- War Resisters League
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The War Resisters League (WRL) was formed in 1923[1] 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.
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 civil defense drills.[1] In the 1960s, WRL was the first pacifist organization to call for an end to the Vietnam War.[1] The organization's opposition to nuclear weapons was extended to include nuclear power in the 1970s and 1980s. The 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.
Contents
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.[2] 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, listing the total as 54%:
- "The figures are federal funds, which do not include trust funds — such as Social Security — that are raised and spent separately from income taxes....The government practice of combining trust and federal funds began during the Vietnam War, thus making the human needs portion of the budget seem larger and the military portion smaller. "[3][4]
These figures are at odds with official government figures:
- "[Dov S. Zakheim, the Pentagon comptroller pointed] out that the 2004 military budget would represent 16.6 percent of all federal spending, compared with 27.3 percent in the late 1980's."[5]
- "...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."[6]
Notable members
- Dave Dellinger
- Ralph DiGia
- G. Simon Harak
- Jessie Wallace Hughan
- David McReynolds
- Grace Paley
- Igal Roodenko
- Bayard Rustin
- Carmen Trotta
- James Peck
See also
- Military budget and total US federal spending
- List of anti-war organizations
- pacifism
- People's Freedom Union
- War resister
Further reading
Bennett, Scott H. Radical Pacifism: The War Resisters League and Gandhian Nonviolence in America, 1915-1963 NY: Syracuse Univ. Press, 2003.
References
- ^ a b c WRL History
- ^ Barry, Dan (2003). "A nation at war: at war at home; as wars come and go, Ralph keeps protesting". New York Times (March 22). http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE6D91F31F931A15750C0A9659C8B63&&scp=9&sq=%22War%20Resisters%20League%22&st=cse. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ Pie chart, warresisters.org.
- ^ Sardi, Bill. "How Much Does It Cost Your Household for War?". lewrockwell.com. http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi59.html. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
- ^ Wayne, Leslie. THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET PROPOSAL: THE MILITARY; Despite Bush's Vow, Spending on High-Tech Weapons Remains at Low Level, New York Times. (February 4, 2003).
- ^ Jennings, Daniel G. (May 02, 2003). "No Taxes for Freedom!". FrontPageMagazine.com. http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=B65F7E43-50D4-409D-9162-2BC1CEA92E94. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
External links
- War Resisters League website
- 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 Online Bookstore
- War Tax Resistance
Anti-war topics Opposition to wars
or aspects of warMilitary action in Iran · 2011 military intervention in Libya · Iraq War · War in Afghanistan · War on Terrorism · Sri Lankan Civil War · Landmines · Vietnam War · Nuclear armament · World War I · World War II · Second Boer War · American Civil War · War of 1812
Agents of opposition Anti-war organizations · Anti-nuclear organizations · Conscientious objectors · Draft dodgers · Peace movement · Peace churches · Peace campRelated ideologies Anti-imperialism · Antimilitarism · Anti-nuclear · Appeasement · Hippie · Nonviolence · Nonkilling · Pacificism · Pacifism · Satyagraha · Socialism · Soviet influence on the peace movement · Peace punksMedia Categories:- Organizations established in 1923
- Anti-conscription organizations
- Peace organizations
- Nonviolence
- Anti-nuclear organizations in the United States
- Anti–nuclear weapons movement
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