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The struggle against war








 

SUBJECTS BELOW:
Reports from the fight
Bring the troops home now
Get the military out of our schools
The future of the struggle
Debates in the movement
The history of antiwar struggle

LATEST NEWS AND ANALYSIS

Discussing the movement's tactics
Campus Antiwar Network activists and supporters debate a Socialist Worker editorial on strategy of the antiwar movement.

Winter Soldier then and now
The veterans and active-duty soldiers who gather for Winter Soldier in Washington will be following in the footsteps of antiwar vets during Vietnam.

Voices of the Winter Soldiers
Socialist Worker talked to veterans from three wars--and participants in the Winter Soldier hearings, then and now--about their experiences.


REPORTS FROM THE FIGHT

Facing expulsion for speaking out
A recent antiwar protest by students at a Chicago-area high school has galvanized antiwar activists across the country in support of the students' right to free speech.

Confronting empire
Presentations from a Socialism 2007 plenary session by: John Pilger | Martín Sanchez | Dahlia Wasfi | Camilo Mejía | Jeremy Scahill | Rob Will | Joel Geier

Takeover of a senator's office in Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin-Madison students walked out of classes to demand an immediate withdrawal of troops in Iraq--and then occupied the office of Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl.

Speaking out for immediate withdrawal
After the January 27 antiwar protest, several hundred people packed into a standing-room-only forum featuring author Anthony Arnove and the IVAW's Kelly Dougherty.

Kelly Dougherty: "Our lives weren't important compared to profits"

Anthony Arnove: "The character of our movement is changing"

The antiwar movement returns to the streets
Making our voices heard
We're back--and we're determined to stop the war on Iraq. That was the message that hundreds of thousands of protesters took into the streets around the country on January 27.

Camilo Mejía reports on the Veterans for Peace convention
Military resisters speaking out
With the slogan "Sow Peace, Reap Justice," this year's Veterans for Peace convention highlighted the resistance against the Iraq war within the military's own ranks.

Could April 29 protest have accomplished more?
Antiwar march takes to NYC streets
As many as 300,000 protesters jammed the streets of Manhattan April 29, a larger-than-expected turnout that shows the spreading opposition to the occupation of Iraq.

Activists speak out on the campus struggle for...
College Not Combat
Over the past year, the student-led struggle against military recruiters has been a high point for the antiwar movement. SW prints excerpts from a New York panel discussion on the fight.

In the streets on September 24
Voice of the antiwar majority
On buses and trains and planes, in cars and vans, hundreds of thousands of people made their way to Washington, D.C., to take a stand against the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Cindy Sheehan's vigil ignites a new wave of protest
Turning point for the antiwar movement
Cindy Sheehan brought the antiwar struggle to George W. Bush's doorstep. And inspired by her example, activists across the country brought the movement back into the streets last week.

The people vs. Bush's war
Put the war on trial!
Socialist Worker convenes a court of the people--to hear testimony in the trial, not of war resisters, but of an immoral and unjust war.

Marching with the military families
"We have to speak out"
Veterans and family members of soldiers now in Iraq mobilized in large numbers for the October 25 demonstration in Washington, D.C. Socialist Worker spent the day talking to them.

The same chant heard in cities across the globe...
"The whole world is marching"
Some 10 million people took to the streets February 15 and 16 in more than 600 cities worldwide to oppose the Bush administration's war on Iraq.

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BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW

Wounded in war, neglected at home
At Fort Drum in New York, the U.S. Army tried to save a buck by preventing returning soldiers from getting the benefits they deserve.

Resistance in the ranks
Three antiwar soldiers--two veterans and one active-duty--sat down for a roundtable discussion about the occupation of Iraq and the antiwar struggle inside the U.S. military.

How Eugene Cherry took a stand--and won
A soldier, suffering the consequences of deployment in Washington's occupation of Iraq, takes on the U.S. military establishment. Socialist Worker explains how he won.

From foot soldier of empire to rebel for peace
Camilo Mejía, the first soldier to refuse deployment to Iraq, has joined the ranks of military veterans who have written classics that inspired antiwar movements.

The rise of the antiwar soldier
The relatively high-profile cases of military resisters provide the most visible expression of antiwar protest in the ranks. But they are only one kind of threat that soldiers can pose.

Spotlight on awful conditions at Walter Reed
Military's neglect of soldiers exposed
Revelations of decrepit living conditions and bureaucratic indifference at Walter Reed Army Medical Center have prodded the political establishment into long overdue action.

Resister Agustín Aguayo faces court-martial
"They're taking a stand for all of us"
SW talks to the wife of a soldier who faces a court-martial and years in military prison for refusing to participate in a war he believes is illegal and immoral.

An antiwar vet talks about the growing...
Dissent in the ranks
Chanan Suarez Díaz talks to SW about how his experiences in Iraq transformed his views--about himself and the role of the U.S. in the world.

