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Resistance Reflections Arrests for War Resistance Increase Again

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Resistance Reflections Arrests for War Resistance Increase Again the Nuclear Resister “A Chronicle of Hope” No. 149 July 3, 2008 ANZAC Ploughshares Military Puncture Waihopai Spy Refusers behind bars Balloon Among thousands of soldiers who have walked away from the business of killing for one reason or another in Early on the morning of April 30, three men the last five years, a small but steady stream continue to entered the Government Communications Secu- go public with their refusal. Many of their stories can be rity Bureau‘s spy base at Waihopai, New Zealand. found at couragetoresist.org Unseen due to a thick fog, they padlocked the gate to close the facility, then cut through three security The Military Counseling Network in Germany (www. fences to get past razor wire, infrared motion sen- mc-network.de) reports that U.S. Army conscientious ob- sors and a high voltage electrified fence. jector Robert Weiss was sentenced to seven months con- finement during a court martial May 13 at Rose Barracks Arcing into the mist above them were two in Vilseck, Germany. Weiss pled guilty to charges of 30-meter domes that cover the satellite dishes for desertion and missing movement, which reduced the court intercepting e-mail and telephone conversations, martial’s proceedings mostly to the sentencing phase. The telexes, faxes, and computer data communications. sentence also includes loss of pay while in prison, reduc- With a sickle, they cut through the fabric to deflate tion in rank, and dishonorable discharge when he’s out of one of the domes. the brig. The three Catholic activists - organic gardener, He told the court that soon after he joined the army, teacher, and father of six, Adrian Leason; Austra- his sister’s fiancé was killed in a fight. “I decided to lian-born Dominican Fr. Peter Murnane; and subsis- make myself a better person so I didn’t wind up in hell. I tence farmer and laborer Sam Land - then built a started reading the Bible. Everything I read told me not to shrine and prayed for the people killed by United kill people. There are better ways to solve problems than States military activity. fighting.” In a statement, they wrote, “We are responding to the Bush administration’s admission that intel- In early December of 2007, Weiss learned his applica- ligence gathering is the most important tool in the tion to be classified a conscientious objector (C.O.) and receive an honorable discharge was denied. so-called War on Terror. This war will have no end photo by Justin Duckworth until citizens of the world refuse to let it continue. The deflated dome at New Zealand’s Waihopai spy base drapes He was assigned noncombatant duties while deployed The ECHELON spy network, including Waihopai, over the dish antenna used for intercepting communications. to Forward Operating Base Prosperity in Iraq at the time, is an important part of the U.S. government’s global the world. The United Nations launched an investigation and learned of the development immediately before trav- spy network and we have come in the name of the Prince eling to the United States on leave. of Peace to close it down.” in 2003 of claims that ECHELON had been used by the U.S. government to eavesdrop on U.N. diplomats and As his leave expired and his December 22, 2007 return The men were arrested, threatened with sabotage Security Council members. A report published in 2000 charges, and initially denied bail. Five days later, a sabo- flight to Iraq drew near, his beliefs compelled him to miss showed that ECHELON had also been used by the U.S. to the flight and avoid the combat patrol duties he would be tage charge had been ruled out and they were all granted gain commercial advantage for U.S. corporations. bail on the condition they stay away from each other and assigned upon landing. military bases. An appeal to modify the order was suc- Information gathered at Waihopai is transferred to the He eventually turned himself in to military authori- cessful and the three can now meet together to prepare Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in ties February 11, 2008, in Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was for trial on charges of intentional damage and entering a Wellington and fed unseen directly to Washington, D.C. returned to Germany for the special court martial and is building to commit a crime. They also face a charge of The group took the name Waihopai ANZAC Plough- serving his sentence at the U.S. military prison in Man- intentional damage to a fence in a vineyard neighboring shares in the spirit of the 28-year-old Ploughshares move- nheim, Germany. His expected release date is in mid- Waihopai spy base. ment of direct disarmament actions. ANZAC refers to December, 2008. Waihopai and ECHELON the World War One era Australia and New Zealand Army The Waihopai receivers intercept electronic commu- Corps, celebrated in both countries on April 25, ANZAC nications throughout the Pacific region, including New Day, but in recent decades marked by protest against war Zealand, and the base is often staffed by personnel from and militarism. U.S. agencies. For more information, e-mail ploughshares08@gmail. In 1996, researcher Nicky Hager published an expose com, or visit ploughshares.org.nz. A history of the Plow- on Waihopai and New Zealand’s strong links to the U.S.