Militarization

Border Militarism: An Old Failed Policy, Tried Again

April 26, 2018 By Todd Miller, Tomdispatch.com Educate! Border, Immigration, Militarization, Policy

At first, I thought I had inadvertently entered an active war zone. I was on a lonely two-lane road in southern New Mexico heading for El Paso, Texas. Off to the side of the road, hardly concealed behind some desert shrubs, I suddenly noticed what seemed to be a tank. For a second, I thought I might be seeing an apparition. When I stopped to take a picture, a soldier wearing a camouflage helmet emerged from the top of the Stryker, a 19-ton, eight-wheeled combat vehicle that was regularly used in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He looked my way and I offered a pathetic wave. To my relief, he waved back, then settled behind what seemed to be a large surveillance display mounted atop the vehicle. With high-tech binoculars, he began to monitor the mountainous desert that stretched toward Mexico, 20 miles away, as if the enemy might appear at any moment.

The Long, Brutal History Of Militarization At The US-Mexico Border

April 13, 2018 Rachel Ida Buff, Buzzflash.com Educate! Border, Militarization, Nationalism

The recent announcement of intent to deploy US National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border is part of an ongoing theater of cruelty which summons xenophobic ideas of national security and imposes more military presence in daily life. This kind of swagger has a long history. But instead of offering security, its consequences visit repression, degradation and death on many communities, and undermine the rule of law throughout the country. In the early 1950s, concerns about communist infiltration focused on the US border with Mexico. Assistant Border Patrol Commissioner Willard Kelly compared undocumented migration from Mexico to a "great, peacetime invasion."

Podcast: Israeli Military Resister On Her 115 Days Jailed

April 9, 2018 Staff, Couragetoresist.org Resist! Israel, Militarization, Occupation

Tamar Ze’evi, who at the age of nineteen refused to serve in the Israeli military. “I guess my story begins from growing up in Israel and specifically in Jerusalem, which is living, growing up in conflict.” Today, Tamar continues to work with Mesarvot (Hebrew) to advocate for other objectors. For coverage of their movement in English, check out the Times of Israel. Courage to Resist’s mission to “Support the troops who refuse to fight, or who face consequences for acting on conscience, in opposition to illegal wars, occupations, the policies of empire…” led to solidarity with Israeli objectors soon after our founding. Check out “US Resisters’ Solidarity with Israeli ‘Shministim’ Refusers” (Dec. 2008) and “Dialogues Against Militarism Report from Israel/Palestine” (Nov. 2009). In fact, Courage to Resist would likely have been named Courage to Refuse, had not an Israeli refuser organization of that same name already existed.

Mass Shootings Are A Byproduct Of A Militarized Society

March 2, 2018 By Elliot Swain, Codepink.org Educate! Guns, Mass Shootings, Militarization, Violence

An article by Lucian K. Truscott IV, published in Salon last week, addresses the recent Florida mass killing with a novel suggestion. It implores trigger-happy “gun nuts” to forego the civilian gun market and join the Army. Weapons like the AR-15 and the R-15 are replicas of military munitions, designed to annihilate as many human beings as possible. Civilian use of these guns can hardly be justified by self-defense or any other socially legitimate purpose. If you want to play with high-powered killing machines, Truscott argues, there’s a place for that. “Go down to your local recruiting station and join the fucking Army,” Truscott writes. “They’ll give you a rifle for free, and all the deadly ammo you want, and they’ll train you with human silhouette targets, and they’ll send you over to Afghanistan, or Iraq, or Syria, or Niger, or some fucking hellhole where there are guys with guns very similar to yours who will be good enough to shoot at you, so you can shoot back at them and kill them.”

Corporate Red Carpet & Largest Security Op For Super Bowl LII

January 30, 2018 Staff, Unicornriot.ninja Educate! Militarization, Security, Super Bowl

Protests are planned by community members, organizations, unions, and other activists spanning the week leading up to SB52 and on game day itself. A coalition of organizers and community members have created the Super Bowl Anti-Racist Anti-Corporate Coalition aiming to highlight racial and class disparities. Other coalitions have formed and have publicly stated their involvement in the upcoming week of actions. Black Visions Collective, “a Black-led organization committed to creating a world where all Black Lives Matter“, are demanding the decriminalization of sex workers, an agreement that local police will not work with ICE agents, a long-term divestment from the police, and an investment into communities of color.

Military’s Goal Is School Ownership; Communities Push Back

January 2, 2018 By Pat Elder, Nnomy.org Resist! Education, Militarization, Military, Schools

Throughout the country military recruiters are increasingly allowed to casually share lunch in high school cafeterias and interact freely with high school youth in hallways and classrooms. Military recruiters are on campus so frequently in many schools that they get to know kids on a first-name basis. They “chill” in the locker room and hang out in the parking lot and they play one-on-one basketball with kids after school. Meanwhile, college recruiters are typically required to meet with students by appointment in the guidance office. It’s not the “same” access called for in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Forget the old adage that familiarity breeds contempt. With vulnerable 16 and 17 year olds, familiarity breeds trust and trust produces enlistment agreements.

Protests Against ADL’s Role In US-Israel Deadly Exchange Programs

November 10, 2017 Staff, jewishvoiceforpeace.org Resist! Israel, Law Enforcement, Militarization, Police, Protests

By Staff of JVP - JVP activists demonstrated at Anti-Defamation League offices from New York to Seattle, New Haven to Chicago, and 11 other cities across the country Wednesday as part of a nationwide action organized by Jewish Voice for Peace calling on the ADL to end #DeadlyExchange programs between U.S. and Israeli law enforcement officials. At protests throughout the day, ADL executives refused petition deliveries, and told JVP activists that the New York headquarters would receive the text of the petition signed by 20,000+ people. When organizers arrived at the ADL’s national headquarters in Manhattan they were again refused. After a large rally where 70 recited the mourner’s kaddish for those killed by state violence, seven JVP members–ranging in age from 24 to 72– remained in the lobby of the building, waiting for the the ADL to take the petition. Instead, 30 police officers arrested them as they were reading testimonies from those harmed by police exchange programs and singing “Ain’t gonna study war no more.” In a letter delivered to ADL Director Jonathan Greenblatt Wednesday morning, JVP Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomerson requested a meeting to discuss the demand that this self-proclaimed civil rights organization put an end to these dangerous training programs that perpetuate discriminatory, repressive and violent policies in the U.S. and Israel.

Proposals To Arm Ukraine Against Russia In New Provocation

August 4, 2017 Brandon Turbeville, www.activistpost.com Educate! Militarization, NATO, Pentagon, Russia, Ukraine

By Brandon Turbeville for Activist Post - As the Syrian military moves farther east and clinches yet more territory from America’s terrorists, the United States establishment is now moving to escalate its provocations in another part of the world – Ukraine. Of course, despite the fact that Russia has launched a massive military operation to protect its strategic interests in Syria, the U.S. terror establishment is attempting to provide more arms and equipment to fascists in Ukraine in a clear effort to push NATO literally up to the Russian border. It is currently being reported by numerous corporate outlets such as The New York Times that both the Pentagon and the State Department are proposing a plan to the White House that would see the U.S. supply Ukraine with anti-tank missiles and other arms. The transfer would also include antiaircraft systems described as “defensive weaponry.” Fighting between Ukrainian fascist forces allied with Ukraine proper and pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region has escalated in recent days and the proposal comes amidst an atmosphere of tension between the U.S. and Russia, itself being escalated by a monstrous and telling sanctions bill passed by Congress and an order by Putin to reduce diplomatic staff with the United States as a response.

The Hypocrisy Of The Bi-Partisan Congress On Militarism

July 15, 2017 Ann Garrison, www.blackagendareport.com Strategize! Congress, Labor Party, militarism, Militarization, United Kingdom (UK)

By Ann Garrison for Black Agenda Report - Supporters of the British Labour Party and its leader Jeremy Corbyn marched through London streets on Saturday, July 1st, from the BBC headquarters to the Parliament Building at Westminster. The London- based Independent reports that tens of thousands joined the “Not One More Day” march against the Conservative Tory government and its austerity policies. They carried signs that read “Tories Out,” “No to Islamophobia, No to War,” “Cut War, Not Welfare,” and “Austerity is the New Terror. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addressed the crowd upon their arrival outside Parliament. “What this election campaign, this anti-austerity movement, this current mood in British politics has done is unleashed the ideas and the imagination, unleashed that day-to-day conversation on every street corner, every café, and every pub of how differently this country could be run. The Tories are in retreat. Austerity is in retreat. The economic arguments of austerity are in retreat. It’s those of social justice, of unity, of people coming together to oppose racism and all those that would divide us that are the ones that are moving forward.”

US-Mexico Border Convergence Webinar Series

July 13, 2017 Staff, www.soaw.org Resist! Border, Central America, Militarization, South America

By School of the Americas Watch. The SOA Watch movement began as a response to the call of solidarity to the people affected by the political, economic, and military US intervention in Central America during the 1980’s and 1990’s. However, the patterns of violence and forced migration established during the dirty wars of the 20th century have continued unabated. How do we respond to this reality? How do we build a shared analysis? In order to respond to these questions and create bonds of solidarity and resistance, SOA Watch invites you to participate in a series of webinars leading up to the Encuentro, to listen, learn and stand up in active solidarity with communities that challenge the militarization of the border. Our first webinar is this Thursday, July 13 at 8:00 pm ET.

Is Canada Planning Extreme Military Escalation?

June 20, 2017 Staff, www.cupw.ca Resist! Canada, Militarization

By Staff of CUPW - Justin Trudeau certainly did not run on a military-strength platform. Nowhere on the campaign trail did Liberals talk about increasing military spending or using “hard power” abroad. The recent speech by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chrystia Freeland, alongside the announced 70% increase in military spending should ring alarm bells. Stephen Harper wouldn't have dared such an announcement. Canadians wouldn't have accepted it. Not with our hospitals, schools and infrastructure in such sorry shape. Not with indigenous communities left abandoned by our entire economic system. Not without real action on climate change. Harper couldn't have gotten away with shovelling an extra $14-billion a year into military spending. Why should we let Trudeau? The recent revelation that the Liberals planned their “international pivot” before they even took office serves as a stark example of what this government represents. They knew they would make this turn, but kept it secret from the public. The reason for this is obvious. Nobody would have believed the Liberal “sunny ways” if they knew the truth: that the Liberals planned to massively increase military spending and project military power around the globe.

Conference Signals Further US Militarization In Central America

June 20, 2017 Jake Johnston, www.cepr.net Educate! Central America, Latin America, Militarization, US Foreign Policy, US Imperialism

By Jake Johnston for CEPR - In a high-level meeting Friday, the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador will discuss the region’s security with American and Mexican officials. Innocuous enough, you may think. But part of the meeting will be held on a US military base in Miami, Florida ― the headquarters of the US Southern Command, the Pentagon’s regional subsidiary that oversees American military operations throughout Central and South America as well as the Caribbean. Under President Donald Trump, the militarization of US foreign policy is about to stretch more deeply into Central America. Central America policymaking, hardly an open book to begin with, is set to become more secretive. With the Conference on Prosperity and Security in Central America just days away, there is no official agenda of speakers or publicly listed events and no involvement of civil society organizations, and even press access is extremely limited. What we do know is US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be there, as will Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and of course, General John F. Kelly, the director of Homeland Security and the previous head of SOUTHCOM.

Killer Drones And The Militarization Of U.S. Foreign Policy

June 19, 2017 Ann Wright, www.afsa.org Educate! Drones, Militarization, US Foreign Policy, US Imperialism

By Ann Wright for AFSA - The militarization of U.S. foreign policy certainly didn’t start with President Donald J. Trump; in fact, it goes back several decades. However, if Trump’s first 100 days in office are any indication, he has no intention of slowing down the trend. During a single week in April, the Trump administration fired 59 Tomahawk missiles into a Syrian airfield, and dropped the largest bomb in the U.S. arsenal on suspected ISIS tunnels in Afghanistan. This 21,600-pound incendiary percussion device that had never been used in combat—the Massive Ordinance Air Blast or MOAB, colloquially known as the “Mother of All Bombs”—was used in the Achin district of Afghanistan, where Special Forces Staff Sergeant Mark De Alencar had been killed a week earlier. (The bomb was tested only twice, at Elgin Air Base, Florida, in 2003.) To underscore the new administration’s preference for force over diplomacy, the decision to experiment with the explosive power of the mega-bomb was taken unilaterally by General John Nicholson, the commanding general of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In praising that decision, Pres. Trump declared that he had given “total authorization” to the U.S. military to conduct whatever missions they wanted, anywhere in the world—which presumably means without consulting the interagency national security committee.

Protests Oppose ‘Anti-Conspiracy’ Bill, As Japan Moves To Remilitarize

June 16, 2017 Lisa Torio, www.wagingnonviolence.org Resist! Japan, Militarization, Protests

By Lisa Torio for Waging Nonviolence - Since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “anti-conspiracy” bill entered the upper house of parliament in early April, thousands of people across the country have taken to the streets in protest. Demonstrations against the bill actually started in December, when Abe’s plan became known to the public, but their intensity has grown in recent weeks. As the ruling coalition is pushing to pass the bill before the end of the legislative session on June 18, hundreds of people are staging daily demonstrations in front of the government offices to demand lawmakers scrap the bill, which lies at the intersection of Japan’s struggles. “This bill cuts across all issues because our lives depend on our right to resist,” said Keiko Makimoto, a retired elementary school teacher, who has been participating in the anti-nuclear demonstrations in front of the government offices nearly every week since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. “I’m here today so that I can keep fighting everyday.” While Abe says the bill is tailored to combat terrorism and organized crime ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2020, the scope of the proposed legislation is so broadly defined that it could give law enforcement agencies the ability to target activists and ordinary citizens they suspect of “preparing to commit a crime.”

In Heat Of DAPL Protests, Sheriffs’ Association Lobbied For Gear

April 29, 2017 Steve Horn, www.desmogblog.com Educate! Dakota Access Pipeline, Militarization, Protests

By Steve Horn for Desmog Blog - At the end of 2016, as a mix of sheriffs, police, and private security forces were clashing with those protesting the Dakota Access pipeline at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, the National Sheriffs' Association was lobbying Congress for surplus military gear and on undisclosed issues related to the now-operating oil pipeline. This information comes from federal lobbying disclosure forms reviewed by DeSmog. The National Sheriffs' Association, a trade association representing sheriffs' departments nationwide, hired the firm Ervin Hill Strategy to lobby on its behalf during quarter four of 2016 and quarter one of 2017. Lobbyist and former congressional staffer John Blount was assigned to the cause. Blount did not respond to a request for comment for this story. The multi-state policing response at Standing Rock came under sharp criticism due to its highly militarized nature against the Native American-led opposition. Spurred by the North Dakota governor's emergency declaration, law enforcement officials nationwide began pouring into North Dakota under the auspices of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC).

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