Active-duty troops call for an end to the occupation
Voices of soldiers against the war
With October ranking as the fourth-deadliest month for U.S. troops since the invasion of Iraq, active-duty troops are adding their voices to the chorus of opposition.

An Iraq war veteran speaks out:
Questioning our role in a crusade for oil profits
One year after his return from Iraq, an antiwar veteran looks at the crisis of the U.S. occupation--and the growing opposition among soldiers.

Military resister Camilo Mejía:
"I pledge my allegiance to the poor and oppressed"
The first U.S. soldier who served in Iraq to go public with his refusal to continue fighting Bush's war for oil and empire speaks out about the struggle of the GI antiwar movement.

Cindy Sheehan of Gold Star Families for Peace:
"They died for a lie"
Socialist Worker talks to Cindy Sheehan, cofounder of Gold Star Families for Peace, about the challenges of working to end the occupation.

U.S. casualties from Iraq war hidden away at Walter Reed
"Used once and thrown away"
The most severely wounded U.S. soldiers go from the front lines to the back door--brought back to the U.S. under the cover of darkness to keep them hidden from the media and the public.

Tragic suicide of an Iraq war veteran
A casualty of Bush's war
Jeffrey Lucey is not a name that will not soon be forgotten by those who attended a memorial service for him at Holyoke Community College.

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GET THE MILITARY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS

Antiwar activists in New Haven refuse to be silenced
Threatened by a Marine recruiter
Activists who protested outside a recruitment station in New Haven, Conn., were threatened by a baseball bat-wielding Marine--but police said they were "confrontational."

School backs down
Victory for Hampton antiwar activists
Student activists at Hampton University in southeastern Virginia have won a crucial battle with the school's administration.

College Not Combat referendum passes in San Francisco
A message to the military
Two activists involved in the successful campaign to pass a ballot measure against military recruiting in San Francisco explain the significance of this victory.

Support spreading for counter-recruitment protesters
Hands off Dave!
To Dave Airhart, hanging an antiwar banner on the military recruiters' climbing wall at Kent State didn't seem nearly as offensive as the war the Marines commended him for fighting in.

The lies recruiters tell
The difficulty facing U.S. military recruiters is this: Everyone knows that new enlistees are likely to be shipped to Iraq. And everyone knows that U.S. soldiers are dying in Iraq.

A former Marine recruiter explains...
How they sell the military
Chris Dugan served in the Marines from 1995 to 1999, including a short period when he was a recruiter. Now, he considers himself a counter-recruiter.

How activists built the struggle
Seattle showdown
After the day of protests against George Bush's inauguration, a photo of chanting students in Seattle confronting a nervous-looking recruiter made the rounds on the Internet.

Battle in an LA school
SW talks to Los Angeles high school students who stood up to the military recruiters. Back to the top


THE FUTURE OF THE STRUGGLE

A movement on hold?
The U.S. war on Iraq is grinding on--and yet the antiwar movement seems to have ground to a halt.

Looking reality in the face
Pointing out the low level of antiwar struggle doesn't mean we're happy about it. On the contrary, the fact has to be addressed in a level-headed way in order to find solutions.

Why is the antiwar movement so weak?
With antiwar sentiment grown dramatically since the start of the war on Iraq, why does the antiwar movement today seem weaker and more divided?

Cindy Sheehan and the antiwar struggle
It's clear from Cindy Sheehan's statements that she isn't looking for personal sympathy--she wants to provoke a root-and-branch discussion about the antiwar movement.

Turning Washington's upside-down priorities right-side up
The alternative to war and poverty
The U.S. government spent $2.25 trillion last year, half of it on the military. Todd Chretien explains what would happen if that money was devoted to meeting human needs.

Anthony Arnove on the logic of withdrawal
Why the U.S. has to get out of Iraq now
Anthony Arnove discusses the themes of his newly published book Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal.

Where is the antiwar movement headed?
On March 18, while the international antiwar movement builds protests around the world, the anniversary of the U.S. invasion will pass unmarked by a national demonstration in the U.S.

Attempts to limit debate only weaken antiwar organizing
What kind of movement do we need?
Leaders of the antiwar movement who want to exclude left-wing views don't actually want a more reasonable movement, but one with different politics--on their terms.

Falling in line behind Kerry
It is striking that as the crisis in Iraq intensifies to its highest pitch since "Mission Accomplished"--and the candidates are forced to discuss the issue--the antiwar movement is quiet.

How can we stop their wars?
What will it take to stop this war? That's the question on the minds of millions of people. Socialist Worker talks to veterans of past antiwar struggles about the challenges that our movement faces.

Exposing the ''anti-antiwar'' crusaders
The movement against a new war on Iraq has grown more quickly than previous antiwar struggles. But the corporate media regularly devotes more space to critics who question not the war, but the motives and tactics of antiwar activists.

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DEBATES IN THE MOVEMENT

Backing Ron Paul weakens the antiwar struggle
The anti-immigrant politics of the Ron Paul campaign align it with Bush's "war on terror" and the Minuteman-like hate groups.

