US Policy: More war, less relief
By Sarah Lazare, Courage to Resist for ZNet. January 24, 2010. As Haiti asks the world for help turning around the destruction wrought by the January 12th earthquake, the U.S. is funding destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Obama is expected to ask for another $33 billion for the military budget this year, on top of the $1 trillion that has come out of U.S. taxpayers' pockets since 2001, to fund the so-called War on Terror. In contrast, the president has pledged $100 million in aid to Haiti, amounting to not much more than the mortgage on a rich person's house. Howard Zinn (1922-2010)
By Jeff Paterson, Courage to Resist. February 1, 2009 Historian. WWII veteran. Author. Activist. GI resistance supporter. Cliff Cornell to be relased early
Successful clemency effort funded by Courage to Resist supporters. By Courage to Resist. December 21, 2009 Iraq War resister Cliff Cornell was granted a 30 day reduction to his one year jail sentence this week. The Commanding General of Fort Stewart, Georgia knocked off the month in response to a clemency request filed by Cliff’s civilian attorney James Branum of Oklahoma. Cliff is now expected to be released on or about January 16, 2010. Eric Jasinski forced to go AWOL for PTSD care
Please donate to Eric's defense at couragetoresist.org/eric Eric's story was featured on the front page of The New York Times. December 24, 2009 By Dahr Jamail, IPS News. December 11, 2009 MARFA, Texas - With a military health care system over-stretched by two ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, more soldiers are deciding to go absent without leave (AWOL) in order to find treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Eric Jasinski enlisted in the military in 2005, and deployed to Iraq in October 2006 as an intelligence analyst with the U.S. Army. He collected intelligence in order to put together strike packets - where air strikes would take place. Leo Church released from Ft Lewis stockade Amanda and Leo Church By Courage to Resist. December 11, 2009 Two days ago, Leo Church was finally released from the Ft. Lewis stockade, an hour south of Seattle, Washington. Leo was sentenced to eight months in imprisonment for having gone AWOL, which he did in order to prevent his wife and children from becoming homeless. He tried to get help from his unit, but was denied. He and his wife Amanda were eventually forced by this ordeal to give up their newborn son for adoption. On their way home, Amanda and Leo stopped by the Under the Hood cafe today in Killeen, Texas (photo right). Dialogues Against Militarism report from Israel/Palestine DAM activists Stephen Funk, Sarah Lazare, and Clare Bayard. Bilin, Israel/Palestine 11/13/09 Update from Sarah Lazare, Courage to Resist Project Coordinator, and Iraq War resister Stephen Funk who are traveling throughout Israel/Palestine with the Dialogues Against Militarism project. By Sarah Lazare and Stephen Funk. November 11, 2009 About 25 of us trudged towards military prison 400, just outside of Tel Aviv, coils of razor wire and lookout towers looming above us, fields of mud and dry grass to our right. As we walked past, soldiers in the towers yelled out to us in Hebrew: “We are prisoners, too” and “We don’t like the cops either!” referring to the two police vehicles trailing us. When we reached our destination – an opening in the field, nestled between the fences marking the perimeter of the prison – we began setting up the sound system and preparing for the day’s goal of reaching earshot of Or Ben-David, a young Israeli being held in prison for refusing the army draft. Preparing undeployables for the Afghan Front
By Dahr Jamail and Sarah Lazare, Courage to Resist, for TomDispatch. November 11, 2009 As the Obama administration debates whether to send tens of thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan, an already overstretched military is increasingly struggling to meet its deployment numbers. Surprisingly, one place it seems to be targeting is military personnel who go absent without leave (AWOL) and then are caught or turn themselves in. Army sends infant to protective services, mom to Afghanistan
Army has mom, Alexis Hutchinson, arrested and 11-month old son put into county foster care system. Donate to Alexis' legal and family support fund (couragetoresist.org/alexis) By Friends of Alexis and Kamani. November 12, 2009 Specialist Alexis Hutchinson of Oakland, CA is the single mother of an 11-month old boy, Kamani. Currently she is confined to Hunter Army Airfield near Savannah, Georgia, where she has been posted since February 2008, and threatened with a court martial if she does not agree to be deployed to Afghanistan, even though she has not found anyone to take care of her child while she is away. (photo: Alexis Hutchinson and son Kamani / Facebook) Alexis' attorney now available for media inquires. Contact via Courage to Resist. Hope, courage and support
This is an amazingly effective, bare-bones organization. I’m asking you to become a monthly sustainer or to make a larger-than-you-first-thought contribution so that we can continue to organize the “support of the people” when soldiers become part of the solution, and to build a better world. A message from David Solnit, Courage to Resist organizer Three things I want to tell you briefly: hope, courage and support. It has been rough; 12 killed and at least 30 injured at Fort Hood, TX and Obama is about to deploy tens of thousands more young soldiers to war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Also: December 2009 Courage to Resist newsletter now available (PDF) Sanctuary: Rodney Watson takes refuge in Vancouver church
"Stop-lossed" Iraq War veteran Rodney Watson takes sanctuary at the First United Church in Vancouver, Canada to resist deportation back to the U.S. and Army desertion charges. Take action: Sign the "Dear Canada: Let them stay" letter. By John Bermingham, Vancouver Province. October 19, 2009 U.S. army deserter Rodney Watson has become the first fugitive from service in Iraq to enter church sanctuary in Canada. Monday morning, the 31-year-old told reporters he has been living in refuge at the First United Church in Vancouver since Sept. 18. "I don't believe it will be just for me to be deported," said Watson, flanked by church ministers and supporters. Watson lost his refugee claim on Sept. 11, and was expecting to be deported back to the U.S., where he faces jail for refusing to do a second tour of duty in Iraq. Travis Bishop from the Ft. Lewis stockade
Serving a 12-month prison sentence as an Amnesty International designated "prisoner of conscience," Travis refused to deploy to Afghanistan based on his religious beliefs after having had filed for a conscientious objector discharge. Donate to Travis' ongoing legal expenses. By Travis Bishop. October 20, 2009 The support I have gotten for my decision has been extraordinary. I can never repay the help and support I’ve gotten, but I will try hard to once I’m released. Things here at Fort Lewis are grim. I was in isolation the first ten days I was here. It was hell, and I never want to go back to that. Now I’m in a bay of around 20 guys and it’s a little better, but we are treated like children, or murderers, by most of the guards. They forget very quickly that we were all soldiers once… They barley even show us common human courtesy and respect. More Articles...
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Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, Los Angeles
