War Resisters League: Difference between revisions
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Today, the War Resisters League is actively organizing against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the impact of war at home.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Barry |first=Dan |title=A nation at war: at war at home; as wars come and go, Ralph keeps protesting |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE6D91F31F931A15750C0A9659C8B63&&scp=9&sq=%22War%20Resisters%20League%22&st=cse |journal=New York Times |year=2003 |issue=March 22 |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref> Much of its organizing is focused on challenging military recruiters and ending corporate profit from war. It publishes an annual peace calendar, the quarterly magazine ''WIN: Through Revolutionary Nonviolence'', and other materials and is involved in a number of national peace and justice coalitions, including [[United for Peace and Justice]] and the [[National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee]]. Since 1958, WRL has awarded almost annually the [[War Resisters League Peace Award]] to a person or organization whose work represents the League's radical nonviolent program of action. |
Today, the War Resisters League is actively organizing against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the impact of war at home.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Barry |first=Dan |title=A nation at war: at war at home; as wars come and go, Ralph keeps protesting |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE6D91F31F931A15750C0A9659C8B63&&scp=9&sq=%22War%20Resisters%20League%22&st=cse |journal=New York Times |year=2003 |issue=March 22 |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref> Much of its organizing is focused on challenging military recruiters and ending corporate profit from war. It publishes an annual peace calendar, the quarterly magazine ''WIN: Through Revolutionary Nonviolence'', and other materials and is involved in a number of national peace and justice coalitions, including [[United for Peace and Justice]] and the [[National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee]]. Since 1958, WRL has awarded almost annually the [[War Resisters League Peace Award]] to a person or organization whose work represents the League's radical nonviolent program of action. |
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The War Resisters League annually publishes a pie chart showing how much of the [[US Budget|U.S. federal budget]] actually covers current and past [[Military budget of the United States|military expenses]].<ref>http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm |
The War Resisters League annually publishes a pie chart showing how much of the [[US Budget|U.S. federal budget]] actually covers current and past [[Military budget of the United States|military expenses]].<ref>http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm</ref> This pie chart has been criticized for its allegedly spurious figures.{{cn}} |
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"The [War Resisters League] admits on its web site that it left the majority of federal spending, money spent on Social Security and Medicare out of its budget assessments. The war resisters explain that they don't consider Social Security and Medicare taxes to be part of the federal income tax, because those moneys are put into trust funds rather than the general federal budget. Taxes spent on social programs are not taxes according to this "peace" group. This of course makes American military spending look far bigger than it really is. |
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...War Resisters....count moneys appropriated for veterans' benefits and payment of the national debt as "taxes to support past wars." The group does this because the only way it can arrive at the figure of 47 percent of the federal budget going to the military is to count what they see as past military spending." </ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 02:24, 12 April 2009
The War Resisters League (WRL) was formed in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I. It is a section of the London-based War Resisters' International.
Many of the founders had been jailed during World War I for refusing military service. From the Fellowship of Reconciliation many Jews, suffragists, socialists, and anarchists separated to form this more secular organization. It has historically been linked to the Socialist Party of America, with many of its leading members also in the SP. (Many of its members are still in the Socialist Party USA.)
During World War II, many members were imprisoned. In the 1950s, WRL members worked in the US civil rights movement and organized protests against nuclear weapons testing and so-called civil defense drills. In the 1960s, WRL was the first pacifist organization to call for an end to the Vietnam War. The organization's opposition to nuclear weapons was extended to include nuclear power in the 1970s and 1980s. WRL has also been active in feminist and anti-racist causes and works with other organizations to reduce the level of violence in modern culture.
Current activities
Today, the War Resisters League is actively organizing against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the impact of war at home.[1] Much of its organizing is focused on challenging military recruiters and ending corporate profit from war. It publishes an annual peace calendar, the quarterly magazine WIN: Through Revolutionary Nonviolence, and other materials and is involved in a number of national peace and justice coalitions, including United for Peace and Justice and the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee. Since 1958, WRL has awarded almost annually the War Resisters League Peace Award to a person or organization whose work represents the League's radical nonviolent program of action.
The War Resisters League annually publishes a pie chart showing how much of the U.S. federal budget actually covers current and past military expenses.[2] This pie chart has been criticized for its allegedly spurious figures.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Barry, Dan (2003). "A nation at war: at war at home; as wars come and go, Ralph keeps protesting". New York Times (March 22). Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm
See also
- List of anti-war organizations
- Igal Roodenko
- Dave Dellinger
- Ralph DiGia
- G. Simon Harak
- David McReynolds
- Grace Paley
- Bayard Rustin
- Carmen Trotta
External links
- War Resisters Support Campaign - an effort to let US soldiers stay in Canada so they don't have to fight in Iraq or go to prison
- War Resisters League website
- War Resisters League Online Bookstore
- War Tax Resistance
- Iraq Veterans Against the War
Further reading
Bennett, Scott H. Radical Pacifism: The War Resisters League and Gandhian Nonviolence in America, 1915-1963 NY: Syracuse Univ. Press, 2003.