The pro-war Democrats' antiwar enablers
Two figures from the antiwar movement are already justifying support for a pro-war Democrat in the upcoming presidential election.

Old excuses from the new majority
Congressional Democrats are still claiming they "don't have the votes" to challenge the Bush White House--even though they're the majority party in Congress.

Building on the antiwar majority
How can the antiwar movement reach out to wider layers of people who oppose the war, but are not yet active, and give them confidence to get involved?

Too late and too little
Democratic leaders have become openly hostile to antiwar activists. But the nation's largest antiwar coalition appears undeterred from pursuing its amicable relationships.

Does it matter if we protest?
The idea that antiwar protests don't matter has spread far--echoed even by people in, or sympathetic to, the antiwar movement. The conclusion, however, is mistaken.

Does Obama stand for a different foreign policy?
An article by Barack Obama that headlines the current issue of Foreign Affairs puts his ideas about foreign policy out for all to see.

What happened to standing up against the war?
That was the question millions of people were asking after the Democrats blinked in their showdown with George Bush over funding the war on Iraq.

Standing up to Islamophobia
It is important that the antiwar movement reject the distorted picture of Islam presented by pro-war conservatives, and oppose the entire project of the "war on terror."

"The U.S. occupation is the major source of violence and chaos in Iraq"
The case for immediate withdrawal
The Iraq Study Group report blames the Iraqi victims for the disaster that exists today. But as Anthony Arnove explains, the main source of violence in Iraq is the U.S. occupation.

Top House Democrat proposes bringing back the draft
Would a draft be more fair?
While Rep. Charles Rangel may raise the right questions about who the U.S. government sends into battle, his plan to bring back the draft is terribly wrong.

Why has UFPJ been so timid in calling protests?
The antiwar struggle and the Democrats
By every conceivable measure, the antiwar movement in the United States should be a vibrant, mass movement. So why is it so passive?

Calls for UN intervention to "Save Darfur" ignore...
What the U.S. has in store for Sudan
The central demand of the "Global Day for Darfur" was not an appeal for stepped-up aid to the victims, but a call for 20,000 NATO/UN troops to occupy the region.

Israel and the future of the antiwar movement
Israel's slaughter of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians should be a moment of truth for the U.S. left.

Antiwar movement debate over Palestine:
Unity on what basis?
The debate about why there are two antiwar protests called for September 24 has been joined by the crystallization of political differences on the crucial question of Palestine.

Should the U.S. get out of Iraq now?
Alex Ryabov, Anthony Arnove and Erik Gustafson debate what attitude antiwar activists should take to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Why you can't be antiwar and pro-occupation
Opinion polls show that opposition to George Bush's war for oil and empire is wider than ever. Yet within the antiwar movement, some voices say they support continued occupation.

Why we support the resistance to occupation
Iraq's right to national self-determination
Whatever the religious and political affiliations of the different resistance organizations, its main goal is "to liberate their country from foreign occupation."

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THE HISTORY OF ANTIWAR STRUGGLE

Tet: The turning point in Vietnam
Forty years ago, a nationwide offensive by the fighters of the liberation struggle in Vietnam exposed the lie that the U.S. was winning the war.

The story of the GI coffeehouses
The GI coffeehouse provided a way for the antiwar movement to reach out to soldiers in a setting outside the authoritarian grip of the military.

The march of the Bonus Army
With the Great Depression causing mass unemployment, some 40,000 war veterans made their way to Washington, D.C., in 1932 to demand an immediate bonus payment.

How the Vietnam War was stopped
The American movement against the Vietnam War was one of the most successful in history, and played a major role in ending the war.

SDS and the struggles of the 1960s
Students for a Democratic Society came to symbolize the explosion of dissent and protest on college campuses during the 1960s.

The soldiers' revolt in Vietnam
Rebellion in the ranks
The rebellion within the U.S. armed forces that contributed to the U.S. defeat in Vietnam has been erased from public memory. The republication of a classic account of this revolt is welcome.

The struggle that stopped the Vietnam War
The making of the movement
The antiwar movement was itself part of a wave of radicalization in the early 1960s, and it grappled with a series of political questions.

Mike Alewitz on Kent State and its aftermath
"The spark that set it off"
A leader of the antiwar struggle at Kent State University talks about the shootings of four students by the Ohio National Guard.

The real story of the...
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign against John Kerry represents the latest effort by right-wing groups to erase from history the role that U.S. soldiers played in ending the war in Vietnam.

The fight against Papa Bush's Gulf War
The media and the history books have hidden the horrors of the first Gulf War. But then again, they've also hidden the fact that there was a mass antiwar movement in 1991.

"Wars have always been waged for plunder"
Socialist Party leader Eugene V. Debs gave a powerful speech against the First World War on June 16, 1918, in Canton, Ohio--and spent 10 years in prison for it. Here are excerpts from Debs' Canton speech.

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