Alternatives to the Military in the Peace Churches

 By IPN Coordinator

 

Although the U.S. doesn’t currently have a draft, it is still important for those possessing a conscientious objection to serving in combat/ going to war to be prepared.  Generations before me had to deal with the draft, so there are stories about alternative service I have heard from my elders.  Serving in the Des Moines hospitals was a thing in the 60’s (and later) and men both from Iowa and as far away as Pennsylvania served together.  I am told it varied from draft board to draft board (in counties and states) for how far away one would be required to go from home.  Other places a generation went to before, during WWII, included experimental farms in Minnesota and Michigan.

Spring

 by Anne Farrer Scott

 

During the winter of 1982-83,Minneapolis was “bleak and frigid, like on the icy planet of Hoth,” or so my son Timothy, then five, told me. I had not seen “The Empire Strikes Back”as he had (twice), but I couldn’t help agreeing with him. The world had never before seemed quite so cold and desolate.

To a 2026 of Not Fighting Over Crumbs

 

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, reprinted with permission; originally published December 26, 2025- https://worldbeyondwar.org/to-a-2026-of-not-fighting-over-crumbs/

 

Every single person in the United States, from those who’ve been most harmed to those who’ve been most privileged, would be better off if we had a normal government that put even a moderate effort into universally improving everyone’s lives. If we had a government that took trillions of dollars away from the war machine and the untaxed oligarchs and provided as a matter of basic rights for all

 economic welfare,

education, preschool through college,

healthcare,

a clean and sustainable environment, and

public transit,

IPN Annual Christmas Open House and Alternative Gift Fair Held Dec. 6, 2025

 By IPN Coordinator

 This year, the Annual IPN Christmas Open House was held on Saturday, December 6, 2025 at the Des Moines Mennonite Church where one of two offices for IPN is located.  It was well-attended despite the snow that came in!  We did end an hour early for people to get home safely on the snowy roads.  The Open House began at 1:30 in the afternoon, and wound up about 3:30pm, originally planned to go to 4:30 pm. 

Iraq CPTer’s Taken Hostage Twenty Years Ago

 

By Ryan James, reprinted with permission; first printed for CPT (Community Peacemaker Teams) weekly email, the Friday Bulletin Nov. 28; see cpt.org  for more information on CPT.

 

This week marks twenty years since four CPTers were taken captive in Iraq. On 26 November 2005, Norman Kember, Jim Loney, Harmeet Sooden and Tom Fox were abducted by an armed group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. Kember, Loney and Sooden were held for 118 days. Tom Fox was killed by his captors.

Palestinians: Not Numbers

 

By Kathleen McQuillen; reprinted with permission; first published for Catholic Peace Ministry newsletter; see catholicpeaceministry.com

 

Dr. James Zogby, co-founder of the Arab-America Institute, and its current president, brought a fresh perspective to the conflict in Palestine-Israel. Brought to Des Moines by Catholic Peace Ministry and several co-sponsoring organizations, (Editor's Note:  these included Iowa Peace Network)  Dr. Zogby spoke on Veterans Day, to over 100 people at First Unitarian Church.

Voices and Views from Iraqi Kurdistan November 2025

 By Weldon D. Nisly, CPT (Community Peacemaker Teams) Iraqi Kurdistan team; Sunday, November 2, 2025; reprinted with permission

At the beginning of October, I returned to the CPT Iraqi Kurdistan (IK) team in Sulamaniyah (also called Sulaimani or Slemani or Suli) in the eastern Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). My one-time short-term return to the team, where I served half-time from 2017-22, was primarily to co-lead the CPT Iraqi Kurdistan delegation from Oct 8-22, with Kurdish teammate Runak. Another Kurdish teammate Kamaran also helped lead this delegation, especially our 6 days of travel across Kurdistan. Another CPT IK team member, Julian also provided invaluable assistance by making numerous trips to the airport for arrival and departure of delegation members. Most flights at Sulaymaniyah International Airport arrive and depart between 1:00 and 5:00 a.m.

Future of Selective Service goes to House-Senate conference — again

 By Edward Hasbrouck

 

Reprinted by permission from the "Resisters.info" website and blog October 14, 2025 at: https://hasbrouck.org/blog/archives/002800.html  See this article with links at this link.

 You can sign up for updates like this about the draft at: https://resisters.info/newsletter

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 Following approval by the House and Senate of different versions of an annual military policy bill, the future of the Selective Service System (SSS) will be decided behind closed doors by a House-Senate conference committee — for the sixth time in the last ten years.

U.S. Citizens Stage Die-In to Draw Attention to Gaza

 by Jeffrey Weiss

DES MOINES (10/05/2025) - Citizens gathered at the United States Federal Building in Des Moines, Iowa on Friday to read names and give witness to tens of thousands of children dying in Gaza and the West Bank.   

"Here you can see our expertise and devotion to do what we do better than anyone else in the world, said the Grim Reaper.   "Make machines that kill other human beings." 

In the form of bodies lying on the ground to represent Palestinian children, the Reaper lurked and spoke softly around a TV news reporter (see 'You Tube' video below).  

Alarming Increase in Domestic Militarization

 

By Lauren Morales; Reprinted with permission; this article is from Draft NOtices, the newsletter of the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft, http://www.comdsd.org/.

 

 For decades the United States has been a hypermilitarized country. The public is force fed the notion that we must respect the armed forces who are forever fighting to keep U.S. Americans safe at home and abroad. Yet there has always been a small part of society that challenges this indoctrination, recognizing that worshiping imperialist ideology is irreconcilable to national and global justice.