Update and appeal for continued support

June 8, 2009

From Adam Szyper-Seibert
Courage to Resist
Office Manager
 
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In the past few months we have heard that war is ending, that change has come and that we can all relax and have faith that there is peace on the horizon.  With over 125,000 troops already participating in the wars and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, all the peoples of these countries are affected by the violence and devastation of unlawful occupation, and our troops continue to live in harm's way with no end in sight. 

With even more troops being readied for deployment to these regions, these "changes" toward a peaceful solution are neither evident nor relevant to either the troops or the native citizens of these occupied nations who face the reality of a "no change agenda".  For those soldiers of conscience who choose to resist this continuation of war and occupation against all laws and moral reasoning - Courage to Resist is there for them.

However, even as we take more and more phone calls and receive increasing amounts of emails and other forms of contact from resisting service members, Courage to Resist is having difficulty raising the funds to continue our vital mission to support the troops who refuse to fight. 

Despite the harsh economic times, the number of people assisting us to continue the work of providing legal council, moral support and aid to resisters has not diminished. However, donations have been reduced in amount - be it the economy, the belief that change has come or a combination for the two, people are providing less support. 

If you have never given to Courage to Resist, or if you can afford to give just a little bit more, we can continue to aid the brave men and women who make that stand to refuse deployment, to question orders that lead to an unending occupation, to say to themselves, to their government and to the American public "No More War!".  These women and men need our help, and for as long as we can continue to give it, we will.

We are currently engaged in a wide spectrum of activities aimed at increasing the number of resisters and aiding those resisters in many ways:

• Courage to Resist has published and widely distributed a unique and telling article on resisting the Individual Ready Reserve.
  
  
• We have aided over 250 questioning and resisting service members; assisting them through the legal and bureaucratic tangle that is the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
  
  
• We have provided civilian legal support and resources to every resister that has requested legal representation.
  
  
• We have visited bases to begin outreach to active duty military personnel, educating them to our presence and the alternatives that they have upon choosing to resist.
  
  
• We are building alliances with many organizations to aid service members who have been recalled through the Individual Ready Reserve or kept in the service via the Stop-Loss program.   
  
  
• We continue work on a book that will provide a medium for resisting service members to speak out against what they have experienced, while giving them a venue for their personal narratives.
  
  
• We continue to work with allies in Canada to provide a safe haven for the women and men that have been persecuted by the U.S. government for daring to listen to their conscience.
  
  
• On a daily basis we continue to receive phone calls and e-mails from service members whose consciences are troubled by what they are called upon to do and who wish to resist illegal war and occupation. 

And in order to do the best job we can, we need your help.

A donation of $100 aids a resister by helping pay for one third of their civilian legal assessment.  A donation of $250 allows us to create all of the materials for a base outreach action, where we distribute flyers and engage active duty service members in conversations about their legal rights and the alternatives to service.

A donation of $35 aids us in getting articles published to independent media, allowing the public to hear about a specific resister and their struggles, while educating the readership to the reality of the growing resistance within the G.I. community.
 
Thank you so much for you help, past, present and future!

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Adam Szyper-Seibert, Courage to Resist

Adam Szyper-Seibert is a former United States Marine who resisted  deployment in the mid 1990's. He came to Courage to Resist after assisting refugee and immigrant families in starting up small businesses. Adam is the Courage to Resist office manager and volunteer coordinator, and a GI Rights Hotline councilor.