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The movement cannot succeed in establishing a resistance to the military-industrial complex and the foreign policy of America without going and voting in opposition to the enablers of this American exceptionalism at the ballot box. And, if the movement really cannot go tell people to vote third-party, fourth-party, fifth-party, or Independent, than the movement needs to organize direct actions and acts of civil disobedience or civil resistance at the polls on the day of primaries. If voting is so heathen, than they need to be out there with signs and speakers challenging the people of America who are lining up to vote in future warmongers of America. Noticeably, the antiwar movement wishes to move beyond elections. It wishes to work on a whole other level by calling for resistance---by calling for people to put their body on the machine. Why then do I not see within the antiwar movement a fervent organization to align with the labor unions of America so that strikes and challenges can be carried out against corporations within the military industrial-complex? Why aren’t members of the movement putting their body on the machine and calling for citizens who work for corporations within the military-industrial complex that contribute to the occupation to quit their job or better, unionize and force the corporation to stop creating materials that will increase violence? This type of action is exactly the kind of action that would see results if pursued with the vigor that is often exhibited on random street corners in cities across the United States. Why not also go after the media corporations who have become the Fourth Estate and ask journalists and prominent news correspondents to resign or step down so long as the media ignores the full scope of the occupation of Iraq by the U.S.? Alas, the movement is only concerned with proving it can take arrest and survive police brutality because somehow that will prove this war needs to end even if the public lacks the capacity to make that connection. The antiwar movement could get a huge boost from Hollywood what with all the celebrities that speak at antiwar events and sign on to antiwar groups calls to action. Why not lobby Hollywood celebrities to be more forceful in their calls to end the occupation of Iraq? Why not wage a campaign demanding that every time these celebrities appear on camera for tabloid newscasts they mention the atrocities going on in the war in Iraq and call for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney for torture and war crimes? But the antiwar movement has caught on to a new fad. It’s called counterrecruitment. And it flies in the face of everything Americans believe in because if there is one thing that comes close to the American love of God it is the American love of the military. We love our military. Nothing proves that more than the myths from Vietnam that antiwar protestors were spitting on Vietnam veterans as they came home which sparked outrage and created a stereotype of antiwar movement members that still permeates through the populace today. (*See the book Spitting Image.) The antiwar movement hasn’t the public approval or support to go to recruitment centers and appear on newscasts blocking military personnel from getting inside to do their job. The American people do not make the connection we do in the movement. They don’t think that if we stop letting men and women enlist this war will end because they think military recruiters have a right to do their job and anyone who wants to enlist should be allowed to enlist. However, the public does not approve of fraudulent recruitment. It does not prove of the targeting, intimidating, lying, and manipulating of teenagers. Many parents now sign letters and send them to schools to keep their information secure from military recruiters. Many students fear having to deal with recruiters who constantly ask them to come by for information on joining the military for college, money, benefits, and honor, and so on and so forth. What the antiwar movement needs to know is that the best course of action is one that encourages the military recruiters to do what they want to do, which is to recruit. This means they should be holding job fairs, parent-outreach programs, and avoiding military confrontations so the community they work in can become confident that the antiwar movement is a respectable entity in the community and not an obscene section of society. This way the movement can directly challenge the military's ability to meet quotas, quotas that must be met if this war is to continue especially since more and more members in the military are resisting this war. The message that the antiwar movement wishes to promote, if finessed, could be given during programs coordinated with military recruiters, programs which forced the recruiter to tell the truth to students in regards to what would happen before, during, and after a stint in the military. The most frustrating thing about the antiwar movement is that it has no end. They do not know what they want but rather know what they oppose. They envision a society where occupation and war are non-existent but have no idea what that society would be or how to get it. They are essentially acting upon an incomplete philosophy that when expounded upon falls flat in the face of the status quo because people doubt what would happen in a system of peace, sustainability, and collectivism. As the antiwar movement pursues a world of peace, love, and understanding, there is no organization or understanding of what people would like to see America be one day. They are a pessimistic crew who shout down optimism from people like me by reminding me that the only thing the antiwar movement can possibly do to effect change is through political exhibitionism aimed at disrupting the systems that keep this war pushing on. However uplifting antiwar marches may be, understand this: These people haven’t the slightest idea what they are doing. They march lockstep pursuing a strategy of ending war and occupation that is employed like a tactic. And tactics are short-term actions taken to get one step closer to the goal the strategy seeks to attain. Wat and occupation cannot be expected to end in the next few years. That's unrealistic.
Kevin Gosztola goes to Columbia College in Chicago where he is studying film. He hopes to become a documentary filmmaker. He is currently working as a production assistant on a documentary called "Seriously Green" which traces the development of the Green Party throughout the 2008 election. He has a passion for journalism and writes articles or press releases in his spare time. Kevin Gosztola is also a student activist who believes in questioning the way America's systems work(its electoral system, its military-industrial complex, its foreign policy of American exceptionalism, its media which has become the Fourth Branch of government,etc.)
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