Aug. 20th, Pittsburgh- Confront the War, Shutdown Military Recruitment
POG Call for day of Action against the war and military recruitment!

Gather- 10:30am at the Dinosaur sculpture in front of Carnegie Library (4400 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213)

March- 10:45am to the Recruitment Center in Pittsburgh, the main base of operation for military recruiters in the city.

Pittsburgh Organizing Group (POG) is sending out this call for a non-violent day of direct action on August 20th to shutdown military recruitment in Pittsburgh. We support a diversity of tactics for this day of action. By this we mean we encourage and support any and all non-violent actions (whether symbolic or confrontational) taken to expose, confront, and disrupt the war machine and military recruitment in Pittsburgh. Recruitment is the specific focus of our protest but there are many other war-related institutions around. We are planning the framework for this day of action in the hopes that other groups will add their creativity and unique potential to the success of these broad goals.

We need your help! Whether you are committed to taking part in direct action against the war or are able to support those who are by being a supportive bystander, watching and monitoring the action of the police, videotaping and photographing the events, spreading the word, putting up flyers, contributing to bail funds or legal support, making signs or flags, bringing instruments or noise makers, you will determine to what extent this action succeeds.

For any logistical questions feel free to contact us. Housing available upon request.

In solidarity and with love,
POG

www.organizepittsburgh.org (info on this action will soon be posted)
POG-AT-mutualaid.org

Donations to the bail fund, legal expenses, and other organizing costs, as well as general written correspondence can be mailed to
POG c/o TMC
5125 Penn Ave,
Pittsburgh PA, 15224

Where we’ve been and where we’re going:

Over the last six months POG has worked exhaustively on a broad based counter-recruitment campaign, which has included extensive flyering at local high schools and universities, large amounts of tabling around the city, bi-weekly protests at local recruiting centers, three unannounced direct actions that blocked the doors of local recruitment centers, and a variety of other educational and movement building events. These have produced results far beyond our initial expectations and are confirmation of the larger possibilities that a broad based CR movement holds for the anti-war movement.

The last three years have seen multiple national convergences attended by millions of people. Hundreds of smaller protests have occurred throughout the nation. These have not been in vain. Still, two things have clearly been lacking in the anti-war movement: a feasible strategy and compelling direct actions that together can actually impact government policy. In this respect, the movement’s record has been less than stellar. Generic mass protests have failed. The electoral route has proved unsurprisingly unsuccessful. Educational campaigns, while making progress in shifting general opinions on the war, have nevertheless failed because they lack a complimentary and compelling action strategy. We believe a Counter-Recruitment movement that utilizes a diversity of tactics is the way to go. And fortunately, this strategy has been taking off in Pittsburgh and around the country.

Now is a critical time to increase our efforts. We believe that a publicly announced, large-scale effort to shutdown recruitment will bring significant tangible gains locally and be a huge boost to organizing efforts in the rest of country. This is the next logical step and is in line with our central beliefs- that this war is wrong, that the human and material costs are unconscionable, that the government will not end the war unless the people resist, that the military will not cease lying and manipulating the young to enlist until they are forced to, that even if we can’t stop recruitment consistant action against it will increase the pressure to reform how and when it occurs, and ultimately that the community here has the right and responsibility to say that there is no place in our city for centers whose sole purpose is the recruiting of people to kill.