Stop the Endless War: Boycott the Volunteer Army
by Doug Fuda
Dissident Voice
January 25, 2003
Since the immense
events of September 11, 2001, a large and diverse antiwar movement has arisen
in America to challenge the war plans of the US ruling class. It turns out that
the death of the "Vietnam Syndrome" (the refusal of Americans to
support war) had been declared prematurely after the First Gulf War. We are
having an impact. The corporate power elite has found it necessary to delay
their plans for an Iraq invasion.
The problem for
us is that, popular sentiment not withstanding, they will attack anyway if they
feel it is essential to their interests. They will rely on their control of the
corporate media and the overwhelming power of war itself to weather the storms.
And even if they don't attack, if the balance of risks and benefits for them
militates against an Iraq invasion at this time, then what about the next war,
and the next? Remember, they have pledged a "war on terror" that will
last 60 years. This promises to be a long and serious struggle over the future
of our society. What will it be: permanent, aggressive war directed by
powerful, super rich elites or democracy, shared prosperity and self-defense of
a decent society? It is not just about one war.
The antiwar
movement needs to go on the offensive against the war machine. We need to have
a long range strategy to challenge the power and maneuverability of the
"War Party" so that we don't have to expend all our energy worrying
about each and every tactical move of our adversaries.
Vietnam and the Draft
One foundation
of the seemingly invincible elite power is the so-called volunteer army which
is a solution that the Masters of War devised for a problem they encountered
during the Vietnam years. The army of draftees turned out to be unreliable and
volatile, and the widely despised draft itself fueled the greatest antiwar
movement in American history. Today the rulers seem almost imperial as they
have their own private army to wage their wars, an army primarily composed of
young working class men and without the democratic "messiness" of
universal conscription.
The volunteer
army seriously divides ordinary people in America along class lines. In
"Today's Army," the recruitment is aimed at working class, blue
collar kids and poor kids, and that's who they get to be their
"grunts." The sons and daughters of doctors, lawyers, college
professors and upper middle class people in general will not be picking sand
out of their teeth in Iraq.
Military
recruitment tactics are to use bribery and "incentives" to lure working
class kids, to try to appear hip and ultra modern with their "be all you
can be" and their "awesome" 3D computer games and graphics. They
prey on the legions of somewhat disconnected, alienated young men who feel that
they have no bright future or meaningful role in society. They manipulate the
desire of the young for action and adventure and their need to find meaning in
their lives by being part of something bigger than themselves.
But the pillar
of elite strength may also turn out to be their greatest weakness. A movement
to cripple their war-making power has only to focus on one goal—to dry up the
supply of volunteers. In that sense the volunteer army is a legacy left for us
by that last great popular movement against the Vietnam War—it is the Achilles
heel of the war machine. By organizing a widespread and focused boycott of the
volunteer military of the United States, the antiwar movement can up the ante
for the warmakers with a direct threat to collapse their armed forces.
The Advantages of a Boycott
The advantages
of a campaign to encourage "Refusal" are numerous:
* It is
democratic in character, relying on persuasion and a direct appeal to fellow
citizens to resist the lies of the undemocratic forces that dominate our nation
and government. We would be talking to each other rather than phony politicians
who claim to represent us but who seem to fall over each other in their rush to
praise militarism and aggressive war that Americans don't want.
* It is
inclusive. Everyone who hates the war machine can participate on whatever level
they see fit. It can bring people of different political persuasions and walks
of life together in a broad and effective antiwar movement.
* It addresses
the inequity of the volunteer army—that it is poor and working class kids who
will bear the major burden of the endless war. We are asking people of
different class backgrounds to join together and fight for the safety and well
being of all our young people.
* A
"Refusal" campaign can have a large impact in a relatively short time
period and it can also have the immediate impact of saving individual kids'
lives. Every young man or woman whom we persuade to reject military service is
one less recruit to be "cannon fodder" and/or a professional high-tech
killer for the elite. They are our kids not the government's.
* It is also a
long range strategy for fighting the rulers' grandiose plans for empire over
time—not just a plan to fight one particular war. Regardless of the rhetorical
fury that the warmongers will unleash if we are successful, the jet fighters
and the aircraft carriers, the tanks and the nukes will become useless piles of
junk if there are too few recruits to man them.
Let's Get Started!
We should go
into the schools and colleges, and stand outside recruiting offices and talk to
the kids and urge them not to enlist and tell them why. We could also approach
people currently on active duty and try to persuade them not to reenlist when
their time is up. We could build up our own army of
"refuseniks"—potential recruits who change their minds and refuse
military service—and put their names on the Internet and acknowledge their
pledge. Maybe some antiwar businessmen could even set aside some decent jobs
and scholarships for them!
Public schools
in Oakland, California recently held teach-ins to debate and discuss the issues
surrounding war. Such teach-ins would be a perfect opportunity to get this
effort started. We could easily develop an emergency "vaccination"
kit of anti-recruitment literature to give to the kids. Instead of terrifying
them about smallpox, anthrax and nerve gas we could inoculate kids with the
truth to protect them from the rotten pro-war propaganda and slick advertising
of the military and government. We should also demand that our public schools
refuse to cooperate with the "No Child Left Behind Act" and not
supply names of students to the military recruiters.
The
possibilities are endless and there are already millions of creative people who
are profoundly opposed to the orchestrated war fever who might well be
galvanized by a plan like this. Short of a revolution, is there anything that
has more potential to seriously disrupt our elite rulers' plans for their New
World Order?
The kids want
meaning and adventure and connection in lives robbed of meaning by a warped
money-dominated militaristic society. We can offer them a chance to join the
"greatest adventure of all times," the battle against the forces of
darkness to make a better world and to challenge the authoritarian control of
our country by a powerful, arrogant but vulnerable minority of terrorists which
has hijacked our democracy and assaulted our Constitution. The future belongs
to the young people. Let's give them an opportunity to create it.
Doug Fuda is an activist and writer with New Democracy. New Democracy will
attempt to launch anti-recruitment efforts in the Boston area and try to bring
people together across the country. Individuals or groups can contact newdem@aol.com. Doug welcomes your comments: dougfuda@aol.com