What We Believe And What We Want

WHAT WE BELIEVE
We believe this country is run by very few men. These men run it for their own profit. We believe the function of the present army is to serve the interests of these few men and to put down people who challenge the system. The purpose of the harassment, punishment and propaganda we find in the army is to get us to do that job without asking questions. We believe further that a society can be built that serves the needs of all the people, not just the few. We believe an army could exist in such a society run by soldiers and working people, not by generals and businessmen. This army’s function would be to serve the interests of the majority of working people. It is our goal to build such a society and such an Army. More specifically.

WHAT WE WANT
1. WE WANT THE BASIC NECESSITIES OF LIFE. We want all Gis to be free of harassing inspections, overtime duties not related to MDS such as police call, KP, CQ, etc. We want all single GIs to have decent private living accommodations. We want all married GIs to live with their families if they desire to. We want all GIs and all GI families to be provided with food, housing medical care and all the necessities of life according to need not rank. We want free transportation for GIs. We want an end to the robbery of GIs and their families by PXs and PX concessions, unit food system and EM and NCO club system.

2. WE WANT JUSTICE-WE WANT THE POWER TO RUN OUR OWN COURTS. We want the UCMJ abolished. We want an end to all shakedowns, illegal searches and any other violations of our rights. We want to do away with the stockade system, Military Police, MI and CID which now are only used as a club over GIs while the real criminals go free. We want all GIs in stockades and federal prisons to be freed because they have not had a fair trial by a jury of their equals (other Gis).

3. WE WANT EQUALITY. We want to join with our Black, Brown, Indian and Asian brothers and sisters in the struggle against the system that puts down all of us. We want GIs to overcome their racism and support Blacks, Latin Americans, Indians and Asians who are leaders of a world wide struggle to gain freedom, equality and a better standard of living for all races.

4. WE WANT FREEDOM FOR OUR SISTERS. We want GIs to overcome their scorn for women in the military who are our sisters in struggle. We want to educate GI s that women along with Blacks, Brown, Indians and Asians are leaders in a world wide struggle to gain freedom, equality, and a better standard of living for all people. We want to end the threat of separation from our wives or loss of pay to our families to force us to obey orders. We want point one of the program to be carried out so that GI wives are not forced onto welfare, or into oppressive low paying jobs around the base. We want NCOs and officers to end the use of jokes and stories that put women down. We want the Army digest to end the use of pictures which create the impression that women are all body and no mind.

5. WE WANT AN END TO ALL FOREIGN WARS. We want an immediate end to wars like Vietnam and Laos which are fought in order that wealthy US businessmen can continue to use the resources and labor of weaker countries for their profit (which never reaches workers in the US)> We believe that the people of every country have the right to use the resources and labor of their homeland for their own benefit. We therefore want ALL US troops, Special Forces units, and CIA advisors to be withdrawn from all sixty five countries where they are now stationed.

6. WE WANT AN END TO THE USE OF GIs FOR RIOT CONTROL AND SCAB LABOR. Ghetto conditions that cause riots, working conditions that cause strikes, benefit the same people who get rich robbing people in countries like Vietnam. We want people to run their own factories, their own neighborhoods, their own schools, for their own benefit. Therefore we want an end to the use of GIs for riot control, scab labor, and strike breaking.

7. WE WANT TO ELECT OUR OWN OFFICERS AND NCOs IN OUR OWN UNITS and when necessary to remove and relace them

Fed Up!, vol. 1, no. 2

Library - Reading Room

What We Believe And What We Want