http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/08/as-long-as-the-wars-continue-we-must-resist-them/
by Ron Jacobs
August 7th, 2009
As the casualty figures climb in Afghanistan and dip in Iraq and
support for those wars plummets, the question of troop resistance
remains on the table. According to US military estimates, desertion
and AWOL rates have climbed since the resistance in Iraq began its
armed campaign against the US occupation. In addition, recruitment
numbers dropped drastically, although they have began to climb since
the economy began its collapse in Fall 2008. Soldiers and Marines
have been stop-lossed and their tours of duty in the combat zones
were extended. In addition, many troops serve not one, but two or
three consecutive tours with as little as one month stateside between
tours. All of these phenomena have created increased levels of stress
and depression among the troops, leading to one of the highest known
suicide rates among veterans and active duty troops ever.
Many readers know at least one man or woman who has done time in Iraq
or Afghanistan. Although most vets seem to adjust to civilian life
once they are through with their military duty, many others do not.
indeed, even those who appear to be adjusting just fine often cause
concern among their friends and relatives because of changes in their
behavior. The Veteran's Administration (VA) is notoriously inept and
callous in its treatment of vets, despite the best efforts of some
individuals within the organization that struggle against the
overwhelming bureaucratic odds and inadequate funding endemic in the
agency. Newspapers run stories regularly about veterans lacking care,
lashing out at family members or others, and most tragically of all,
killing themselves. Yet, the Pentagon continues to push for an
escalation of the war in Afghanistan while carrying on what appears
to be a heated debate over whether or not to withdraw from Iraq.
Meanwhile, the US antiwar movement founders in the wake of a
substantial part of its membership giving their collective soul to
the Democratic Party. Since November 2008, it's as if the bloodshed
perpetrated by US policy in Iraq and Afghanistan is okay because
Barack Obama is leading the charge instead of George Bush. Besides
the National Assembly's call for local and regional protests against
the Iraq occupation and Afghan war in October, there has been barely
a peep from other national antiwar organizations. This is despite the
fact that Congress and Obama have approved several more billion
dollars for the wars and the size of the US force in Afghanistan has
nearly doubled while the promised withdrawal of US forces in Iraq has
not even begun.
It is the opinion of many anti-warriors that veterans have a key role
to play in any organized resistance. After all, it was their presence
in the movement against the Vietnam war that shook the conscience of
the US public in that war's later years. However, as Dahr Jamail and
his subjects point out again and again, the strength in numbers and
the political power of the GI movement against the war in Vietnam was
directly related to the strength of the greater antiwar movement. So,
despite the commitment of today's GI and veteran resisters profiled
in Jamail's book, The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in
Iraq and Afghanistan, that commitment is limited by the weakness of
the antiwar movement as a whole.
Jamail highlights the various organizations organizing GI resistance,
from the Iraq Veterans Against the War to the group Courage to
Resist. He also commits a chapter to each of the primary forms of
resistance and reasons for that resistance. He describes instances of
individual resistance and the refusal of entire units to carry out
missions. He also explores the nature of the sexist culture of the
military and the immorality of the wars themselves. One of the most
interesting chapters in The Will to Resist is titled "Quarters of
Resistance." It describes the mission and interior of a house in
Washington, DC run by a couple veterans. The purpose of the house is
to operate as a sort of clearinghouse for the GI resistance movement.
At times, the house has provided shelter for veterans and GIs
attending antiwar activities in DC. It is also a place that the
founder of the house, Geoffrey Millard, calls a "training ground for
resistance." In addition to these quarters, Jamail discusses the
beginnings of a coffeehouse movement slowly developing outside major
US military bases.
Jamal's book is also about his learning to understand and appreciate
the humanity of the US soldier. Originally inclined to consider them
all killers without conscience, his conversations and other
interactions with the young men and women who have gone to Iraq and
Afghanistan to kill in America's name have led him to understand that
many of these folks struggle with their souls on a daily basis. With
this growing understanding of folks who are essentially his
contemporaries, The Will to Resist becomes more than just another
collective biography of troops who discover their conscience under
the duress of war.
If the current commander of US troops in Afghanistan has his way,
there will be more than 100,000 US troops in Afghanistan by the end
of the summer in 2010. Already, Barack Obama has approved adding
20,000 more active duty troops to the 1,473,900 already on duty.
Without public protest, the escalation of the war in Afghanistan is
certain to continue. In addition, General Odierno in Iraq insists
that US troops remain in that country, as well. Furthermore, the
likelihood of combat against other foes chosen by Washington
increases. Resistance is never easy, as the men and women in The Will
to Resist can tell us. However, if the people who poured into the
streets to protest Bush's war are truly opposed to war, then they
should also make an appearance in those same streets now that the war
is Obama's.
--
Ron Jacobs is the author of The Way The Wind Blew: A History of the
Weather Underground. His most recent novel Short Order Frame Up is
published by Mainstay Press. He can be reached at: rjacobs3625@charter.net
.
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