"The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — not to mention the Pentagon’s voracious appetite for expensive weapons systems — have been a gold mine for the Big Five.
1 Lockheed Martin
2 General Dynamics
3 Raytheon
4 Northrop-Grumman
5 Boeing
“From Pentagon, a Buy Rating on Contractors,” Joe Nocera, New York Times, Feb. 11, 2011
“[O]ur analysis suggests that there is no”battlefield solution to terrorism.
“How Terrorist Groups End,” Rand Corp. (rand.org), 2008
Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with i”ntellect and decent purpose.
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jan. 17,1961
While local governments cut teachers, firefighters, senior centers, and other essential services, military contractors are laughing all the way to the bank. On Jan. 17, 2011, media attention was given to the 50th anniversary of former President and General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s warning that “we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military- industrial complex.” Today Congress is part of that complex, with money and staff flowing back and forth between Congressional offices and corporations.
Ready for a change? See below and take action!
Campaigns
New Priorities Network (national) newprioritiesnetwork.org
True Cost of War (national) mfso.org
Healthcare Not Warfare (national) pdamerica.org/get-active/healthcare-not-war- fare-campaign
code pink: Bring Our War $$ Home (national) codepink.org
bringourwardollarshome.org
Bring the $Billion$ Home (Seattle) wwfor.org
Peace Economy Project (St. Louis) peaceeconomyproject.org
25 Percent Solution (Boston) 25percentsolution.com
Campaign for Smart Security (PA) smartsecuritypa.org
25 Teachers’ Salaries (CA) 25teacherssalaries.org
Our Funds (MD) ourfunds.org
Global Day of Action on Military Spending (international) demilitarize.org
. . . or start your own campaign!
source: defundwar.org
What You Can Do
• Leaflet with this flyer now, on Tax Day — April 18, 2011 — and in the months before a new budget is passed in October.
• Write elected officials and local newspapers. Send them copies of this flyer. Demand that the Pentagon budget be slashed.
• Protest with your money! Sign up at wartax boycott.org. Refuse to pay all or part of your federal income tax. Whatever you choose to refuse—$1, $10, or a percentage—send a letter to elected officials and tell them why.Though illegal, thousands of people openly participate in this form of protest. Contact us for information or referral to a counselor near you. Contribute resisted tax money to organizations that sup- port the common good.
• Watch Death & Taxes, a 30-min. film featur- ing war tax resisters from across the country. Online at nwtrcc.org/deathandtaxes.php.
• For more about refusing to pay for war, contact the NationalWarTax Resistance Coor- dinating Committee, PO Box 150553, Brooklyn, NY 11215, (800) 269-7464, nwtrcc.org. Support the Peace Tax Fund bill: peacetaxfund.org.
• Support military personnel who refuse to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. For more information see ivaw.org or girightshotline.org. Call the GI Rights Hotline if you are in the military and need help: (877) 447-4487.
Resources
• Additional copies of this leaflet are available for 10¢ each (1-199), 7¢ each (200 - 499), 6¢ each (500+) plus 20% postage or call for exact amount.
• For sample brochures and resources on war tax resistance, send a self-addressed stamped (61¢) envelope to War Resisters League at the New York address below.
• War Tax Resistance: A Guide to Withholding Your Support from the Military, 144-page handbook with history, methods and resources. $15 plus $4.95 priority mail; $3 media mail.
