War/Counter-Recruiting

War/Counter-Recruiting/Richmond Friends Meeting/Wahrhaftig, Scilia/Peace Center Fights Back with “Counter-Recruiting”/Style Weekly/Richmond/VA/USA/11-Jan-2006//… For many young people, the streets of Baghdad seem to hold more promise — and less danger — than the streets of their own neighborhoods. Military recruiters promise adventure, job training and education, but leave out some important details, says Adria Scharf, director of the Richmond Peace Education Center. “There’s in some sense a de-emphasis on war, and on the reality of life in Baghdad, and on all the challenges of military service, and on the fact that it requires you to pick up a gun and kill for your country.” That’s why the Peace Center is co-sponsoring, with the Richmond Friends Meeting, a workshop Jan. 27 and Jan. 28 on encouraging alternatives to military service.

“They have a perfect right to do that,” says Jerry Patton, a spokesman for Army recruiting. “That’s called freedom of speech. That’s one of the things we’re fighting for.”

Serving in the military is not necessarily a bad thing, says workshop leader and Quaker activist Scilla Wahrhaftig, but it’s important for young people to know exactly what they’re getting into. Many 18-year-olds who join the Army, she says, may not fully realize that “for eight years of your life, your life is not your own.” ...

War/Counter-Recruiting/Activist/Wahrhaftig, Scilia/A peaceful push against recruiting/Richmond Times Dispatch/Richmond/VA/USA/15-Jan-2006//Scilla Wahrhaftig is a second-generation conscientious objector who has practiced her Quaker activism in England, Zimbabwe and Atlanta, where she marched for ...

War/Counter-Recruiting/Meetinghouse/‘In crowd’ may be a detriment to US/Mountain Mail Newspaper/Denver/CO/USA/11-Jan-2006//... including a small group of locally known, non-confrontational, part-time counter-recruiting activists who openly gathered in the local Quaker Meeting House. ...