Feature Archives

On April 19th anti-war protesters gathered in front of a Chevron station in San Francisco to protest a proposed Iraqi law that would give Western oil companies more control over Iraqi oil. If the law is adopted as is, control of the Iraqi oil industry will shift from the public sector, where it’s been since the 1970s, into the hands of the multinational oil companies, especially British and American firms.

With hundreds of students expected to protest, U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps recruiters announced on April 17th their withdrawal from the Last Chance Job Fair being held at UC Santa Cruz on April 24th. Although the law prevents schools from banning recruiters outright, UCSC students, through massive protests, have effectively prevented recruiters from operating on campus for nearly three years.

The IRS has issued a notice requiring the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz to turn over staff member Scott Kennedy's salary. Kennedy said, "The timing is auspicious during the last two weeks before Federal income taxes are due. The House of Representatives has just recommended another $100 billion for our brutal, immoral, and unwinnable war in Iraq. I won't in good conscience voluntarily pay for such madness."

When Jeff Englehart, Thomas Cassidy, and Joe Hatcher joined the Army in early 2001 they were looking for a change of pace and some college money. A few months later, however, the Twin Towers were smoldering, the ‘war on terror’ was growing from their ashes, and what it meant to be a US soldier was changed dramatically. They three strangers met in the Army and soon found themselves stationed in Iraq, where they served in and around the violent Sunni Triangle from February 2004 until February 2005.

On January 20th the Iraqi resistance shot down a Blackhawk helicopter killing thirteen American soldiers. Three days later, just hours before Bush would give his State of the Union address, a Little Bird helicopter was shot down, killing five more Americans—but this incident didn’t make nearly the amount of news as the former. While the five men died in combat, they were not members of the US military. They were employees of Blackwater USA, the shining star in a new breed of corporation specializing in private soldiers—also known as mercenaries.

Robert Zabala, a UC Santa Cruz alumni currently living in San Jose, is finally receiving his release from the U.S. Marines. They had previously denied his Conscientious Objector application, filed in 2004. On Tuesday, April 3, a federal judge in San Jose ordered the Marines to discharge him within 15 days. He was supported by the GI Rights Hotline, including counselors from the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz.

On Saturday, April 7th, the anti-war movement returned to the Oakland docks. Four years after the Oakland police attack against an anti-war demonstration at the port, protesters decried the lack of funding for schools and social services in Oakland and Alameda County. Supplies for the military ship from the Port of Oakland every day. The protest also demanded that the troops be brought back home and given the healthcare that they need.