Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)

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From Draft NOtices, March - April 2003

 

-— Ray Wolf
 
    

Dear Mr. Bush,

I'm writing you this letter as a United States citizen, Navy veteran and parent. I have several questions to ask you. I've paid attention to what you and members of your administration have said concerning Iraq. However, I've found considerable information that seems to contradict much of what you've said about the necessity of attacking Iraq. I've also found information that suggests that your goal is something other than the disarmament of Iraq.

Let me begin with your justifications for an attack on Iraq. In your recent State of the Union address, you said that Iraq is committing multiple human rights abuses, including the torture of children. You also said that, "International human rights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape. If this is not evil, than evil has no meaning."

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From Draft NOtices, March - April 2003


— Jorge Mariscal
 

The 2000 census teaches us two interesting facts about the way in which Latinos are contributing to the changing face of the United States. First, more legal immigrants arrived in the decade of the 1990s than in any previous decade in our history. The economic boom (or bubble) of the Clinton years attracted large numbers of people from around the world. Second, the majority of these immigrants came from Latin America (approximately 51%; 26% are from Asian countries). For the most part, the new arrivals are workers searching for a better life, without much education, and deeply attracted by the promise of economic opportunity north of the border. The overwhelming majority of them will work hard, their children will become educated, and they will make significant contributions to our society.

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From Draft NOtices, January - February 2003


— Rick Jahnkow
 
During the days of the anti-Vietnam War movement, I remember hearing of a tactic that some people used to try to bring home to the public how completely twisted our values had become. As I recall, a news release and fliers would be circulated inviting people to gather at a specific time and place to witness a live animal (usually a dog) being immolated with homemade napalm. Immediately, there would be vigorous debate and loud outcry against the idea of such cruelty. Then, at the appointed time and place, fliers would be handed out to the media and any outraged individuals who showed up, telling them that there would be no immolation of a dog, and that the purpose of the hoax was to demonstrate how hypocritical it was for the public to be so completely incensed by such an act while the same thing was being done everyday, in our name, to men, women and children in Southeast Asia. The hope was that this lesson would turn more people against the war.

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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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