Suggested Tactics and Strategies for Stopping a New Draft

by Bob Witanek 

While I just set this list serve up last night – we might have struck on something that people are interested in because already 34 people have signed on.  For the purpose of facilitating this list as a stepping stone to building an effort – I would like to throw out the following suggestions:

1. Lisbeth West  has a website http://www.duckdaotsu.org/gisitemap.html  she has maintained around GI issues and the draft.  Let us try to identify any and all of the groups (local and national) that are working around this issue and develop pointers to their pages.  Also if people put up an effort on their own sites around this issue, identify those as well.  Perhaps Lisbeth or someone can put a page together with pointers to all of the efforts.  Like Lis says – we do not want to re-invent the wheel and duplicate efforts.  We can also develop a means to communicate with the groups already on the ground on the effort.  I am having trouble maintaining our site for http://EndOccIraq.org but as soon as that gets straightened out – I will put a GiveTheYouthTheTruth there where our information around the draft and other related issues will be put up. 

2. Are there any national organizations and what local organizations are addressing this question?  Let’s find out and let’s try to plug everyone into each other.  It’s not necessary that we all become one big group as our perspectives vary but we should figure out who is who and what is what.  We are interested both in those groups doing general work around GI support – CO counseling – as well as those groups who have been specifically working to oppose the various draft initiatives.  Once you get your local group on board with the effort – set up a page and give us the pointers to your local effort.  I maintain http://NoWarNJ.org and it has a resource page pointing to groups that were opposing the war this past fall and spring but what I am suggesting is that we specifically point to the groups and their specific information against the new draft.

3. Build this list serve.  The message below was sent by me to about 20 of the lists I participate in – I also lurk on about 70 others and I will start getting it out to them as well.  Perhaps you can either word your own note or send that out to encourage more folks to sign on to this list so that we can facilitate a wider discussion.  Also, let us find out if there is another list along these lines and either fold into that or let those folks know about this one.  We can also find out about lists around similar issues too to invite people on board here.

4. Constituent organizing.  We should try to see if it is possible to have committees form in each of the constituencies where someone is supporting the Rangel or the Hollings bills.  Looking at the Rangel bill – it looks like it is some of the more liberal and many of the Black reps.  We need to come to terms with that.  My guess is that they signed on not because of any big demand from their constituents – that the strategy came from them and not their constituents.  Hopefully constituents can be organized to get them to get off the bill or at least make the demand accordingly – either through a petition or a letter that demands that they remove themselves from co-sponsorship and in Rangel’s and Hollings’s cases that they withdraw the bills.  Perhaps we can set up some pages that fire off letters and offer that people can sign petitions.  Those who are not in a particular constituency should also write as Dave Schraeger just did as well.

5. Raise the issue.  We should raise the issue with the existing anti-war groups and debate down the Rangel / Hollings initiative.  We should try to get the groups we belong to adopt unconditional opposition to the draft.  We should organize meetings on the topic and refute the pro-draft arguments – and the idea that the draft is somehow progressive or an anti-war strategy.

6. We should also oppose the pervasive recruitment in the communities and schools.  I know some draft opponents might disagree with this point and I would suggest to them that they do not need to participate in this aspect.  We should work to get to the high school students through the students themselves, the teachers, the administrations, leaflet distribution, etc.  The draft bills do not address this issue at all while claiming to support super oppressed communities.  They do not reduce the number of African, Latino, etc. who are getting recruited and end up on the frontlines – they would actually increase those numbers because even those who are not cajoled into joining from the inner city schools will now be forced to join.  The draft will decrease the percentage of super oppressed in uniform but increase the actual number – since the total of the whole of the forces will be increased.  The way to actually impact the issue is to organize among youth.  Many groups are doing this already (see point 1) and we should either plug into those efforts or initiate additional efforts.  To me – this point is far more important than campaigning for one presidential candidate or another.  Our youth organizing should also publicize what is going on with the draft and the US war and occupation in Iraq.

7. We should figure out a way to concretely oppose forced rescription (what I am calling it) – forcing GIs who have served their time to stay in the services even after they have done their Iraq tour.

8. We should engage in political discussion among draft opponents – many believe it is a Bush or republican issue but it is now democrats, and the liberal ones at that – who are largely leading the charge in this direction.  Discussion and positive exchange of ideas around these questions is important.

9. Think about these ideas and respond to them and offer up your own ideas.

I am not suggesting these ideas as if they have not been done or are not being done.  Frankly I do not know about all of the efforts about.  In the 70’s I worked against draft registration and in the 80’s I worked against the Solomon amendment which is what forces students to register to get college aid but I am not up on all of the efforts since then. 

In Solidarity,

Bob Witanek

http://EndOccIraq.org – opinions mine