COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: War Protests: General
Groups stand up against military recruitment in Ohio
Christopher Gohlke, Athens NEWS
10-24-2005
High schools have recently become the "latest anti-war battleground" as students, parents and activists organize counter-recruitment campaigns to keep military recruiters out of schools - and this movement has finally reached Athens.A USA Today article last month noted that as some military branches are having trouble meeting recruitment goals - particularly the Army and the Marines - various campaigns around the country are forming to make their job even more difficult.
Groups such as Leave My Child Alone, United for Peace and Justice, and the World Can't Wait coalition are all focusing efforts on preventing military recruiters from soliciting enlistees inside schools.
The Athens Can't Wait Coalition (ACWC), a local spin-off of the World Can't Wait group based in New York City that is charged with "driving out the Bush regime," is bringing the counter-recruitment movement to Athens.
The ACWC comprises several progressive Ohio University student groups and local organizations, including Positive Action, InterAct, Students for Peace and Justice, and the Federation of United Queers.
The coalition recently brought the Pittsburgh Organizing Group, or POG, to the OU campus to discuss "the growing national movement to obstruct military recruitment," according to a press release issued by the ACWC. The presentation was held last Wednesday in Bentley Hall.
POG's ultimate goal is to help end the war in Iraq through a reduction in the number of new recruits in the military; ultimately, the group hopes, the plummeting number of troops will force the U.S. to pull out of Iraq.
"If enough counter-recruitment occurred, clearly this war could not continue," said Alex Bradley, a member of the Pittsburgh Organizing Group.
Bradley said he regards "conscientious objection" to military recruitment as the best way to end the war, and said it's "morally unacceptable" not to stand up against military recruitment and the war in Iraq.
Supporters of a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq, including some opponents of the original invasion, argue that it would be immoral to leave an unprepared Iraqi government and military on their own against a powerful insurgent movement, and that the resulting civil war could be far worse than what's happening in Iraq today. The United States should stay at least long enough to get a functional Iraqi military and government established, they say.
POG's presentation Wednesday focused mainly on the group's efforts in the Pittsburgh area to combat military recruitment of high-school students in the poor neighborhoods of the city.
In August, POG held a series of protests outside the main military recruiting station in Pittsburgh. During one of the events, which the group called a "peaceful protest," the POG representatives said, police used Tasers and pepper spray on several protesters, while a police dog attacked an elderly female group member. Several of the protesters were arrested and faced charges ranging from minor misdemeanors to "rioting to prevent official action," a felony.
POG members maintain that the way they were treated by the police was unwarranted. Many of the charges were dropped, but the event still caused significant political controversy and national media attention.
Bradley said he wants to help get the word out about the risks of military recruitment and assist other groups in organizing counter-recruitment movements in their areas.
"I had friends from high school who enlisted, and I realized they weren't making an informed choice," he said. "I don't want to see happen to others what happened to my friends."
The Athens Can't Wait Coalition is taking some tips from POG to help bring the counter-recruitment effort to southeast Ohio.
But the ACWC's ambitions may not be so radical. Damon Krane, a member of InterAct and the project coordinator for bringing POG to campus, said he just wants to help educate high-school students on the pros and cons of the military before they make the decision to enlist.
"Everybody deserves to have that breadth of information to make an informed decision," he said at the POG presentation.
In its first major local counter-recruitment effort, the ACWC is organizing a campus walkout on Nov. 2 to culminate in a march to the Athens Armed Forces Recruitment Center on Grosvenor Street. The group will announce additional details regarding the walkout and march at a press conference Tuesday morning.
Anti-recruitment, anti-Bush and anti-war protests are planned all around the country for Nov. 2, the first anniversary since President Bush's re-election.
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