Message To America's Students: The War, The Draft, Your Future
gugl...@vote.nader
U.S. troops sent to war half a world away. American foreign policy
controlled by an arrogant elite, bent on projecting military power
around the globe. A public misled into supporting an unconstitutional
war founded on deceit and fabrications.
As the death toll mounts, we hear claims that the war is nearly won,
that victory is just around the corner. But victory never arrives.
As the public loses confidence in the government, the government
questions the patriotism of any who express doubt about the war.
When a presidential election arrives, both the Democrat and Republican
nominees embrace the policy of continued war.
The military draft comes to dominate the lives of America's young, and
vast numbers who believe the war to be a senseless blunder are faced
with fighting a war they do not believe in, or facing exile or prison.
The year was 1968. Because voters had no choice that November, the
Vietnam War continued for another six years. Hundreds of thousands of
Americans like you died, were maimed, or suffered from diseases like
malaria. A far greater number of Vietnamese died.
Today, the war is in the quicksands and alleys of Iraq. Once again,
under the pressure of a determined resistance, we see an American war
policy being slowly torn apart at the seams, while the candidates urge
us to "stay the course" in this tragic misadventure. Today's
Presidential candidates are not Nixon and Humphrey, they are now Bush
and Kerry.
Once again, there is one overriding truth: If war is the only choice in
this election, then war we will have.
Today enlistments in the Reserves and National Guard are declining. The
Pentagon is quietly recruiting new members to fill local draft boards,
as the machinery for drafting a new generation of young Americans is
being quietly put into place.
Young Americans need to know that a train is coming, and it could run
over their generation in the same way that the Vietnam War devastated
the lives of those who came of age in the sixties.
I am running for President, and have been against this war from the
beginning. We must not waste lives in order to control and waste more
oil. Stand with us and we may yet salvage your future and Americas'
future from this looming disaster.
Sincerely,
Ralph Nader
--
groups. NION
has cemented alliances with bona fide radical organizations like the
Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization, Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom and the Revolutionary Communist Party.
Not In Our Name: What is IFCO?
Not In Our Name (NION) requests donations on its website, yet on this site
donors are asked to make checks payable to NION/IFCO. IFCO is the acronym
for the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization. NION states
that the " Interreligous Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO). is
our fiscal sponsor." Fiscal sponsorship by IFCO means Not In Our Name
receives donations that are tax deductible because of IFCO's 501c(3)
(charitable, federal tax-exempt) status. IFCO charges a fee for this
service.
Why is NION not a 501c(3)?
Donations to NION/IFCO are then mailed to the Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), which is located at 339 Lafayette Street in
New York City. The address is the same as NION's. The intimate nature of a
financial partnership shows how closely aligned these two organizations are.
And that's scary, because the Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom has been associated with Communist causes since its inception. Molly
Klopot of the WILPF is a NION organizer. The WILPF is related to IFCO as
well as NION. Marilyn Clement, who is the Executive Director of WIPLF, is
the Treasurer of IFCO.
The building where the offices of NION, the WILPF and the War Resisters
League are located is known as the "Peace Pentagon," and is owned by the
A.J. Muste Memorial Institute. A.J. Muste was a "peace" advocate who
compiled frequent flier miles visiting Hanoi during the Vietnam War era. The
Muste Foundation funds groups like the War Resisters League, School of the
Americas Watch, Nicaragua Solidarity Network, International Peace bureau,
International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Coalition for Human Rights of
Immigra