Photos from "On the Frontlines" Counter Military Recruiting Conference and Action

Over 500 hundred youth, and another 100 or so concerned parents and older activists, gathered this weekend, October 22-23, 2005 on the UC Berkeley campus for a spirited counter military recruiting conference. Co-sponsored by the national college-based Campus Anti-War Network (CAN) and the regional community-based Military Out of Our Schools-Bay Area (MOOS-BAY), “On the Frontlines: Options for Youth in Times of War” was a remarkable success. Organized buses picked up dozens of high school kids from East Oakland neighborhoods, while hundreds of college activists from across the country came to attend CAN organizing sessions. Featured plenary speakers included: recently discharged Navy Iraq War resister Pablo Paredes, and Iraq War veterans Aidan Delgado and Joshua Casteel – both of whom worked at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison and have since been discharged by the military as conscientious objectors. Early Saturday evening, a couple dozen conference attendees took the opportunity to march up to the Cal Bear’s pre-game festival to protest the inclusion of a US Army recruiting climbing wall.