Message To America's Students: The War, The Draft, Your Future
Simon Bishop
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
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Movement (RIM). It is through this affiliation that the RCP is related to
two organizations listed by the State Department as terrorist organizations;
the Communist Party of Peru (Shining Path/Sender Luminoso) and the Kurdish
Workers Party (PKK) are are closely associated with RIM. (The PKK is no
longer a formal member of RIM; however, it was one of RIM's founders. The
Shining Path is still a member.) Other groups that comprise the
Revolutionary Internationalist Movement are the Communist Party of
Turkey/Marxist-Leninist, the Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran)and the
Nepal Communist Party.
The RIM via its publication A WORLD TO WIN declared its belief in the
Palestinian intifada. The February 28, 2002, edition stated "the
Revolutionary Internationalist Movement once again reaffirms its unwavering
support .and calls on all revolutionary and progressive people to step up
their actions on (the Palestinians') behalf." Another edition advised
Palestinians to "link up with .the parties and organizations that make up
the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement. With the weapon of
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and its military strategy, people's war, the
Palestinian people's fight will surely become .more integral part of the
world revolution, has