military recruitment

Tue

Mar

2016

Young and Desperate? I want you to fight my wars!

New translation available

Submitted by hannah

“Don’t join the Army.”

“Don’t do what? Don’t leave here? Don’t learn new skills?”

These are the words from the new recruitment advert from the British Army to recruit new members to its ranks. It depicts a...

Wed

Jun

Thou Shalt Not Kill

Submitted by antimili-youth on Wed, 10/06/2015 - 17:14

By Chris Hedges, Truthdig

The military in the United States portrays itself as endowed with the highest virtues—honor, duty, self-sacrifice, courage and patriotism. Politicians, entertainers, sports stars, the media, clerics and academics slavishly bow before the military machine, ignoring its colossal pillaging of state resources, the egregious war crimes it has normalized across the globe, its abject service not to democracy or freedom but corporate profit, and the blind, mind-numbing obedience it inculcates among its members. A lone soldier or Marine who rises up inside the system to denounce the hypermasculinity that glorifies violence and war, who exposes the false morality of the military, who refuses to kill in the service of imperial power, unmasks the military for what it is. And he or she, as Chelsea Manning has learned, swiftly pays a very, very heavy price.

Tue

Jun

14 Powerful Portraits Of Men Reacting To New Mandatory Army Draft In Lithuania

Submitted by antimili-youth on Tue, 09/06/2015 - 16:22

By Neringa Rekasiute

Two women in Lithuania are using photography to approach a very controversial topic – military conscription, which was suddenly reinstated by the Lithuanian government just a few months ago. The series is a collaboration between Lithuanian actress and TV host Beata Tiskevic-Hasanova and Lithuanian photographer and political science student Neringa Rekasiute.

Mon

May

Why so many children are fighting in Yemen’s civil war

Submitted by antimili-youth on Mon, 11/05/2015 - 17:06

By Ali al-Mujahed and Hugh Naylor, The Washington Post

SANAA, Yemen — Abdullah Ali’s 15-year-old son disappeared from home one morning three months ago. A week later, the boy called his horrified family to say he had joined the Shiite insurgents known as Houthis — becoming one of a growing number of underage soldiers fighting in Yemen’s civil war.

“He’s just a child. He’s only in the ninth grade,” Ali, 49, a civil servant who lives in the city of Taiz, said recently. “He should be at school learning, not fighting.”

Tue

May

Counter Recruitment in Belfast

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 05/05/2015 - 10:33

Having been profoundly disturbed by recent figures suggesting that 1 in 10 prisoners in the UK prison system is an ex-soldier, disturbed by the amount of homeless people that come from an ex-service background and disturbed by how many of our ex-service men and women are cast adrift suffering post-traumatic stress after they leave the military, I was keen to see what mechanisms the Armed Forces had in place to remedy these issues. So, on Saturday 25th April I took myself off to the Armed Forces trades fair (Recruitment Day) in Belfast, to engage with serving personnel and the families of potential recruits. I decided that as well as quizzing the camouflaged salesmen, I would also approach the Mums and Dads with a view to informing them of the less appealing side of life as an Army recruit.

Tue

Mar

S. Sudan army admits recruiting children into armed services

Submitted by antimili-youth on Tue, 31/03/2015 - 17:59

In February, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) team reported that 89 children were abducted while doing exams, but said the actual number could be much higher.

The South Sudanese army (SPLA) has admitted forcefully recruiting children into its armed ranks in Upper Nile state, but claimed they were returned to their respective homes.

Army spokesperson Col. Philip Aguer told Sudan Tribune the military leadership directed the department of child protection to carry out joint investigation and found only 36 children in the army.

He however added that these children were successfully reunited with their parents.

Thu

Mar

IS 'trains hundreds of child soldiers in Syria'

Submitted by antimili-youth on Thu, 26/03/2015 - 17:43

The Islamic State group has trained more than 400 children in Syria as fighters in 2015 alone, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Tuesday.

Calling them “Cubs of the Caliphate,” the jihadist group provides intense military and religious training to children throughout its areas of control in Syria, the Britain-based monitor said. Sleek videos published by I.S.-affiliated accounts show boys—some appearing to be as young as eight years old—loading and firing guns and crawling through sandy brush as part of military training. The footage also shows children gathered around a table studying religious texts.

Tue

Mar

Pakistan: Children in FATA: How to stop the making of child soldiers

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 17/03/2015 - 10:38

ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the state of children in the federally administered tribal areas (Fata), Unicef has recommended to the federal government to repeal Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) 1901. The recommendation states that constitutional amendments be made to bring Fata into the mainstream of the country. One of the most vital measures would be to repeal the FCR and introduce a more humane law to deal with adult criminals, separating them from child offenders, and enforcing the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) 2000 for the benefit of child offenders.

Unicef, in collaboration with the Commissioner for Children’s Complaints, Federal Ombudsman, Islamabad, in its comprehensive report on the state of children in Pakistan has also made 19 recommendations to improve the conditions of Fata’s children. “This is perhaps the first time that Fata’s children have been discussed in some detail,” the study claimed.

Fri

Feb

Changing Military Recruitment Policies in Schools: One Phone Call and Email at a Time

Submitted by antimili-youth on Fri, 27/02/2015 - 17:35

The Experiences of a Santa Barbara Mother in Finding Alternatives Are Inspiring

By Kate Connell / Draft NOtices

In the spring of 2014, I went to observe a career day at Santa Barbara High School, where my son is enrolled. There were a variety of organizations with representatives and literature tables. The Marines and the Navy recruiters were also there. They were soliciting student contact information.

Fri

Feb

Isis releases video of child soldiers training for jihad in Syria camp for 'cubs of the caliphate'

Submitted by hannah on Fri, 27/02/2015 - 16:01

Isis has released a new propaganda video claiming to show a terror training camp for children dubbed jihadist “cubs”.

Around 80 boys are seen standing in formation in a courtyard as they perform exercises and chant “Allahu Akbar!” to a commander’s orders.

They are dressed in combat gear and wearing black headbands styled after the militant group’s black flag.

Read the rest of the article at The Independent

Fri

Feb

When IDF conscription begins at age three

Submitted by hannah on Fri, 27/02/2015 - 15:41

An education system that brings an inherently violent organization in through the front door is failing at its most basic obligation. This policy is the first injection of militarism, ultimately meant to prevent our children from becoming critical citizens.

Ten years ago, when my oldest daughter was five years old, I already had the honor of being the mother of a draft refuser.

One day, when she was in kindergarten, my young daughter came home with a notice from the kindergarten teacher asking parents to help their children prepare care packages for a soldier. The notice included a list of suggested items, and requested that the package include a drawing and letter from the child to the soldier.

I immediately called the kindergarten teacher and asked her if she didn’t think that four- and five-year-old children were a bit too young to be drafted into the Home Front Command. “What do you mean,” she responded, “It’s the most basic civic act!”

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Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.