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In reference to Wally Conger’s post on left libertarian monkeywrenching the state in time of war, I’ll post here Kyle Taylor’s message to the SDS Announcements list on a proposal SDS chapters and individuals are considering, dubbed Harass the Brass.

Some of you may be familiar with Harass the Brass, others may not. It began during a brain-storming session between SDSers and other activists in the Michigan community. Many of us have been trying to develop a program to challenge the anti-war movement to move past protesting and towards a platform of radical action. Harass the Brass is what we came up with. I’ve been passing this campaign proposal around to SDSers all over the Midwest for about a day or so, and I wanted to submit it to all chapters around the country for consideration and endorsement.

Thus far, we’ve heard SDS endorsements from Kansas, and individual member of Chicago and Ohio.

- Kyle T.

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SDS, The “Harass the Brass” Campaign

Spring/Summer of 2006, SDS Declares war on the war

Starting this summer, SDS chapters, standing in solidarity with other community groups, will be conducting a campaign of fly-by sit-ins and lock-downs on military recruitment centers, private military companies, military research facilities, congressional offices, and pro-war, corporate media outlets all across the nation.

For three years now, we’ve been carrying signs and attending peaceful rallies and marches, desperately trying to vocalize our discontent through whatever channels we may in an attempt to show the administration that they are fighting an unpopular war and that we want it to end. Three years later, we’re still here holding the same signs, shouting the same slogans, and raising the same demands. What we are left with after our pleading and symbolic opposition is another peace rally and the delusional notion that a few more signs might finally convince the Bush administration to change its mind about Iraq. We’ve been past due for a very serious reality check.

We are not going to end the war by politely asking the administration to stop. Our marches and discontent alone have been proven ineffective as it has become plainly obvious that the discontent raised by the American people is of no concern at all to the powers-that-be in Washington. President Bush has indicated that he plans to keep troops in Iraq throughout the remainder of his presidency and is working with both Democrats and Republicans to keep troops there through the administration that proceeds him. In doing so, he has made clear that their is no other way to end the war than for Americans to step in and end it themselves. Mario Savio once said, “There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part, you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies on the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop! And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.” Compañeros, that time is now.

We are standing at a cross-roads. The antiwar movement is caught under the weight of liberal tactics, fighting to end a war that can only be stopped through radical action. For three years, we have marched under the banner of UFPJ, International ANSWER, Troops Out Now, World Can’t Wait, and we have yet to see how any of our efforts have brought us closer to ending the war. Its time for a change. If the administration won’t end the war, we must end it for them.

SDS will be directly confronting those aspects of our communities that are allowing the war to continue:

* Sticking a monkey wrench in the industries tied to the military apparatus (Private Military Companies and military research companies), through high-profile boycotts, sit-ins, and lock-downs.
* Sitting-in on the offices of congressional representatives that either support the war, or are doing nothing to stop it.
* Initiating a counter-recruitment campaign that targets the most heavily recruited areas of our community for fly-by sit-ins, periodically locking down recruiting stations across the country.
* Seeking out dishonest military recruiters and recruitment operations by teaming up with teachers and community groups targeted by military recruiters and developing programs for phasing out recruitment in schools and homeless shelters.
* Confront corporate media outfits that act as propaganda outlets for a pro-war agenda in a campaign of counter-propaganda, while simultaneously promoting free and independent media alternatives.

The following SDS locals have ratified the call to join radical communities around the country to link-up for a summer campaign of direct-action and civil disobedience against the war:

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I wanted to get feedback from other chapters, especially in the midwest, to see if others would be interested in joining in on the Harass the Brass campaign. Any thoughts? Feedback? Something that people would want to see added to a press release? … Anything?

- Kyle T., SDS Ann Arbor

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 25th, 2006 at 11:51 am and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.