If the phrase “war comics” conjures up for you images of magazines with names like “Warlord” and “Commando”, and simple-minded celebrations of militarism and empire, then, please, just ignore the title.
Indeed, the first two selections in this wonderful collection - Keiji Nakazawa's “I Saw It!” (precursor to his epic account of the bombing of Hiroshima and its aftermath, Barefoot Gen) and Raymond Briggs' “The Tin Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman” - are as anti-war a pair of…
I refuse to be conscripted because it is a denial of human liberty.
I claim, as an individual, the right to act towards my fellow individuals, and no less to all creation, in the manner that my intelligence and my convictions guide me through the medium of my conscience.
Whatever may be the reason for the Universe, I see it as a whole - composed of subsidiary parts and each part is again made of smaller units.
The perfection of the whole is dependent on the…
Let's start with the good news: currently, the British armed forces are under-staffed. They are 5,170 soldiers short, which is equivalent to 2.7%. However, this isn't much of a shortfall, and does not endanger the military's ability to wage war. My question is: why is this so, and what can we do to change that?
An understanding of the way the armed forces recruit is crucial to the development of a successful counter-recruitment strategy. There are several key factors in armed forces…
Peace campaigners are gearing up for the annual international “Keep Space for Peace” week events - calling for an end to the US Missile Defence or “Star Wars” programmes.
This year's themes include “Stop Star Wars Research and Development”, “Convert the Military Industrial Complex” and “Fund Human Needs”. Actions are due to take place worldwide between 1 and 8 October and, here in Britain events are planned for USAF Croughton in Oxforshire, RAF Fylingdales and NSA Menwith Hill, both…
I couldn't quite believe it. Here I was at the army recruitment fair, having a discussion with one of the organisers about the punitive measures in the Armed Forces Bill currently going through parliament, measures which could mean conscientious objectors in the forces being sent to prison for life, and he was trying to sell it to me on the grounds that it's “better than the death penalty”.
What sort of an argument is that? It's like defending the maiming of children in Iraq on the…
Antimilitarists in Paraguay have expressed concern at recent military operations targeting predominantly poor, civilian populations and campesina organisations in rural areas.
On 25 March the Moviemiento de Objecion de Conciencia (MoC), Paraguay, issued a statement in which they called for the punishment of the soldiers responsible for these abuses, adding “We demand that the government stops wasting resources in these [military] institutions, and instead invest in…
On Sunday 12 February, peace activists with the Irish Network for Nonviolent Action Training and Education Network (INNATE) lobbied a British Army recruitment fair at the Kinnegar base, in Co Down, N Ireland.
Flyers were distributed to potential new recruits and others attending the event, outlining both the negative consequences of army enlisting and the alternatives available to potential recruits. They also promoted the confidential advice service At Ease for those who do join…
Since October 2003, the bank-watch organisation Netwerk Vlaanderen, and the peace organisations Vrede, Forum voor Vredesactue and For Mother Earth, have been running a campaign against Belgian bank groups' investments in weapons. Under pressure from the campaign “My Money. Clear Conscience” (see PN2458), four large bank groups have since scaled down their investments in weapon producers.
At a political level, Belgium is also the first country to forbid investment funds…
Five hundred people - a mixture of anti-militarists, anarchists and nationalists - demonstrated in Sofia on 12 November in protest at plans to build US military bases in Bulgaria. They called for a national referendum on whether Bulgaria should compromise its sovereignty and host the bases.
Following an initial agreement by the government - as long ago as 1999 - to host US forces, there have been recent reports that the US wants to send several thousand troops to the country, and is…
They may have been in circulation since the 1930s (hmm.. sounds familiar...), but the power of the white poppy to provoke remains as pronounced as ever.
In the run up to Remembrance Sunday, the Movement for the Abolition of War and Royal British Legion were widely reported as having reached some kind of “truce”, with the Legion agreeing to remove their contentious “wars are inevitable” statement from their website and to include MAW information in their schools pack. MAW invited the…
Here are two short reports from participants which, it is hoped, might enthuse you enough to join in with protests during October's "Keep Space for Peace" week (see box below).
Close it down!Chris Brennan writes...
On a sunny Saturday, 24 September, about 60 protesters marched around the old RAF Croughton site on the NorthantsOxon border which is acknowledged to house the infrastructure for US military and governmental communications between North America and Europe…
Name: Women in Black
Aims and objectives: Women in Black (WiB) is a worldwide network of women committed to peace with justice, which actively opposes, and makes the links between, male violence, militarism and war.
What is WiB: WiB has a feminist understanding that male violence against women in domestic life and in war are related. WiB aims to bring a feminist perspective to the opposition to war and other forms of violence, focussing on the effects of war on women, and to…
It has been a month full of sharp reminders of how the military dominates our lives.
During the last week of April a group of activists peacefully blockaded the Defence Munitions Depot at Beith in Scotland (see PN2461). This huge depot has a workforce of 500, and its main work is to store, produce, test and issue a range of missiles (including Tomahawks) and torpedoes.
In an arcane twist, HMG contracts big arms companies like BAE Systems to do the manufacturing and these…
If the headline news is of Spain withdrawing troops from Iraq and Bush giving premier Zapatero the cold shoulder, practical Spanish cooperation with the US and NATO remains firm.
While anti-militarists announced a series of actions - “hot May” - at military installations throughout the country, the month began with defence minister Jose' Bono meeting his US counterpart Donald Rumsfeld, agreeing to send more Spanish troops to NATO's mission in Afghanistan, to offer training in Spain…
Women in Black, London group, during the run-up to the general election invited passers-by to question the candidates of all parties on their attitudes to specific issues of militarism and war. Women stated their inten-tion to vote, among other things, for
