my fellow grunts, but it didn't mean what most people thought. We wanted to come home alive.

Protesting disability

NEW The war against ourselves An interview with major Doug Rokke	Doug Rokke has a PhD in health physics and was originally trained as a forensic scientist. When the Gulf War started, he was assigned to prepare soldiers to respond to nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare, and sent to the Gulf. What he experienced has made him a passionate voice for peace, travelling the country to speak out
NEW Gulf War Syndrome	"People are sick over there already," said Dr. Doug Rokke, former director of the Army's depleted uranium (DU) project. "It's not just uranium. You've got all the complex organics and inorganics [compounds] that are released in those fires and detonations. And they're sucking this in.... You've got the whole toxic wasteland."
NEW The Real Casualty Rate from America's Iraq Wars	In 1991, U.S. forces fired a staggering 944,000 DU rounds in Kuwait and Iraq. The Pentagon admits that it left behind at a bare minimum 320 metric tons of DU on the battlefield. One study of Gulf War veterans showed that their children had a higher possibility of being born with severe deformities, including missing eyes, blood infections, respiratory problems, and fused fingers. Dr. Rokke fears that because the military relied more heavily on DU munitions in the second Iraq War than in the first, postwar casualties may be even greater.
No Money for Vets	"We are outraged by this appropriation bill since VA projects that 1.1 million veterans will either be pushed out or not even bother trying to access VA health care," said Sisk (from Veterans of Foreign Wars) "Already, we have hundreds of thousands of veterans waiting six months or more for medical appointments. This bill will compound the problem."
Marine Gets 7 Months In Jail For Refusing Anthrax Vac	In a random survey of 1,253 guard and reserve pilots and aircrew, the GAO found 84 percent suffered minor reactions and at least 24 percent major multiple "systemic" reactions, the latter more than 100 times higher than the estimate by the manufacturer.
Gulf War Veterans Sue Corporations	According to the filing, the Department of Veterans Affairs has determined that more than 100,000 veterans of the first Gulf War have at least a 10 percent impairment from chemical exposure
Gulf War Syndrome Made Him A Rapist	His lawyers argued that he suffered from Gulf War Syndrome, which made him violent and drove him to rape and murder a young servicewoman
Gulf War Syndrome, The Sequel	What Rokke and other outspoken Desert Storm veterans fear is today's troops are being exposed to many of the same battlefield conditions that they believe are responsible for Gulf War Syndrome. These illnesses have left 221,000 veterans on medical disability and another 51,000 seeking that status from the Veterans Administration as of May 2002.
A Vet Speaks From the New Jersey	If they tell you you should go There is one thing you should know They wave the flag when you attack When you come home they turn their back.
Birth defects tied to GWS	Sixty-seven percent of babies born to the 400,000 vets who suffer from Gulf War Syndrome have birth defects,
A little bit of help, for some	Between 1961 and 1971, US military forces dropped about 72 million liters of herbicidal agents on the Republic of Vietnam, including more than 45 million liters of dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange.
Court finds for Gulf illness veteran	An ex-soldier today won a landmark legal battle against the Ministry of Defence after the high court ruled he was suffering from an illness linked to his service in the first Gulf war.
Troops start trend with sperm banks	"Most of the time, it's the wife or girlfriend who gives us the call," he says. "They want to bank the sperm before the smallpox and anthrax vaccinations. And they're concerned because they've heard stories of men coming back from the Gulf and not being 100%, whether due to the vaccinations or to chemical and biological agents they were exposed to."
Soldiers back from Iraq in dismal health	Now a new study from the Department of National Defence shows that these soldiers, mostly men in the prime of life, are in worse health than the general population. In interviews done when they were back in Canada, about 30 per cent said their health is somewhat worse or much worse than it was one year ago.
Soldier wins Gulf War Syndrome case	"The tribunal finds that the appellant was vaccinated with a concoction of drugs prior to planned deployment in the Gulf War. The concoction of drugs caused osteoporosis" said the ruling, the publication of which was delayed until after the latest war in Iraq.

