Catholics Initiate Calls to Refuse, and Support War Resisters

I can only say good for them. This post from the Courage to resist blog:

Wrong is easy. Right is difficult and long. Do what your heart says is right.

We knowingly and willingly make this plea to you in violation of 18 USC Sec. 1381 and 2387 (see below). We knowingly and willingly embrace some of your risk by urging you to refuse duty in the U.S. military.

We plead with you, as Bishop Oscar Romero pleaded with Salvadoran troops: "When you hear the words of a man telling you to kill, remember instead the words of God: 'Thou shalt not kill!' No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God?In the name of God, in the name of our tormented people who have suffered so much and whose laments cry out to heaven, I beseech you, I beg you, I order you in the name of God, stop the repression!'"

If you choose to leave the military, please know that our hearts and homes are open to you.

Now those are indeed powerful words. I'm not a Christian, as i've stated before, but when Christians speak out against the evils of war, I will stand in solidarity with them.

Call to Action - 3rd October Mass Write in to Gordon Brown

To Fellow Pro Peace campaigners, a call to action, from the Stop the War Coalition:

Stop the War has named Wednesday 3 October as a day of action dedicated to letting Gordon Brown know what the people of this country feel about the Bush and Blair wars, now being continued by Gordon Brown.

Please click the link above for more information.

Webring Open For "Blogathon For Peace 2008" Event

Hi, i'd like to thank those who have sent supportive messages, they are greatly appreciated.

Now, onwards. To make this Blogathon for Peace 2008 event a more effective event, a webring has been specially created for all bloggers wishing to participate on the 20th March 2008.

The link below takes you to the ring hub, and if you wish to participate in the event, and maybe help to organise it, then please click on the "Add your website Join Here" button in the top right hand side of the page.

But, before going there, please read the following:

All Blogs are asked to be pro peace, and to place the navigation code available in the Webring member area to the blog's homepage before a blog is accepted into the ring, the Webring system itself judges whether suitable navigation code is present on the page submitted to the webring. However, all blogs wishing to take part will be manually checked to ensure that they are pro peace.

The Event will begin at an as yet unspecified time on the 20th March 2008, and each individual blog will be asked for posts to be made to their blog at least once every hour, or once every half hour (This is yet to be decided on, but by joining, and agreeing to participate now, you can have your say on this) for 24 hours.

Each blog can either have an individual or team posting to it.

Each blog will be asked to make posts at the specified intervals supportive of peace, and of the war resisters. Also, each blog will be asked to direct their readers to donate to charities which assist civilians in war zones, there is a possibility that some blogs may also wish to direct their readers to established antiwar groups to donate to them. Blogs can either do that through links on their sidebar, or in posts, or indeed any other manner which they can think of.

So, if you'd like to help organise the event, and participate on the 20th March 2008, then please CLICK HERE, and help this effort to grow.

Thanks for reading

British War Heroes - The Resisters

Thanks for your bravery, the decision you made was obviously one of the biggest of your life. I for one appreciate your decision. Thank you to:

RAF Doctor Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith

Lance Corporal George Solomou

Ben Griffin, SAS

RAF Leading Aircraftsman Mohisin Khan

You are all heroes in my book. I've tried searching, and these were the ones I could find, if there are any more reports people know of on any other brave war resisters, please let me know.

British War Resisters - Documents Released under FOI Act

This page, from the War Resisters International Website shows the documents recently released under a Freedom of Information Act Request on the right to refuse to kill:

Conscientious objection and the British armed forces

American War Heroes

An Excellent Site I have just discovered. These brave people deserve our support, they're the true heroes:

U.S. War Heroes of the Iraq War

War Resisters from within the Military

Armed Forces Personnel - Your Legal Rights to Object

The At Ease Website has information for members of the British Armed Forces:

Click Here for Information.

The Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors has advice for members of the American Armed Forces:

Click Here for Advice.

OK Some Initial Thoughts - Action 20th March 2008

As many will know, the 5th anniversary of the attack on Iraq takes place next March.

You might have read my bulletin earlier about military advertising in the media, and i've been getting some very useful input on that, thanks. I've now set up a blog called "Anti Militarism"

My initial thoughts are now that there should be some sort of blogging event starting on the 20th March 2008 for either 12 or 24 hours where people can make posts either on their own or in teams of 2 or more to their blogs once every hour.

The posts should perhaps as much as possible aim to show the reality of joining the military emphasising that soldiers can be and do get killed, as well as having the ability to kill others, and also the effects of wars on civilians.

In addition to this, all those involved can link to the other bloggers taking part in the event, and maybe ask people to donate directly to a charity which deals with victims of war such as War Child, or Doctors without Borders etc..

As you can imagine, the 5th anniversary of the attack on Iraq seems to be a great date to hold such an event, plus with bloggers having the ability to update various sites with their content, like Blogger and Technorati for example, then more people will read the posts, so the more people who can get involved the better.

Obviously, these are only initial thoughts, and there is much time left yet until the 20th March 2008, but this idea seems like as good a start as any.

What does everyone think?

Thanks for any input.

Military Advertising

As I was reading a report about protests in the US against army recruiters, the thought struck me, what about all those media outlets who allow the armed forces to advertise to get cannon fodder for the killing machine?

Surely there needs to be some sort of campaign which targets particular media outlets, which actively encourage youngsters to join the army. I haven't really thought about such a campaign in depth, but thought as a basic idea it could be quite effective.

What are your thoughts on this? Any ideas which we could combine resources on?

Thanks for reading, I hope you'll agree this is an issue which needs addressing.