WE ARE NOT YOUR SOLDIERS!

The We Are Not Your Soldiers Tour, a project of the World Can’t Wait, is not your typical counter recruiting classroom presentation. World Can’t Wait Activists and Iraq war veterans have teamed up to present the reality of ongoing wars of occupation, and the need for a resistance movement led by young people that can spark and inspire a much needed and more determined anti-war movement. The future of the young and the future of the people of the world are intertwined and hang in the balance.

Liz Lazdins, an activist with the World Can’t Wait and Anthony Wagner, an Iraq war veteran, teamed up earlier this week, and traveled to Columbus and Cleveland Ohio. They spoke with close to 200 high school students, and were able to observe military recruiters swarming the campuses, strutting through the hallways, swaggering into lunchrooms, obsequiously delivering luncheon platters into faculty rooms, and taking students out for lunch at local restaurants.

A number of students told Anthony that they feel very bothered by this. They feel harassed. Others told him that recruiters have called them at home continuing the army “sellathon “ by promising money for college, a good steady paycheck, job training……a bright future…and one student was even told that he would definitely not be sent to Iraq. Another student shared with Liz that his cousin, who is in the military, cried uncontrollably when he got redeployment orders for Iraq. Both Liz and Anthony also met students who felt it was patriotic and important to fight for freedom and democracy, and that they had relatives in the military who proudly serve.

After students heard Anthony dispel most of the recruiter promises, and tell some of his personal experiences of the horrors of combat, and heard Liz break down the historical time frame and steps leading to the never-ending wars of occupation, they had a chance to view a portion of “Rethink Afghanistan”,(Glen Greenwald film). The reality of the stories and the images had an impact on the classes.

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One week into the 8th year of the war in Iraq, the We Are Not Your Soldiers tour is on the ground  in Cleveland Ohio today. Tomorrow Liz and Anthony will  head to Columbus and tomorrow evening, Cleveland Revolution Books is hosting a fundraising party where people can come meet these speakers.   Here is a snapshot of what happened today:  These students were very sharp and really wanted to act to drive out recruiters to stop the war. One student talked about how it was hard to speak out when everyone else is being silent. Another student said that the recruiters come to the local recreation center where kids hang out and that she was going to bring a stack of the What Are The Recruiting For flier to this center.  Students were asking very thoughtful questions such as, ” Anthony, did they degrade you in boot camp?”  Liz and Anthony gave out orange We Are Not Your Soldiers bandannas to the students, which students really liked because it meant you could start resisting recruiters right now! One student said, ” If a recruiter comes by us and tries to get us to join, we should go up them and say ‘ Hey, We Are Not Your Soldiers!’”

More reports are coming in soon, make sure to follow us on this blog and Facebook for live updates

Pictures from today

Anthony Wagner and students today at a high school in Cleveland

Liz and Anthony in the classroom

We got love for the people who stand up to military recruiters

The We Are Not Your Soldiers Tour is getting ready to hit schools in Ohio this weekend, with more requests coming in from Seattle, Massachusetts and Connecticut. This tour brings Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to the schools to talk to students about the on-the-ground reality of the wars and the need for students to stop military recruiters. We want recruiters out now and we want to turn schools into hot spots of resistance, creating a situation where military recruiters are met with daily protest by the students themselves in all areas where they recruit. There is great need and a demand for this from teachers, parents and students.

Coming up soon, March 29th and March 30, Liz, an activist, and Anthony Wagner, an Iraq War veteran, will be traveling from Chicago to Cleveland, Ohio where they have been asked by teachers to reach out to 2 schools and at least 200 students. Then, on March 31, they have been asked to travel to Columbus, Ohio to speak in multiple classes to 110 students! The schools are saturated with military recruiters, located in low-income areas with Black and Latino students that recruiters consistently prey on. One teacher told us, “The school will sometimes sign students up for JROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps, viewed as a “military club”) as an elective course even if they don’t request it.”

Another teacher said, “I am extremely concerned about my students. I know that if things don’t change, a good chunk of  my students will be joining the military and fighting in these illegal wars.”

Both Liz and Anthony live in Chicago, where they have spoken in classes regularly. We need to fly them out to Ohio and to fund them for transportation and stipends, especially because Anthony is currently a student. They will not be able to meet these requests we already have and the new requests that are coming in daily without meeting our goal of $10,000.

One parent wrote to the us, “I am absolutely distraught because I just found out my son is joining the military. He joined the ROTC clubs at his high school and now he has signed his life away to join the military. I don’t know where to turn and I am hoping you can help me.”

A high school student wrote to us from a wealthy suburb in Florida, “[Emma’s] absolutely right, students need to resist. It’s sickening to see the military come to my high school and try to lure kids into fighting this imperialist war. It’s simply not right for military recruiters to go to high schools (like mine) to try to get teenagers to stray from education by joining the military. I believe that a bright future will come from going to college, not enlisting to fight an imperialist war for this fake idea of terrorism, and committing crimes against humanity.I would absolutely love for the World Can’t Wait to come to my school. ”

Will a whole new generation of young people be duped into becoming trained killers, occupying and oppressing the people of the world and not able to live normal lives because of the things they were apart of or will we inspire them to drive out the recruiters as a part of stopping these wars and fighting for a better world? If you want to stop these wars, help unleash resistance to military recruiting.

