April 2005

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

National Calls for Nonviolent Resistance to the Continuing War in Iraq

The Iraq Pledge of Resistance, founded in September of 2002, is a nationwide network of activists and organizations committed to ending the war in Iraq through nonviolent, Gandhian and Kingian resistance. The Pledge has issued two recent calls for civil disobedience. The first, a general call for civil disobedience, follows immediately below. The second call, also printed below, echoes the famous 1967 Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority, which advocated draft resistance in the US. "A Declaration of Conscience In Support of Military Resisters," is being signed by civilians who publicly risk violating US federal law by advocating that soldiers who feel moved to do so disobey orders to participate in the war in Iraq. Versions of this statement were signed by activists across the country at events commemorating the second anniversary of the US war against Iraq. For more information, please contact Gordon Clark, www.iraqpledge.org, pledgecoordinator@starpower.net, 301/589-2355.

We Call for Nonviolent Resistance to War in Iraq

Times of great injustice call for acts of conscience and courage. In the loving spirit and discipline of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day and others, we call on people to engage in acts and campaigns of noncooperation and active nonviolent resistance to the US government, the military, the corporate merchants of war, and all institutions that feed the continuing conflict in Iraq.

To the millions who have marched, lobbied Congress or otherwise protested the war in Iraq, we call on you to continue your opposition, and to join together with others in nonviolent resistance to this immoral and unjust war. Our democratic voices of dissent joined with an unprecedented anti-war movement around the world. We must now build an equally unprecedented movement to nonviolently resist this war and bring it to an end. As the carnage increases and the military quagmire deepens in Iraq, the prospects for peace may seem dim and the momentum of war strong. But now more than ever is a time for dissent, not despair; for deepened commitment to peace, not complacency with war; for strengthened resistance, not weakened resolve.

To all who are sick of heart and conscience over the death and destruction in Iraq, we call on you to join us in nonviolent resistance to this war. For the sake of our humanity; for the sake of justice; for the sake of peace in Iraq, we must act now. And we cannot rest from our campaign of nonviolent resistance until our demands of peace and justice are met.

We call for expressions of nonviolent resistance that are many and varied. From the offices of Congresspersons and Senators to military recruiters and military bases, from our payment of federal taxes to the facilities where weapons are made that become the profits and sorrows of empire, we welcome each and every person who is moved to engage in or support noncooperation and nonviolent resistance, at whatever level, to take action.

Declaration of Conscience In Support of Military Resistance

"Let us, collectively, free our minds, soften our hearts, comfort the wounded, put down our weapons, and reassert ourselves as human beings by putting an end to war."

-- Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia*, Court-martialed and sentenced to one year in military stockade

"I always felt there was no higher honor than to serve my country and defend the values that established this country….I have come to the conclusion that there are no valid arguments for the destructive force of war....I cannot tell anyone else how to live his or her life, but I have determined how I want to live mine - by not participating in war any longer, as I feel that it is stupid and against everything that is good about our world."

-- Sergeant Kevin Benderman*, Facing courts martial for refusing 2nd deployment to Iraq

We stand here today influenced and inspired by the bravery and honor of American soldiers who have taken it upon themselves to refuse deployment to Iraq, at grave risk to their liberty and futures. Our soldiers sign on to go into harm's way if necessary to defend their country, but instead they have been turned into harm's ministers in a war that has claimed more then 100,000 Iraqi lives and more than 1,400 of their fellow soldiers. The President and Congress have breached a sacred trust with our soldiers and abused their oath to defend the Constitution by leading young Americans to kill and die in a war based on lies.

Thus influenced and thus inspired by a growing number of soldiers who are refusing orders to Iraq, or otherwise speaking out, we choose to knowingly and willingly break the law - 18 USC Section 2387** - that abrogates our right of free speech and dissent, the law which throws a cloak over the immorality of this war and its oppression of our soldiers.

We also obey a higher law, knowing that Iraq is an illegal war and our country has committed war crimes there. As noted at the Nuremburg Trial, "individuals have international duties which transcend national obligations of obedience imposed by the individual state."

We therefore advise, counsel and urge soldiers to refuse orders to go to Iraq if in good conscience they decide to do so. We publish and distribute today, and we urge others to do likewise, a call for refusal of orders, and we pledge to follow up with support for soldiers who choose to exercise their right of conscience. Soldiers who seek support can contact the GI Rights Hotline* at 800-394-9544, www.girights.org.

We fully recognize that soldiers are at far greater risk then we on the outside might be for counseling them to refuse their orders to Iraq, so it is our moral responsibility to them that we share that risk to the extent we can. Our violation of this unjust law is undertaken in a spirit of love, with compassion and respect for all we encounter, especially our soldiers.

Soldiers have a right of conscience as does every human being. We will not allow our right to support and encourage soldiers to act on conscience to be stripped away by any nation or any unjust law.

To add your name to the list of signers, email pledgecoordinator@starpower.net.

* Quoting these individuals and the GI Rights Hotline does not imply endorsement of this call for civil disobedience by these individuals or the groups who sponsor the hotline.

** 18 USC Section 2387 declares it illegal for whomever, with intent, "advises, counsels, urges, or in any manner causes or attempts to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any member of the military or naval forces of the United States."

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