From Draft NOtices, July - August, 2004
— Rick Jahnkow
2004 NNOMY Conference. Photo:Kevin Ramirez
Over 100 activists were present in Philadelphia the weekend of June 25-27 to officially christen the new National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY). Born from a proposal made at the "Stopping War Where It Begins" counter-recruitment conference held a year earlier in Philadelphia, NNOMY is an effort to bring together the growing number of organizations and activists who are working against the militarization of young people in communities across the country. Participating in this first NNOMY conference were people from California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawai'i, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
Most of the conference participants represented organizations that have officially become network members or are considering doing so. Approximately 30 local, regional and national groups have joined so far, some of which are: Veterans for Peace, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Youth Activists/Youth Allies (NY City), Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, Pax Christi USA, CHOICES (D.C.), Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities (San Diego), American Friends Service Committee, Madison Area Peace Coalition, Teen Peace in Port Townsend (WA), Los Angeles Coalition Opposed to Militarism in Our Schools, Not in Our Name, Resource Center for Non-violence in Santa Cruz (CA), and Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft. Additional memberships are pending from various other organizations.
To promote more effective networking and organizing, caucuses were formed at the conference around issue and identity themes, such as women in the military, Latinos, draft-related issues, rural organizing, people of color, youth of color and LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Questioning). To broaden representation in decision-making, caucuses were invited to apply for membership status that is equal to regular organizations, and some were included in a NNOMY steering committee. Ten organizations and six caucuses were unanimously approved for the steering committee, which will make between-meeting decisions that are subject to review by the larger body of voting network members. Also adopted was a proposal from the youth caucus to have at least two steering committee members younger than 25, and to pursue the goal of majority representation by both youth and people of color.
Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)
From Draft NOtices, July - August, 2004
— Shelley Gutierrez
Cynthia Enloe, a research professor in the Government and International Relations program at Clark University in Massachusetts, has been a leading scholar of militarism on an international scale. Probing into how militarism utilizes and functions within the lives of people of color and women, Enloe has offered important insights to students of militarization since the publishing of Ethnic Soldiers: State Security in Divided Societies in 1970. While this text focuses on the state's usage of the political and manpower benefits of mobilizing and deploying ethnic soldiers, her more recognized and influential body of work focuses on the ways in which women's lives and identities play a role in and are shaped by international relations and the global political economy (The Morning After: Sexual Politics at the End of the Cold War, 1993; Bananas, Beaches, and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics, 1989; and Does Khaki Become You?, 1988).
From Draft NOtices, May - June, 2004
— Lorraine Demi
Apparently, deploying troops to Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea and Europe simultaneously is beyond what the U.S. military can do. Yet they're doing it — by holding thousands of soldiers and reservists long past their release dates, against their will, with serious detriment to their health, careers, families and morale.
The Army has begun offering bonuses of up to $10,000 for soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait who will re-enlist for more time in the military. At the same time, though, thousands of soldiers are not being allowed to retire or leave the military for up to 90 days after returning to their home bases. The Army has blocked 40,000 soldiers from leaving the ranks, with about 16,000 of those being National Guard and reservists who were eligible to leave this year. As of December 31, 2003, the Pentagon reported 187,746 National Guard and Reserve troops had been mobilized. Approximately 20% of U.S. troops initially sent to Iraq were reservists or Guard members. This number is expected to double soon. David Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland, said, "We have stopped treating the reserves as a force in reserve. Our volunteer army is closer to being broken today than ever before in its 30-year history."
Ninth CIRCUIT COURT RULING: CONFRONTING MILITARISM BY USING EQUAL ACCESS TO HIGH SCHOOLS
When the military comes to your local high school, you have a legal right to give students an opposing view. This has been the position taken by federal district courts in Florida, Pennsylvania and Illinois and two federal appellate courts. The most broadly-worded decision came from a case that COMD took to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the 1980s. Here is the background:
