Israeli Refusnik, Maya Yechieli Wind: Israel is a Nation of Soldiers

Image by Rusty Stewart via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

breakingtheset Nov 21, 2012

Abby Martin talks to Maya Yechieli Wind, an Israeli activist and dissenter, who advocates against Israeli aggression toward occupied Palestine.

Chris Hedges: War Exposes The Lies Of Patriotism

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

Transcript: The Maimed by Chris Hedges

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
October 10, 2012

Oct 8, 2012 by catwatters4

55 Water Street NYC at the Veterans Memorial. The Vets for Peace had a gathering to send a message to end these unjust wars. Just as Chris Hedges began his very inspiring and moving speech, fireworks started and continued throughout his talk adding poignantly to his message.

Ch 11: Exit Free (A collective in the USA that helps women leave the military by discharge or desertion) by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
October 6, 2012

Image by Joelstuff V4 via Flickr

Exit Free
From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

The following report was contributed by Naomi Golner, one of the founders of Exit Free, a collective in the USA that helps women leave the military by discharge or desertion.

I’ve become a criminal for peace. How I got there is a complicated story, beginning when the community college where I teach reduced most of its humanities faculty to adjunct status.

The Maimed by Chris Hedges

Video: Chris Hedges: War Exposes The Lies Of Patriotism

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
October 8, 2012

Image by World Can’t Wait via Flickr

Chris Hedges gave this talk Sunday night in New York City at a protest denouncing the 11th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. The event, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, was led by Veterans for Peace.

Many of us who are here carry within us death. The smell of decayed and bloated corpses. The cries of the wounded. The shrieks of children. The sound of gunfire. The deafening blasts. The fear. The stench of cordite. The humiliation that comes when you surrender to terror and beg for life. The loss of comrades and friends. And then the aftermath. The long alienation. The numbness. The nightmares. The lack of sleep. The inability to connect to all living things, even to those we love the most. The regret. The repugnant lies mouthed around us about honor and heroism and glory. The absurdity. The waste. The futility.

Don’t Enlist, But Don’t Just Take My Word For It by Lo

by Lo
Dandelion Salad
July 12, 2012

Image by Kate Tomlinson via Flickr

This is the most important blog post on Dandelion Salad. Please pass this on to anyone you know who may be considering enlisting as a soldier (mercenary). Stop them from selling their souls.

First is a list of the best videos with a description of the video followed by the link. Next is a short list of article links, then the archive of posts for “Before You Enlist” and a website for more information.

Kevin Baker: Soldiers have real power when they organize

Dandelion Salad

Image by theunabonger via Flickr

by Pulse TV & Maverick Media

Kevin Baker joined the Army fully believing that he would be supporting the U.S. as a real force for good, toppling a brutal dictator, and bringing democracy to the country. This is his story of how he came to awareness and how he and other soldiers joined together to stand up to the Brass and demand care for themselves.

A Criminal for Peace, An Interview with William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
December 28, 2011

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

“I used to be a war criminal, now I’m an anti-war criminal. The government awarded me medals for the first crime, now they’re trying to imprison me for the second,” says ex-Green Beret William T. Hathaway. “I’m a war criminal not because I committed atrocities. I didn’t, and most soldiers don’t. But the US government’s invasions of Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq were war crimes. The United Nations Charter clearly forbids aggressive attacks on other countries. That’s exactly what those invasions were. Every GI who participates in that has to share some of the blame.

Sir, No Sir! (must-see)

Dandelion Salad

Image by tsweden via Flickr

Note: replaced video Dec. 19, 2012

www.dailymotion.com

“In the 1960′s an anti-war movement emerged that altered the course of history. This movement didn’t take place on college campuses, but in barracks and on aircraft carriers. It flourished in army stockades, navy brigs and in the dingy towns that surround military bases. It penetrated elite military colleges like West Point. And it spread throughout the battlefields of Vietnam.

Ch. 5: Escaping the Military: Healing the Virus of Violence By William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
September 24, 2011

Escaping the Military: Healing the Virus of Violence

From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

A young Buddhist novice contributed this account, which we then revised together. To protect the people who have protected him, he wishes to be nameless.

Back in high school I’d been good at languages but couldn’t afford to go to college, so I joined the navy for the language training.

Ch. 2: Generations of Resistance to War By William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
August 2, 2011

Image by C. Elle via Flickr

Generations of Resistance to War

From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

A Granny for Peace told of finding young allies in the struggle against military recruiting. Due to the Patriot Act, she wishes to remain nameless.

It’s never easy being a parent or a child. The generations always have friction between them, a conflict between the elders’ need to give guidance and youths’ need to find their own way.

Ch. 1: The Real War Heroes By William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
July 13, 2011

Image by pverdicchio via Flickr

The Real War Heroes

From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

“That must be them.” Petra took one hand off the steering wheel and pointed to a group of soldiers about two hundred meters away, standing along our road next to a high chainlink fence topped with barbed wire.

Rev. James Lawson: Non-Violence as a Science of Social Change (2010)

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Image via Wikipedia

What makes a Christian different from everyone else? What makes Christianity distinct from any other religion? It is grace – treating others, not as they deserve, but as God wishes them to be treated – with loving-kindness and mercy. Only the cross of  Jesus Christ can free us from the tyranny of malice, hatred, revenge, and resentment and gives us the courage to return evil with good.  

Anybody’s Son Will Do (1983; must-see)

Updated: April 27, 2010  added a link to a related story

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

Image by tsweden via Flickr

Thanks to Emily Spence for sending this to DS.  Please send this
http://wp.me/p5qmX-kfh
(short link) to anyone you know who may be considering joining the military.  Thank you.

By Bill Willers
20 April, 2010
Opednews.com

In 1983, the National Film Board of Canada produced a 57-minute film, “Anybody’s Son Will Do”. Arguably the best anti-war film ever made, and tailored for public television, it scared the hell out of the U.S. military machine, which has done its best to “disappear” it. For years it has been nearly impossible to find a copy, but some kind soul has posted it on YouTube where it can be seen in six segments.

In solidarity with Mathis Chiroux and Elaine Brower and support of burning the flag by Cindy Sheehan + The Burning of an Empire

by Cindy Sheehan
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox Blog
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox
March 28, 2010

On Saturday, March 20th (before we were arrested for protesting the wars), my good friends, Mathis Chiroux from Iraq Veterans Against the War and Elaine Brower from Military Families Speak Out, burned an American flag on the stage at the protest rally in Lafayette Park.To Whom it May Concern:

Not only do I support this action along First Amendment lines, I also believe that the American flag represents nothing good right now.

Soldiers of Conscience: To kill or not to kill?

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

Warning

This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

Note: replaced videos June 15, 2011

Soldiers of Conscience is a powerful and balanced look at the choice a soldier makes when he finally must pull the trigger. In fact, its clear all soldiers wrestle with the morality of killing in war. Its a split-second decision in the heat of combat that can never be forgotten or undone. A rare documentary; full of action yet clever at the same time, and was recently broadcast to acclaim on PBS.