Resistance Readies Stop Draft Week

A massive national denouncement of the continuing war in Vietnam and the Selective Service System is being readied for the week of Oct. 16–22, and by all indications it should well be the largest demonstration of its type in American history.

The Resistance does not recognize deferments, for they are part of the system. By accepting a deferment, a person does nothing to change that system.

The Resistance wants it all out in the open. They will attempt to show Inductees coming into the centers that there are ways out of the draft. Robb claimed that “if every young man called up in the draft refused to go, or even 100,000 (and surely there are this many who agree with us) and if they would all stand together, then there would be no alternative to the government except to change the policy it is pursuing in Vietnam. It can be-done!

On Oct. 21 and 22, there will be a march on Washington, D.C. The National Mobilization Committee announced “we will shut down the Pentagon. We will fill the hallways and block the entrances. Thousands will disrupt the center of the American war machine.” It is expected that the “East Coast Johnson Ranch” will see the largest demonstration ever to be held by Peace organizations in the nation’s capital.

Stop the Draft Week will receive powerful momentum on the 16^th through the energetic efforts of The Resistance—groups of young men in major cities across the country who will “publicly and collectively return our draft cards to the Selective Service Boards.” The idea for The Resistance took form in March at Berkeley, and since has gained support from all areas of the nation. Plans call for Resistance groups to completely halt progress at the induction centers—even to the extent of performing peaceful acts of civil disobedience.