Four young men speak out out against war in Watsonville.

They spoke in Watsonville on May 14 at the First Presbyterian Church on Beach Street. Please see the Indybay article for more information. For more information about war resisters and support networks for them, please check out Courage to Resist. Photo Credit Jeff Paterson

Iraq combat veterans, Agustin Aguayo and Camilo Mejia, were joined by fellow war resisters Pablo Paredes and Robert Zabala at a series of Northern California events May 9-18. One of the stops included Watsonville where the 4 men spoke in local high school class rooms and on local station KUSP 88.9 FM in the morning and at the First Presbyterian Church that evening. Check out this link and click on the May 14th program to hear the show streamed.

Just weeks after being released from a military stockade in Germany for refusing redeployment to Iraq, Agustin Aguayo was joined by fellow war resisters on a greater San Francisco Bay Area speaking tour. Agustin served almost eight months in prison after fighting for nearly three years to be recognized as a conscientious objector. Agustin has explained for the first time why he chose jail instead of redeploying to Iraq.

Camilo Mejia was one of the first Iraq combat veterans to refuse to return to Iraq and served almost nine months in prison for his stand against war. In his upcoming book, “Road from ar Ramadi; The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejía,” Camilo gives an inside view of what it felt like to be a soldier on the ground in Iraq. Camilo’s book will be available at his events and is now available on amazon.com and soon in your local independent bookstore.

Pablo Paredes refused to ship out in support of the Iraq War at the San Diego Naval Station in 2005. He is now a GI rights counselor and counter-recruitment activist.

Robert Zabala is a Marine recently ordered discharged as a Conscientious Objector (CO) by a federal judge after fighting for nearly four years to be recognized as a CO.

The RCNV GI Rights Hotline & Draft Alternatives Program provides information and counseling for enlisted military seeking legal discharge, and for young people and families concerned about Selective Service registration, a potential draft and comprehensive information about military enlistment. For information contact the program’s 7-day-a-week hotline at (831) 359 0202

Click here to download the audio MP3 direct or click here to visit the Indybay article with more info on the men and their cases.

Phyllis Bennis spoke in Santa Cruz on April 30, 2007 on the subject of “Challenging Empire: How People, Governments and the UN defy US power”, also the name of one of her books.

Phyllis Bennis is a fellow at the Institute For Policy Studies in Washington DC and the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. She is also co-founder of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and was a featured speaker at the Jewish Voice For Peace Conference in Oakland, Ca. on April 28-29, 2007. She is the author of many books including “Before and After: US Foreign Policy & The War on Terrorism”, Understanding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Primer”, “Challenging Empire”, and “Calling The Shots: How Washington Dominates The UN”.

For years Bennis has worked to end the US war and occupation in Iraq, and supports a just and comprehensive peace based on an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. She works closely with the United For Peace and Justice anti-war coalition, and has played an active role in the growing global peace movement.

Her books are available from Interlink Books and Publishing.

Thanks to George Cadman for recording the talk, editing it, and posting it on Indybay Santa Cruz for everyone to enjoy.

Please Click Here to download the file direct or Click Here to visit the Indybay article.

“There’s no question that the war in Iraq — the U.S. invasion, the occupation — has made Iraq into what it never was before: a center of this kind of global terrorism.”
Phyllis Bennis