army
News and articles about work, policy and mutinies in armed forces and police services around the world.
The Fomin mutiny on the Don, 1920-1922
The red Cossack who led a revolt against the Bolsheviks in the Don region
Iakov Efimovich Fomin was born in 1885 in the Cossack hamlet of Rubezhnoe in Elenskaia stanitsa in the Upper Don district (stanitsas were the village units of the Cossacks, primary units in political and economic administration). He served in an elite Don Cossack unit from 1906. He is described as being six feet tall with a red beard.
Striking South African soldiers sacked
Nearly 700 soldiers from the South African defence force have been sent letters of dismissal following last week's strike action.
Up to 3,000 military personal clashed with the police on the streets of Pretoria during demonstrations over pay and conditions. The action was condemned by both the defence minister and the secretary general of the ruling party, the ANC. The soldiers' union says the sackings are illegal and will inflame tensions.
We won't go to Kosovo - No War But The Class War
A text produced by a participant in the NWBTCW group in London 1999 about the movement of desertion and protest in and around the Yugoslav Army towards the end of the NATO bombardment.
The movement of draft refusal and desertion in Kruševac, Aleksandrovac, Prokuplje, Raška…. May 1999 - a chronology of events
Introduction
"The fierce one" speaks with forked tongue; Nepalese Maoists leave government - sackings, lies and videotape
Last week (on Monday 4th May) Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (also known as Prachanda, "the fierce one") resigned. This was the latest twist in a long running power struggle.
Prachanda had sacked Nepal Army (NA) chief Katawal, who is considered central to resistance to Maoist attempts to seize control of the Army, after General Katawal had refused to integrate thousands of Maoist guerilla People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops into the regular Army.
Psychiatrists raise concern over torture involvement
The US military is violating international and professional agreements forbidding doctors to partake in any sort of interrogation.
Contrary to stated positions of various medical and psychiatric profession associations, the US military is training psychiatrists to be involved in military interrogations.
Those poor soldiers
Apparently, if you compare the wages of soldiers with traffic wardens the poor old grunts come off worse, according to the head of the armed forces General Sir Richard Dannatt.
Except that’s actually a load of old bollocks. The good General and knight of the realm is being just a little misleading – I’m sure it’s unintentional, him being such a respected state figure and all - when he fails to point out that, unlike the average traffic warden, our boys in khaki also get a number of little perks.
International Volunteers in the POUM Militias
Written by Andy Durgan, historical consultant for the Ken Loach film Land and Freedom, the article also contains a list of international volunteers in the POUM militia.
FUNDACIÓN ANDREU NIN
International Volunteers in the POUM Militias
Andy Durgan
Up to 700 foreigners fought with the 10.000 or so militia organised by the Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (POUM) between July 1936 and June 1937 (1). They were from at least 28 different countries; French, Italian and, above all German fighters being the most numerous (2).
Mutinies in the American army, 2004-2005 - Echanges #111
A brief discussion of incidences of dissatisfaction in the US Army during the Iraq War.
Mutinies, the word can seem excessive because Iraq is not (yet) Vietnam. However, a refusal to obey in the army, whatever the reason, is a mutiny and quite often such acts of insubordination have started with minor acts. Even isolated, such acts are indicative of "troop morale", an essential element for continuing war.
Join the army: be depressed - anti-military recruitment flyer
Anti army-recruitment flyer in pdf format from April 2007 which focusses on the mental ill-health many servicemen and women suffer.
This .pdf flyer (two to a sheet) was produced by the State of Emergency group, and is up to date as of April 2007. The group has an archive of resources on their website.
Another day, another IDF Refusenik
Since 2002, soldiers and officers from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have been refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories in protest against what the Israeli military regime.
The "refuseniks" believe the occupation to be a threat to Israel's own security and inherently oppressive.
Occupation refuser Omri Evron was sentenced Sunday, Oct 15, 2006, to 14 days in military prison after he announced his refusal to enlist for regular mandatory service in the IDF. Omri was put in solitary confinement having refused to wear uniform and obey orders.