- shares disarmament movement through 2004 can be found Letters of support can be sent to Robert Weiss, Unit led ECHELON network of six similar spy stations around at plowsharesactions.org 29723, Box LL, APO, AE 09028-9723. PFC James Burmeister is currently confined to base 2 at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In late June, military prosecu- SAAB Microwave Becoming Ploughshares tors decided to charge Burmeister with desertion, and he awaits court martial July 16. Per Herngren and Ulla Røder climbed over the fence at believes. “It becomes a duty when there are violence and A high school grad tired of dead-end jobs, the Eugene, SAAB Microwave’s test range at Mölndal, Sweden on the suffering in the world. We use nonviolence. Contrary to Oregon native enlisted in 2005, led by a soldier friend evening of June 26 and planted fig trees in the area around my friend Per, I do not believe that we are practicing civil to believe he’d do humanitarian work in Iraq. He was the factory. Using blacksmith hammers, they started to disobedience, but rather upholding international law. It is deployed to Baghdad in September, 2006 as a machine disarm military radar and parts of the test range. They SAAB Microwave which breaks the law delivering the gunner, assigned to notorious “bait and kill” teams that spoke to workers and guards about their intent until police missile firing system used during the war in Iraq.” have led to civilian deaths. In February, 2007, a roadside arrived and arrested them half an hour later. While preparing for the action, the disarmament activ- bomb blasted his Humvee, sending shrapnel into his face Charges may be filed in the coming weeks. Herngren ists collaborated with academic thinkers in the tradition of and damaging his hearing. is already scheduled for trial with four others August 13 the 20th century French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. for participation in the August, 2007 Vine and Fig Trees On leave while recovering in Germany, Burmeister “’Becoming2’ (like a mathematical ‘becoming- decided to head for Canada. There he was diagnosed with action, also at SAAB Microwave. The pair have each squared’) in the middle of our name might look strange,” spent over one year in prison for past Ploughshares and post traumatic stress disorder and had a seizure, possibly a says Herngren. “During the ploughshares action, we result of brain injury. other anti-war actions. worked together with Deleuze philosophers from Goth- “The word of the prophet Micah makes us move”, enburg University in Sweden. We were during one day Burmeister returned to the United States and turned explains Røder. “We beat swords into ploughshares. We plugged into each other. Together we examined how himself in in March. Because of his PTSD, Burmeister do not protest against the missile firing system of SAAB resistance and Deleuze’s philosophy will intensify each and his family are requesting that the Army gives him an Microwave or the military radar system. We choose to other. Deleuze highlights the double becoming rather than other than honorable discharge in leiu of a special court drop the protest as it becomes reactive and negative. The being: To become becoming, rather than to become some- martial which could send Burmeister to a military prison time has come to intervene and become creative.” thing. To produce production rather than isolated actions! for up to a year. “We do have the ability of direct intervention,” Røder continued on page 3 continued on page 2 have to do more to stop this war.’ The profi le of people arrested includes high school teenagers to senior citizens, Resistance Reflections mostly people under 30 and over 50.” Anti-war arrests are signifi cantly under-reported by mainstream media. For example, around the fi fth an- Arrests for War Resistance Increase Again niversary of the invasion of Iraq in March 2008, most By Bill Quigley mond, Huntsville, Joliet, news stories wrote that there were 150 to 200 arrests We can never forget that everything that Hitler Juneau, Kennebunkport, nationwide. Cohen-Joppa and Nuclear Resister report did in Germany was ‘legal,’ and everything the Hun- La Crosse, Los Angeles, there were over double that number, well over 400, many garian freedom fi ghters did was ‘illegal.’ It was ‘il- Madison, Manchester, outside the cities where regular media traditionally look.
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