Andy Moxley is a former YAWR activist.

World capitalism is embarking on an era of aggravated militarism, reflected not only in the increased number of bloody conflicts like Ukraine, the ever expanding slaughter in Gaza and others, but also the historic global increase in arms and military spending. In preparation for ever broadening conflict, many countries in Europe have begun to reintroduce conscription. In the US, where there has been a historic low in military recruitment numbers with several branches of the military falling short of their goals, a renewed propaganda campaign targeting youth, especially working class youth, is underway to fill the gap. Workers and youth will be the ones paying the ultimate price, sacrificing their lives and livelihoods, for future wars. But there are lessons from anti-war movements of the past that show how we can resist the bloody agenda of the imperialist war machine.

US imperialism’s second invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a watershed moment in history. Alongside the war in Afghanistan, it sparked the longest era of bloody US military conflict in history, initiating the so-called ‘Global War on Terror.’ It also saw the return of a mass anti-war movement for the first time since the end of the Vietnam war. Socialist Alternative, though a small force, played a unique role within the movement at the time—particularly through a campaigning initiative aimed at working-class high school age youth directly affected by the militarist drive called Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR).

Roots Of The Iraq War

A small clique of the ruling class around George W. Bush and former oil executive Dick Cheney, having captured the presidency through the very dubious 2000 election result, exploited the horror of the 9/11 tragedy to first invade Afghanistan and then pursue its decades-long agenda of regime change in Iraq. We say ‘exploited’ because beyond Saddam Hussein having no connection to the 9/11 events, these military misadventures were not undertaken in the genuine interests of the millions of people oppressed by the reactionary regimes of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein respectively. They were undertaken in the main to restore the significantly tarnished image of US imperialism and—through the occupation of Iraq—have a direct hand in control of the oil-rich region. 

Saddam Hussein was indeed a brutal dictator. However, US imperialism, despite their subsequent protests, had no problem with this generally. Hussein had previously been a key US ally versus Iran and his regime also had alliances with several such repressive regimes across the Middle East.

To justify the invasion, the Bush regime relied on creating a big lie—saying both that Saddam Hussein had ties to al-Qaeda (right-wing Islamist terrorist network responsible for 9/11 attacks) and, even more egregiously, that the Iraqi government was harboring ‘weapons of mass destruction’. Both would be subsequently proven to be patently false. Despite the war drums being banged, there was still mass skepticism and opposition to an invasion among millions in the US and across the world. Nonetheless, the invasion began in 2003, with the enthusiastic support of the overwhelming majority of both Republican and Democratic politicians.

Anti-war Movement And YAWR

The day of the invasion—March 20, 2003, known as ‘Day X’—saw millions of people protesting in the US and around the world. Going into the 2004 election, however, the big anti-war demonstrations were called off as organizers feared embarrassing the pro-war Democratic candidate John Kerry. In addition to big demonstrations, however, the anti-war movement saw direct actions, school walkouts and even some limited examples of workers’ action. When demoralization set in after Bush’s re-election, Socialist Alternative recognized these actions provided a way forward for those still eager to fight back. Out of this, YAWR was built.

Socialist Alternative recognized the important role of working-class youth in particular in building the anti-war movement. US imperialism has always relied on a big military recruitment apparatus to maintain itself. While the official draft had ended in 1973 due to the mass anti-war and liberation movements of the time, it substituted it with what we termed a ‘racist, poverty draft’—heavily targeting working class youth, particularly those of color, for military service . It did this largely on the basis of promised financial incentives—offering money for college or presenting a military career as an alternative to it entirely. The military embedded this mass recruitment apparatus in schools, where they would often be allowed to talk to students either en masse or pressure them individually about signing up.

Youth Against War and Racism was launched by Socialist Alternative in 2004 as a way for young people most targeted by this to organize in a fight back, drawing a political link between resisting the US militarist agenda and the broader struggle against racism, poverty and capitalism. YAWR became a small but recognized force in the anti-war movement, known for conducting successful counter-recruitment work but also linking its campaigns to political ideas like the need for mass working class and youth action against the war. YAWR also called for the need for the anti-war movement to break its ties to the Democratic Party which, despite actually supporting the war, had cynically tried to seize on the movement to help their election prospects, including demobilizing it in big election years. 

YAWR had some key victories. A national student walk-out on November 2, 2005 brought out 2000 students in the Twin Cities, 1000 in Seattle and hundreds elsewhere. Subsequent walkouts followed. YAWR’s structures allowed it to organize national solidarity campaigns for students threatened with disciplinary action. The scale of this solidarity often overwhelmed local school boards who weren’t expecting to be put in the national spotlight. In 2007, the campaign successfully saved the jobs of six teachers in the Tukwila, Washington school district who were threatened with termination for supporting walk-outs in their school.

In addition to targeting off-campus recruitment centers with demonstrations often causing them to shut down for the day and YAWR supporters organizing student walkouts, perhaps its most important successes were its campaigns aimed at removing military recruiters from schools. In Seattle in 2007, the campaign pressured the school board to restrict military recruiters to two campus visits per year. In Minneapolis in 2008, successful organizing led to the School Board having to end the ‘free roam’ policy towards military recruiters— meaning they had to stay confined in the ‘career center.’ Additionally, wherever and whenever they set up, anti-recruitment groups must be able to set-up right next to them to expose their false promises. While it was not able to push military recruiters out of the schools entirely, this was a massive victory that effectively neutralized a part of the imperialist, militarist war machine in a major US city. A demonstration of its significance was the fact that it had the concrete effect of decreasing the number of visits by recruiters to the schools there after the campaign.

Building The Youth Fightback Today

Part of the US drive towards militarism today will be once again stepping up its propaganda and recruitment machines aimed at working-class youth, particularly in Black and low income communities, as record low levels of new military recruits hamper its preparedness for coming wars. Part of rebuilding a mass anti-war movement capable of resisting the agenda of imperialism will be organizing among workers and young people who will be the ones forced to fight the ruling class’s wars. Campaigns like YAWR give lessons on how we can organize against the imperialist march towards war today!