Donate now!  http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1170/t/3716/content.jsp?content_KEY=6860

The We Are Not Your Soldiers speaking tour is a crucial instrument in the counter military recruitment campaign being launched by the World Can’t Wait organization.

As a veteran of the Iraq war affected by PTSD, it’s difficult to talk about some of the abhorrent atrocities that are rife in combat, but I truly feel that it would be irresponsible of me to not speak out against the continuing crimes of our government. I didn’t serve this country for 6 years to sit back and watch as the atrocities continue to unfold. With the We Are Not Your Soldiers speaking tour I’m going into the high schools of my community and offering up an honest commentary on the realities of combat and military life.

I myself was recruited out of high school. After spending a year in Baghdad with the First Cavalry Division in 2004, my life has never been the same. I was a Bradley Crewmember awarded the Combat Action Badge on the notorious and deadly Route Irish. A lot of our younger brothers and sisters are coaxed into propagating this senseless war with promises of a better life, good health care, and college money. Of course, these benefits come at a cost that military recruiters are reluctant to talk about. And that’s where we need more of my fellow Veterans to come in. I know there are other veterans out there who can understand how critical it is to speak out against these illegal and immoral wars that are clearly being fought for EMPIRE and not “freedom”. I refuse to stand by, doing nothing, while military recruiters go into the high schools and recruit the youth in our communities to fuel this festival of ignorance called, the “War on Terror”.

We, as Military Veterans have certainly earned the right to redress grievances with our government, and right now my grievance is with the despicable “Poverty Draft” taking place in America. My fellow OIF/OEF Veterans, please, help out in this effort to stem the flow of bodies returning in flag-draped boxes and atrocities committed in our name. Speak out on a We Are Not Your Soldiers speaking tour in a city near you.  Visit wearenotyoursoldiers.org or call us at 347 385 2195

Anthony Wagner

U.S. Army

Combat Veteran

March 19-22: ANTI-WAR OFFENSIVE Virtual Fund Drive

Help students say no to recruiters!

Despite 7 years of “shock & awe” for the people of Iraq, the nightmare of U.S. occupation is not close to ending. People in the U.S. put their energy and hope into Obama’s “change you can believe in,” but instead we get the brutal Bush wars of aggression spreading! Humanity is paying a terrible price for the occupations, as the US offensive in Afghanistan is expanding and killing more civilians.

Visible protest, inspired by the energy and passion of youth, was needed under Bush and it is needed even more critically now.

You have the ability and the opportunity to help create an ANTI-WAR OFFENSIVE.

The We Are Not Your Soldiers Tour is ready to take the reality of the occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq to thousands of high school students, telling the stories of the veterans themselves. $10,000 is needed to enable Iraq and Afghanistan vets to exponentially spread this resistance among students.

Here is the breakdown of the $10,000:

$3,000 in stipends for veterans when they take time off from work to tour.

$3,000 for travel and lodging

$2,000 for advertising and promotion of tour ( facebook, newspaper ads etc)

$2,000 for organizing materials for students including stickers, buttons and fliers.

Imagine if military recruiters were reluctant to walk onto a high school campus… if the centers of recruiting were shut down – driven from the ghettos and the barrios… a new generation taking to the streets chanting, “We will not kill and die for empire,” and inspiring others to join them…

What would it take to make this happen? Don’t just imagine, make it possible. Help bring “We Are Not Your Soldiers” to students and youth in the crosshairs of military recruiters across the country.

Donate, join, spread: ANTI-WAR OFFENSIVE March 19^th-22^nd

Under President Obama, the US now has more troops deployed than it ever did under Bush! NOW is the time to raise the resistance and mobilize in the streets to demand an end to these unjust, immoral wars and occupations.

On the day marking the 7th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, join World Can’t Wait in Washington, D.C. on March 19/20 with Peace of the Action and the ANSWER Coalition.  Friday, March 19 is a day of action & outreach.  Saturday is a mass march on the White House.  World Can’t Wait is also supporting the marches in Los Angeles and San Francisco on March 20.

The wars will continue if youth keep being duped into joining the military. A whole new generation of young people must pledge their resistance to these wars , be visible in the streets and unleash a culture of defiance against military recruiting. Now is the prime time for We Are Not Your Soldiers to be visible in the high schools and on the streets. This tour present the penetrating reality of U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and can inspire a whole generation of young people to be out on the street on the anniversary of the war.  Contact us!

Organize your own protest wherever you are, or find an event near you!

For the last year or so I have been watching the construction of a new “Army Career Center”  located a block from my office in downtown Manhattan. Once a week I would pass it and it was always closed and covered with brown paper on the big plate glass windows.

It is located in an ideal spot, of course, because the military hires consultants to make sure they get prime real estate to suck up the youth.  Today the Army Career Center had its grand opening, a gala event that packed the center. I was able to make it there, but not until the end of the ceremony, when everyone had pretty much left, except for the Sgt. in charge, Castillo, and the brass. They were sitting around enjoying their food and smiling when I walked into the center. I asked for Sgt. Castillo, and was taken to the back room where he was sitting, along with his commanding officer, and another young soldier. I shook hands all around and introduced myself and told them my son just returned from his third tour of duty.

I recounted his story of joining the Marine Corps. and being deployed to Afghanistan, and then to Iraq twice as a reservist. They were very impressed and asked me when did he return, and was he still in the Marines. Yes, I said, he was in the IRR at present, but is a New York City Police Officer as his full time job, which he has been doing for 5 years.

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