“What have I done!" - a hundred soldiers treated for "Intifada Syndrome”	They joined the most elite of units, full of motivation. They served terms of three years and more, fought in the hardest battles of the Intifada, but also had to face the civilian Palestinian population. Now that they had been discharged the difficulties are exposed, the personal problems and crises. Dozens of them went on backpacking trips to the Far East where they became drug addicted to heroine, cocaine and other hard drugs. Some tried to commit suicide.
The forgotten army	"Edward Denmark landed in the Falklands as a young gunner on May 21 1992. (. . .) The pain was just unbearable. I felt lost to life. I had night terrors and couldn't sleep. I left the army 12 months later. I spent the next two years getting absolutely drunk, my family disowned me, I was out on the streets."
Vaccination offers no protection	Just before his Christmas leave, he was offered various inoculations, including one for anthrax. He was told, if he wanted to have these jabs, he had to sign a disclaimer saying that, if he had illness in the future, he couldn't claim compensation.
New toxins threat to UK troops	Paul Tyler, head of an all-party parliamentary group investigating Gulf War Syndrome, will reveal new official evidence this week linking organophosphate pesticides to chronic fatigue syndrome, depression and muscle pain - several of the conditions affecting veterans.

MACHISMO BEGINS WITH THE MILITARY

NEW Male (and Female) Rape in the Military	"I didn't report anything. . . . They told me if I said anything I was dead. After I got up off the floor, I stood in the shower for three hours trying to wash the way I felt. I felt dirty and shameful,"
NEW Kenyan 'rape victims' win legal aid to sue MoD	Some 650 women are taking part in the suit, which alleges that the MoD did nothing to stop systematic rape by soldiers despite complaints dating back for 30 years.

Domestic Violence in the Military	* 75 to 84 percent of alleged offenders are honorably discharged. * Less than 7 percent of spouse abuse cases are adjudicated by court-marital.
Sexual Assault Pervasive in Military	Many women tell me that sexual assault is considered a rite of passage in the service, and they're treated like the black sheep of the family when they ask for accountability."
200 new rape claims by Kenyan women against British soldiers	The number of women who claim they were raped by British soldiers in Kenya over the past 20 years has doubled to more than 400, with lawyers investigating more than 200 new allegations this week.
Rapes at the Air Force academy	The number of female Air Force Academy cadets who say they were sexually assaulted and then reprimanded for reporting it has increased to 12 ( . . .) "whatever the number is, 25, 50, there are probably a hundred more that we do not see," Air Force Secretary James Roche said during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Raped in the military	The Air Force has acknowledged that at least 56 current and former female cadets were sexually assaulted over the last decade, and that many hesitated reporting the attacks for fear it would compromise their military careers.

Other men’s voices against war

An Open Letter to Pro-War Americans

After all, do we really have an obligation to support the troops no matter what they do as they prosecute this slaughter against a minor league opponent? Would you indeed support the troops if their mission involved nuclear incineration of Iraqi cities and villages? One, two, many My Lai massacres?

Men's voices join women's in calling for peace	Men have a tremendous stake in whether we fight another war. Fathers do. Sons do. Brothers, uncles, nephews, husbands--we all do. While the armed forces have begrudgingly accepted women into their formerly old boys' club, the vast majority of the soldiers bombing and battling in Baghdad will be male, most just barely past boyhood. Yet it is mainly our mothers, sisters, aunts, nieces, wives, partners and daughters who have been demonstrating for peace.
Men join women to demand "Invest in caring not killing" for the 3rd Global Women's Strike	My father went in the army at 15. He came out of abject poverty, had to steal his food from market stalls and shops. He came out of the army to marry my mother, but the 1st World War started, he was called up. Professional soldiers were in demand. There were most casualties in the first six months of the war, it was vicious, and he was one of them. In France he was blown up and was hospitalised for the rest of the war. He was discharged with a disability pension. Mother said he was a different person when he came home, his whole personality had changed. He couldn’t ever stop shaking
Refusing military service - speech at Shannon airport	I come from Italy, it's my home but there are many things that are wrong with my country. And one is that every man, at the age of 18, or later if he goes to university, has to waste 1 year being trained in the army. He has to spend one year being trained to kill and slaughter other human beings. Every single man is paid by the State for a whole year to be trained as a soldier, as a killer. Now that's a big waste of time, money and resources.
Refuseniks of the world speech at the 4th Global Women's Strike	When bus drivers allowed school girls to travel for free to the anti-war protest at Westminster last Wednesday or when police officers refuse to arrests peace activists or when teachers encourage, rather than discourage their students to oppose the war, they all contribute to the many refusals that we need to win against the warmongers.

Refusing to kill