By Robin Carton, RESIST, Inc. June 25, 2009

Courage to Resist, working on peace/anti-militarism issues and located in Oakland, California, has just been awarded $3,000 by RESIST, Inc., a national progressive foundation located in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Courage to Resist received funding to bring together community members, veterans and military families in support of GI resistance and counter-recruitment efforts. “We are very excited to have received this grant from RESIST,” noted Courage to Resist project director Jeff Paterson. “These types of grants make up less than 20% of our budget, yet are extremely important—especially as our base of 2,500 national individual supporters continue to feel the brunt of the unfolding economic meltdown.”

By Sarah Lazare, Courage to Resist for Truthout. June 16, 2009

Free Dustin Stevens and all war resisters!

• Donate to Dustin's defense fund: couragetoresist.org/dustin
• Write: Dustin Stevens, 82nd Replacement Detachment Bldg., C-8750 Lae Street Stop-A., Fort Bragg NC 28310

At Fort Bragg, North Carolina, AWOL soldiers find themselves detained for months under difficult conditions in an extended legal limbo they cannot escape.

Dustin Stevens is one of about 50 soldiers being held at Fort Bragg awaiting likely AWOL and desertion charges that seem like they will never arrive, he says. A former soldier who refused to continue military service seven years ago because he did not want to fight a war, Stevens says that he and his colleagues are being held in legal limbo - a no man's land of poor living standards and arbitrary punishments - while awaiting charges and possible court-martial.

GI outreach leaflet by Courage to Resist. June 17, 2009

"GI resistance against war is anything that gives service members and veterans a voice and makes it harder for the military to function like a well-oiled machine. It ranges from reading anti-war literature to refusing an order to refusing deployment to a war zone. GI resistance is not dishonorable, and it will not put the lives of your buddies in jeopardy. Rather, it is a concrete way to end war and bring the troops home. GI resistance played a central role in ending the war in Vietnam. Having a fighting force that was difficult to control was a key factor in forcing the U.S. government to pull out..."

The back side of leaflet lists contact information for various organizations that support GI resistance.

View, save, and print outreach leaflet

By Carl Davison. June 8, 2009

"As I expected, not long after presenting this to my whole chain of command and refusing to go on not just one but several flights going to Iraq, I was fined, demoted, incarcerated and then discharged."

The logic of direct GI resistance is simple; To withhold your labor from something you think is morally wrong, simply saying, I have chosen not participate in something that is at odds with my values and I will tell the military this face to face with pride and dignity so others can learn from my example.