David Swanson and Charles Lenchner: Refusing Military “Service”

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Jan. 4, 2022
January 5, 2022

This week on Talk World Radio we’re talking about refusing military “service.” Our guest Charles Lenchner is a veteran peace activist, organizer, and political campaigner. Born in the United States, he grew up in Israel where he became an anti-occupation activist at a young age. In 1987, he was drafted into the Israeli Army and subsequently refused orders and spent time in military prison. More recently he was a co-founder of People for Bernie Sanders and today is part of the RootsAction team that publishes ProgressiveHub. I also work for RootsAction.

The U.S. Military Is Registering 15-Year-Olds for the Draft, by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writers, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
December 19, 2021

Most U.S. states still have excuses when asked to make voter registration automatic, but in various states — including here in Virginia — draft registration is automatic even for 15-year-olds who want a learner’s permit to drive a car. (This is still only for males, as Congress did not, in the end, extend draft registration to females, at least until next year — once in a while Democrats’ obeisance to Republicans works out well.) The application for the learner’s permit in Virginia, for which you must be 15-and-a-half-years-old, says:

Tell the Truth: Veterans Day Is A National Day of Lying, by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Nov. 2, 2018
Originally published Nov. 12, 2018
November 11, 2021

Some are inclined to recognize that Trumpies are dwelling in an alternative universe in which neither climate collapse nor nuclear apocalypse is a concern but terrifying wild hoards of Muslim Hondurans are skipping and dancing into the Fatherland armed with gang symbols, deadly rocks, and socialistic tendencies.

MFTN: The War On Terror Is A Typo

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Nov. 17, 2013
November 2, 2021

In the political arena of double-speak, outright lies, serpents’ tongues, appalling misnomers, and sins of omission, time alone stands up to champion truth. Time will tell, they say … so listen close to this report:

They’re About to Add Women to Military Draft in the Name of Feminism, by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writers, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Aug. 30, 2021
September 2, 2021

In some future lovely little war, perhaps with China or some other demonized target, some percentage of the U.S. public may suddenly exclaim: “Hey, since when does a draft include young women as well as men?!” Old tunes will be revised and sung in protest with lyrics about being the first one on your block to have your daughter come home in a box. The tragedies will be played out in tears and screams and flag-covered propaganda-regurgitating rationalizations. Dead women and men will be thanked for the service of stirring up World War III before being dumped in the ground to rot, as some of the living begin to envy them and wonder about the merits of the service they’ve provided.

Lies, Damn Lies, and What We’ve Been Told About Afghanistan, by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Aug. 17, 2021
August 18, 2021

It’s far from the longest U.S. war. There was no peace before or after it. There is no after it until they end it — and bombing has always been most of what it is. It has had nothing to do with opposing terrorism. It has been a one-sided slaughter, a mass killing over two decades by a single invading army and air force dragging along token mascots from dozens of vassal states. After 20 years Afghanistan was one of the worst places to be on Earth, and the Earth as a whole was a worse place to be — the rule of law, the state of nature, the refugee crises, the spread of terrorism, the militarization of governments all worsened. Then the Taliban took over.

Four Major Reasons Why Thanking People For Wars Is Not A Path To Saving Lives, by David Swanson

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Watch the video below

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, July 13, 2021
July 16, 2021

If I were to just read the admirable recent study of U.S. military suicides from the Costs of War Project, my inclination would immediately be to join with President Biden and start proclaiming the war on Afghanistan a success, or with Obama in announcing that the Korean War was a success after all, or with the general U.S. establishment in declaring all wars a noble “service” of some sort. One of the factors that the study suggests may contribute to suicides among recent veterans of U.S. wars is the failure of the rest of us to declare the abominations they’ve taken part in to have been worthwhile. If people are going to refrain from killing themselves if we just pretend to find their wars heroic and glorious, it seems the least we can do, and really not much at all to ask for.

Rivera Sun: Is It Unfair To Young Women Not To Force Them To Kill and Die For Weapons Profits? Interviewed by David Swanson

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With Rivera Sun
Interviewed by David Swanson
Writers, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, June 15, 2021
June 16, 2021

This week on Talk World Radio: draft registration. Is it unfair to young women not to force them to kill and die for weapons profits? Our guest Rivera Sun is the Editor of Nonviolence News, a nationwide trainer in strategy for nonviolent movements, and the author of many books and novels, including The Dandelion Insurrection and The Way Between. She serves on the Advisory Boards of World BEYOND War and the Backbone Campaign. Her essays on nonviolence are syndicated by Peace Voice and published in hundreds of journals.

U.S. Army: 0 — Internet: 1 by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
Originally posted May 26, 2019
May 30, 2021

The U.S. Army tweeted a harmless rah-rah tweet and got hit with a burst of reality never encountered on corporate-controlled media. Score one for the internet.

Ditch The Draft, Once and For All, by Rivera Sun

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by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
April 22, 2021

It’s outdated. It’s dysfunctional. It’s hated by most of the populace. No, we’re not talking about the line at the DMV. We’re talking about the Selective Service and the military draft. For decades, young men have had to register. Now, congress is considering expanding draft registration to women.

Tell the Truth: Veterans Day Is A National Day of Lying, by David Swanson

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Nov. 2, 2018
Originally published Nov. 12, 2018
November 11, 2020

Some are inclined to recognize that Trumpies are dwelling in an alternative universe in which neither climate collapse nor nuclear apocalypse is a concern but terrifying wild hoards of Muslim Hondurans are skipping and dancing into the Fatherland armed with gang symbols, deadly rocks, and socialistic tendencies.

What Waging War Is Really Like, by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Oct. 2, 2020
October 4, 2020

The vast majority of people who experience war directly, first-hand, rather than through Hollywood movies or politicians’ speeches, are the people who live where wars are waged. In wars involving distant wealthy nations on one-side, some 95% of those killed or injured or traumatized, and 100% of those bombed out of their homes are people against whom war is waged, most of them civilians and the rest of them people doing exactly what any Hollywood movie or politician would tell them — have told them — to do: fight back.

Chris Hedges: The Truth About War Always Comes Out Too Late

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Aug 15, 2020

On the show this week, Chris Hedges discusses Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge with Danny Sjursen, a combat veteran and West Point graduate.

U.S. Army: 0 — Internet: 1 by David Swanson

Image by Truthout.org via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
Originally posted May 26, 2019
May 24, 2020

The U.S. Army tweeted a harmless rah-rah tweet and got hit with a burst of reality never encountered on corporate-controlled media. Score one for the internet.

Abby Martin: Afghanistan, The Forever War—Part I: From The Killing Fields

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Dandelion Salad

with Abby Martin

Empire Files on May 17, 2020

About Face member John Motter, former Marine Corps infantryman, speaks with Abby Martin about the hidden reality of the endless Afghanistan War.