By Richard Kreitner From TheNation | Original Article Bowe Bergdahl (Photo courtesy of the United States Army) “Myths abound about deserters.” So begins an essay in the April 16, 1973, issue of The Nation. Those who propagate such myths, the essay argued, “rely on World War II clichés and stereotypes of the bad guy slinking away from his buddies under […]
By Ray McGovern From Consortiumnews.com | Original Article The right-wing media is denouncing Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl as a “deserter” who wasn’t worth ransoming from the Taliban, but the real villains are the architects of the disastrous Iraq and Afghan wars who frivolously put the many Bergdahls in harm’s way, writes ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern. For me, the Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl […]
On April 30th and May 1st, the We Are Not Your Soldiers tour visited two NYC alternative high schools to take part in special study days each school was holding around social issues. John Burns, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, spoke to the students about his experiences and more generally about the […]
By Pratap Chatterjee From TomDispatch.com | Original Article Speaking Truth from the Robotic Heavens Enemies, innocent victims, and soldiers have always made up the three faces of war. With war growing more distant, with drones capable of performing on the battlefield while their “pilots” remain thousands of miles away, two of those faces have, however, […]
From Network for Peace | Original Article While viewing the documentary, “Singers in the Band,” I suddenly began to cry. The film was shown during an event co-sponsored by the Network for Peace through Dialogue in conjunction with the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women meetings last month. I cried because I […]
By Greg Milam From Sky News | Original Article The Veterans Affairs Secretary rejects resignation calls over claims people died because of treatment delays at some VA hospitals. America’s top veterans’ affairs official has said he will not resign over claims that as many as 40 people died while waiting for medical treatment in the […]
From Democracy Now | Original Article A new documentary film reveals how a regular U.S. Air Force unit based in the Nevada desert is responsible for flying the CIA’s drone strike program in Pakistan. “Drone” identifies the unit conducting CIA strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas as the 17th Reconnaissance Squadron, which is located on the […]
Excerpts from Courage to Resist article by Mike McKee| Original Article A recently circulated academic paper from a U.S. Army War College research fellow demonstrates that counter recruitment is having a substantive effect on the military’s ability to recruit and retain soldiers. Writing in 2010, its author, Lt. Col. Todd Jacobus of the US Army National Guard, […]
By Sarah Lazare From Common Dreams | Original Article Dafna Rothstein Landman told Common Dreams she’ll go to jail before she’ll serve in the Israeli Army. (Photo courtesy of Dafna Rothstein Landman) Those are the words of 17-year-old Dafna Rothstein Landman, one of 60 and counting Israeli youth who signed an open letter sent to Israeli Prime […]
by Marc Pilisuk and Ines-Lena Mahr From Project Censored | Original Article The role of professional psychology in providing assistance to soldiers and veterans was highlighted by an issue of the American Psychologist devoted to a program for using positive psychology for resilience training. Shortcomings of that approach led to AP agreeing to another issue to alternative perspectives. This article […]
We Are Not Your Soldiers visited two NYC high schools before the February break – one a mini-school in Manhattan, part of a larger high school campus, and the other a transfer high school in Brooklyn. John Burns, a recent veteran, spoke at both. […]
The public should know what really goes on. Few of the politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue how it actually works (and doesn’t). By Heather Linebaugh An Elbit Systems Hermes 450 drone. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Whenever I read comments by politicians defending the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Predator and Reaper […]
