United States of America

A new report by the US Government Accountability Office gives more details about conscientious objectors in the USA.

UC gets 150 million USD annually from the DoD and manages nuclear weapons labs with Bechtel Corp. 40% of Livermore Lab employees are UC graduates. UC Regent Richards Blum's company gets 125 million USD for work at Los Alomos.

The University of California runs two national laboratories in collaboration with the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. They are Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

We invite you to help launch Bite the Bullet: War-Profiteering Education & Action – an emerging network in the USA of organizations committed to dismantling the war economy and replacing it with one that prioritizes people over profit.

Why Bite the Bullet?

According to a report by the International Herald Tribune, U.S. Army prosecutions of desertion and other unauthorised absences have risen sharply in the past four years, resulting in thousands more negative discharges and prison time for junior soldiers and combat-tested veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, military records show.

The increased prosecutions are meant, in effect, to serve as a deterrent to a growing number of soldiers who might be looking for a way to avoid heading - or heading back - to Iraq, several army lawyers said during interviews.

In the previous month, the WRI office issued the following co-alerts:

(a full archive of co-alerts is available at wri-irg.org/news/alerts)

TURKEY: 12 April 2007: Day of action in support of imprisoned conscientious objector Halil Savda 30 March 2007
CHILE: Six conscientious objectors in hiding 26 March 2007

ATK — Alliant Techsystems is a $3.1 billion advanced weapon and space systems company with approximately 14,000 employees and operations in 23 states. The company is the world's leading supplier of solid propulsion systems and the nation's largest manufacturer of ammunition.

Alliant Techsystems, Inc. supplies aerospace and defense products to the U.S. government, U.S.

In the previous month, the WRI office issued the following co-alerts:

(a full archive of co-alerts is available at wri-irg.org/news/alerts)

[co-alert] ISR14797-14798-14799-030806: ISRAEL: Lebanon war resisters in prison Thu Aug 03

[co-alert] US14796-150606: USA: Army Specialist Suzanne Swift might face desertion charges Thu Jun 15

In the previous month, the WRI office issued the following co-alerts:

(a full archive of co-alerts is available at wri-irg.org/news/alerts)

ISR14786-14794-14795-310506: ISRAEL: Update on imprisoned conscientious objectors, Wed 31 May

US14793-250506: USA: Woman CO Katherine Jashinski imprisoned, Thu 25 May

From 11-16 May, Operation Refuse War too place in New York City and Washington DC - marking International Conscientious Objectors' Day 2006 with a focus on the situation of and support to US war resisters: GIs applying for conscientious objector status, going AWOL, or finding other ways to get discharged from the military.

The USA section of Amnesty International focuses in their 2006 annual report on the role of private military contractors. PMCs are one of the most scandalous part of the spectrum of war profiteering and the U.S. government is their main contract provider “the U.S. government is outsourcing key security and military support functions, particular in Iraq and Afghanistan, to private companies whose civilian employees carry out the work.

Operation Refuse War

Through workshops, actions, and an international conference, Operation Refuse War will highlight the difficulties that current conscientious objectors face as well as help build relationships and connections between the various communities within the anti-war movement.

Public Event in New York City: Thursday May 11th 2006, 7pm-9pm

Bringing together conscientious objectors from South Korea, Colombia, Israel, Bosnia and Hercegovina, and the United States, this panel and discussion will explore the potential of conscientious objection as a strategy for building a global anti-war movement. Free and open to the public.

Friends Meeting House, 15 Rutherford Place, Manhattan

Directions: Corner of 15th Street and Rutherford Place, facing Stuyvesant Park.