Veterans and the peace movement.

Written by: Aslam Karachiwala on Apr 27, 2006 2:40 AM EDT

The following is from Christian Parenti's piece in the latest issue of _The Nation_ [www.thenation.com/doc/20060508/p...]:

The question for peace activists thus becomes: How is it that antiwar soldiers continue to fight? And what does it really take for an antiwar soldier to resist? The answers lie largely in the sociology of "unit cohesion" and the ways the military uses solidarity among soldiers as a form of social control. Similarly, the peace activism of IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against the War) requires the spread of an oppositional form of loyalty and camaraderie.

...

If veterans are supposed to be at the heart of the peace movement, then it would serve progressives to understand this new military culture. Understanding the world of the military is also important because it is a major force in the socialization of young working-class Americans. If you're 20 or 22 and you're not doing what many rich kids do (like a career-boosting summer internship in New York) or doing what some truly poor kids do (like going to state prison on drug charges), chances are you're learning about responsibility and adulthood, and escaping small-town or inner-city America, courtesy of the US armed forces. One of the key lessons you'll learn there is: Look out for your comrades, because they're looking out for you.

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Also in the same issue, a photo-essay [www.thenation.com/doc/20060508/p...] on Carlos Arredondo of Roslindale, who torched the Marines' van [www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/08/25/...] when they came to tell him that his son had been killed in Iraq.

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