“Soldiers Have Become More Vocal In Expressing Their Opinions Against The War”

[This is a report from the Military Project, an organization dedicated to reaching out to the troops as the only people who can stop the war.]

On May 20th members of the Military Project and Veterans For Peace launched another day of outreach action with soldiers of an Army National Guard unit in New York City. This unit has many soldiers who have returned very recently from duty in Iraq.

We were successful in distributing the largest amount to date: more than 115 of the Traveling Soldier newsletter and a GI Special excerpt, and many GI Hotline cards and GI rights brochures. Soldiers who stopped to speak with us told us the materials we’ve been distributing are being widely read, and we are also being asked to provide new materials as well.

We spoke to eight soldiers who just returned from Iraq. One of the things we discussed was the recent poll of troops in Iraq in which 72% stated that the US should get out this year.

One of the soldiers just back from Iraq told us “72 percent? It’s more like 99 percent!!!”

At one point a sergeant nearby as we gave out materials to a small group of soldiers told us to “stop giving those things to my soldiers.”

The sergeant then turned to the group of soldiers and told them “I don’t want you to bring that stuff inside.”

As the other soldiers present nodded in agreement, one soldier, especially angry about Bush and the war, responded loudly in front of everybody. “He’s just saying that because he hasn’t been over there (Iraq)”

They paid no further attention to his demands, proceeding to openly “bring that stuff inside” the Armory.

It’s clear that we’ve made a significant breakthrough with our outreach work. The soldiers have become very receptive towards us and are recognizing our presence there. We are able to interact with them in an increasingly friendly and welcoming environment.

The soldiers have become more vocal in expressing their opinions against the war and are less hesitant now in making anti-war statements to us.

It’s important to continue building on the progress we are making. Today was a significant turning point in our outreach work as it has become very clear and visible how strong and vast anti-war sentiment is among the troops and for the first time we witnessed soldiers openly dissenting.

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