David Swanson -
"About Face: Military Resisters Turn Against War," is a book that should be stacked up on a table in every high school cafeteria, next to the vultures. Sorry, I mean the war pushers. Sorry, I mean the good recruiters for the services of the profiteers of death. Sorry, you know the people I mean. That is, unless useful books can make it into classrooms, which would be even better.
Most G.I. resistance in Vietnam, this book points out, came from those who had willingly signed up, not from draftees. It is often those who believe the hype, who are trying to benefit the world by going to war, who find the will try to benefit the world when their blinders have been removed and they've seen what war is and what war is used for.
"About Face" collects stories of recent resistance within the "volunteer" U.S. military. These are young people with few job options who choose military "service" but discover it isn't a service. They all have stories, many of them highlighting particular moments of conversion. The reality is usually more complex and gradual, but the stories make the point.
Benji Lewis was a Marine in Iraq. After two "tours" he gave some thought to things that had happened on his first tour, including this: