Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)

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From Draft NOtices, April - June 2008

—Shelley Gutiérrez
    

“The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez” is a 2006 documentary that begins with Gutierrez's birth in the highlands of Guatemala during its civil war and ends with his death as a soldier in the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The film opens with an anti-war memorial, in which a staged cemetery is erected next to images of the fallen soldiers. The camera focuses on José's picture, silently sending the message that he, like all the others, has a life story that cannot be captured by a single photograph among thousands. The film taps into many social issues facing immigrant communities, which is necessary for viewers to truly understand the significance of U.S. recruitment of non-citizens. While Gutierrez's life seems unique, part of what the documentary exposes is how far-reaching are the effects of U.S. foreign policy and military recruitment policies.

One strength of the film is that it reveals how José was clearly a very special and even heroic individual. Born during Guatemala's 36-year civil war, in which more than 200,000 indigenous people were killed, Gutierrez became an orphan at age nine, living largely on the streets of Antigua. Through all accounts, Gutierrez was a witty, motivated, and caring child who lived a rough life going back and forth between the streets and Casa Alianza, a shelter that took in street children. When Gutierrez decided there was no future for him in Guatemala, he made the decision to emigrate to the U.S., where he moved into foster care and completed high school. He then joined the military to fund a college education that he hoped would allow him to fulfill his life-long dream of becoming an architect. Unfortunately, as the film details, his aspirations where cut short in the opening days of the war in Iraq.

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From Draft NOtices, January - March 2008

— Paula Hoffman
    

Aren’t shooting ranges on high school campuses in complete contradiction to the “zero weapons tolerance” rules? Is JROTC, in reality, a well-planned, back-door recruitment tool that targets vulnerable young people? Do parents and students have a clear understanding of what JROTC is all about? Are students being offered fair and equal educational support by school counselors, administrators and teachers? These are the issues being tackled by a coalition of parents, students, teachers and community organizations in San Diego, California.

The new Marine Corps JROTC program at Mission Bay High School opened in September. During the summer, Principal Cheryl Seelos and strongly pro-military board members pushed for its initiation. MBHS was one of the few schools in San Diego never to have had JROTC. Now, as hundreds of low-income Latino students are bused in daily, the military sees fresh opportunities to brainwash and recruit. Despite passionate speeches by many opponents of JROTC at two summer school board meetings, the final vote was four to one in favor of JROTC, with board member John de Beck casting the only nay vote. Subsequently, picketing and leafleting outside the school during class registration in August was the beginning of outreach efforts to inform students and parents of what was happening.

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From Draft NOtices, January—March 2008

— Kathleen Gilberd
    

The Iraq occupation and war in Afghanistan are taxing the military medical system beyond its limits. As the number of combat-related injuries and illnesses increases, many soldiers report that it is difficult to get medical care. Some are discouraged from going to sick call or flatly (and illegally) refused permission to see doctors, and others are sent away after inadequate examinations by overworked corpsmen or medics. In the field and at many medical facilities, service members may face misdiagnosis, poor treatment, long waits for specialists, inappropriate return to duty before injuries are healed, or months in holding companies awaiting medical discharge or retirement. Many with mental or physical problems receive imaginative administrative discharges instead of medical retirement.

It is difficult to focus on U.S. casualties and the failure of the military medical system when they are overshadowed by criminal occupation-related deaths, injuries, and illness among the population of Iraq. Casualties there are seldom reported in the U.S., and the nature of the occupation makes it difficult to gather accurate figures. Independent medical groups report huge numbers of permanent injuries and long-term mental disorders among children and adults. In addition, Iraq’s medical infrastructure has been devastated by U.S. attacks, after being weakened by years of embargo on medicines and medical equipment.

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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:

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