Una reflexión personal | English

17/02/2025 / NNOMY - En un mundo donde los conflictos a menudo parecen inevitables y el llamado a las armas resuena a lo largo de la historia, me encuentro en una encrucijada, eligiendo un camino menos transitado. La idea de la guerra, con su violencia y sufrimiento inherentes, choca profundamente con mis creencias y valores fundamentales. He llegado a comprender que participar en tales conflictos no es cuestión de valentía ni cobardía, sino una profunda reflexión sobre los principios y la conciencia de uno.

Desde muy joven, me enseñaron la importancia de la empatía, la compasión y la santidad de la vida. Estos valores han moldeado mi visión del mundo, llevándome a cuestionar las justificaciones de la guerra y el precio que la humanidad paga por ella. Las historias de quienes han sufrido —vidas inocentes perdidas, familias destrozadas y comunidades devastadas— resuenan profundamente en mí. Son precisamente estas historias las que alimentan mi convicción de oponerme a participar o apoyar las guerras.

Negarse a participar en la guerra no es un acto de indiferencia ni apatía. Al contrario, es una decisión consciente basada en la creencia de que existen alternativas para resolver conflictos: caminos que priorizan el diálogo, la comprensión y la reconciliación sobre la destrucción y la animosidad. Es la creencia en el poder de la humanidad para superar sus instintos más bajos y buscar soluciones que eleven el espíritu en lugar de degradar.

  Versión en español
March 12, 2025 / Libby Frank / NNOMY Report - The report opens with a comment on the nature of war which they warn has become too dependent on technology. From the report: “the most powerful weapon systems will remain the six inches between the ears of our citizens and the strength of their hearts and content of their souls.”

It also points (several times) to China as the biggest threat. It also notes the threat of Russia. It refers to the invasion of Ukraine as “Vladimir Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine” which seems to conflict with Trump’s view.

It notes that weapon sales are way down and recommends ending informal congressional notification of such sales. The review process is not required; it is a practice by which the Department of State provides a preview of prospective arms transfers before Congress is formally notified.

What will be the ramification of this change? Shouldn’t arms sales get Congressional review? What if Trump decides to negotiate a big sale to Russia as a tradeoff for something he wants?

  Versión en español
February 22, 2025 / Greg Alderete / The Suburban Times - In our schools, where young minds are meant to learn the art of questioning authority and embracing the complexity of human experience, the presence of Junior ROTC is a stark contradiction to these ideals. This program, designed to inculcate a militaristic mindset, pushes the notion that violence is an acceptable solution once diplomacy fails—a notion that has been used to justify brutal acts of killing throughout history.

By introducing teenagers to a worldview where the defined enemy must be eliminated, we risk teaching them that conflict can only be resolved through violence. This black-and-white perspective, one where under some circumstances killing is sanctioned and under others it is not, undermines the moral and ethical development that education should foster. Instead of nurturing critical thinking, empathy, and an understanding of the power of nonviolent resistance, Junior ROTC reinforces obedience and the glorification of force.

Book review: They Came for the Schools: One Town’s Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America’s Classrooms | Versión en español

January-March 2025 / Isidro Ortiz, PhD / Draft NOticesDraft NOtices - Written by acclaimed investigative journalist Mike Hixenbaugh, this book is worth an earnest read because of its focus, timeliness and documentation. It will be of interest to a diverse audience, especially those concerned with public schools and their roles and impact on youth development in society, and how elements of the Right have managed to achieve political power.

COMD, Project YANO and other organizations engaged in counter-recruitment and anti-militarism work have long recognized public schools as sites of ideological and political contestation. Fueled by this understanding, they have struggled to influence policies and practices like the involuntary placement of students in JROTC. Regrettably, as this book makes clear, they have not been the only ones to recognize the role of schools in shaping the country’s political climate.

In a clearly written exposé that draws from interviews and secondary sources such as school district records, Hixenbaugh chronicles the recent rise of a Christian conservative campaign that targets education policy. He tells how this movement is not just an attempt to convert public schools into private institutions but encompasses a powerful drive involving the imposition of Biblical values in schools, the banning of books, the redesign of curricula and the limiting of the rights of students of color and LGBTQ students. To his credit, he does so with clear investment in the outcomes of this campaign, searching for glimmers of hope that resistance to the movement will spread and succeed.

Feb 2, 2025 / Edward Hasbrouck / Antiwar -  According to an exclusive report by Fox News, the Oversight Project of the Heritage Foundation is filing Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the Selective Service System and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records of how many “illegal immigrants” may have violated US law by failing to register with the SSS for a possible future military draft. Fox News quotes the FOIA request as alleging that, “there is widespread criminal non-compliance by such aliens”.

The Oversight Project appears to misunderstand both immigration and Selective Service law. With respect to “illegal immigrants”, seeking asylum isn’t illegal – it’s a human right. By international treaty, penalties cannot lawfully be imposed on refugees for “illegal entry or presence”. And failing to register with the Selective Service System is a crime only if it is “knowing and willful”, which it usually isn’t. Most immigrants are unaware, until the question comes up on an application for naturalization, that they are supposed to sign up for a possible U.S. draft even if they aren’t U.S. citizens.