Afghanistan surge ? Sir, No Sir.

With the US about to send another 17,000 more ground troops to Afghanistan to add to the 36,000 already there it seems appropriate to remind ourselves that in the past ordinary people fought against such foreign adventures and brought them to a halt by just saying no.

David Ziegler's 2005 documentary, Sir, No Sir traces the grass root movement amongst GIs to stop the war in Vietnam. As they say themselves

"Sir, No Sir tells the long suppressed story of the GI movement to end the war in Vietnam. This is the story of one of the most vibrant and widespread upheavals of the 1960’s- one that had a profound impact on American society yet has been virtually obliterated from the collective memory of that time."



To see the whole film click on the image below.



And to find out about a similar movement in the Greek military check out the Diktios Spartakos network. It's in Greek but you can translate this into English using Google translation tools.

History seen and unseen.

"In the 1960’s an anti-war movement emerged that altered the course of history. This movement didn’t take place on college campuses, but in barracks and on aircraft carriers. It flourished in army stockades, navy brigs and in the dingy towns that surround military bases. It penetrated elite military colleges like West Point. And it spread throughout the battlefields of Vietnam. It was a movement no one expected, least of all those in it. Hundreds went to prison and thousands into exile. And by 1971 it had, in the words of one colonel, infested the entire armed services. Yet today few people know about the GI movement against the war in Vietnam."

Sir! No sir!

Click here to see the whole movie.

And for those of us who think that this is history click here.