Hiroshima, August 6, 1945, 8:00 a.m. The "all clear" sounded, signaling the end of an air raid by U.S. bombers. Workers and school children left their homes, putting out fires, clearing damage, and going to work. At 8:45 a.m., a single U.S. bomber flew ac

The prisoner spent several days naked in a dark room. Each day, his captors would come and beat him, sometimes until he lost consciousness. They spit on him and made him bark like a dog. One day, they tied his hands to the door and made him lie on his sto

The summer of 2005 will be remembered as the point at which the increasing unease among ordinary Americans about the course of the war in Iraq began to turn into more open and vocal opposition.

The Iraq war has cost nearly $300 billion and the lives of over 1,700 U.S. soldiers and 100,000 Iraqi civilians. A majority of Americans have turned against the war, but Bush says "we need to stay the course - the sacrifice is worth it." And the spineless Democrats keep voting to continue the war, too.

Sexism is deeply embedded in military culture. Military life demands unquestioning obedience to superior officers who are overwhelmingly men, which reinforces time and time again the inferior place of women. Male soldiers are exposed to and become part of a way of life that constantly sexualizes and devalues women. It is an extreme, concentrated expression of the sexism underlying capitalist society generally.

On June 26, a city-wide meeting of Youth Against War and Racism activists in the Twin Cities voted to issue the following Call to Action: Mobilize for student walkouts, protests, and anti-war education during the week of October 17-23, 2005

Tacoma is a military town. But when the principal of Foss High School cancelled a "controversial" meeting of the group Students Against the Draft and War, she was shocked at the depth of anger at her action.

In response to public anger at widespread "improprieties" by military recruiters, on May 20 recruiters across the country closed shop for a one-day "Values Stand-down" retraining (see article pg. 12). Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR), alongside other counter-recruitment groups, issued a national call to protest recruitment stations on May 21, to say "One day is not enough!"

As the U.S. continues its bloody occupation of Iraq, the military faces a growing recruitment crisis. The Army failed to reach its recruitment targets for new soldiers every month from February through May, reflecting a growing sentiment among Americans that the war in Iraq is not worth fighting. Six in ten Americans now say they want some or all U.S. troops withdrawn from Iraq immediately (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, 6/19/05).

After two years in Iraq, support for the war is crumbling at home. With the U.S. unable to offer any real solutions to the crisis, widespread opposition opens up the potential for the anti-war movement to reemerge as a massive force in the next period.

Over the past year, the Pentagon has dramatically stepped up its recruitment efforts as Bush's debacle in Iraq drags on. In response, there has been a small explosion of counter-military recruitment campaigns in high schools and colleges across the country. In many areas, these youthful and combative campaigns are emerging as the cutting edge of the anti-war movement, and could grow dramatically over the coming year.

Clara, a student at Foss High School in Tacoma, WA, sat down with Justice to explain her views on the military's presence in her school.

For weeks our club at Kennedy High School, Youth Against War and Racism, had planned to set up an anti-war information table at lunch on Wednesday, February 23. This was the day military recruiters were scheduled to visit the school.