Unjust Wars of Aggression Leave All Children Behind
(Resolution Passes Unanimously at June, 2018 House of Delegates Meeting)
President Trump's efforts to massively increase the military budget at the expense of public education tell us what he and the war hawks in Congress value.
Whereas, public schools in working class communities and communities of color in Chicago and across the U.S. are consistently underfunded and in many instances subject to closure, and
Whereas, the US currently has the lowest number of public employees on record since 1967, and
Whereas, the federal government is fully capable of remediating funding shortfalls that occur at state and local levels if that was their priority; while instead, President Trump's budget asks for an an $80 billion increase in military spending: 13 percent more than in FY 2017 when the US spent $634 billion (more than the combined military budgets of the next eight countries combined), and
Whereas, an ongoing and intensifying state of belligerence against Iran and North Korea has increased the military's share of the discretionary federal budget (65%, up from 62%) and directed funds away from public education and other social needs, and
Whereas, mainstream media in the US and in the West generally present Iran and North Korea as aggressor nations despite their not having attacked any other nations, and
Whereas, mainstream media, parroting the US State Dept's positions, rarely acknowledge that North Korea's missile tests are conducted for defensive purposes as a deterrent to invasion by a US military that possesses about 900 nuclear weapons (NY Times 1/3/18). North Korea has less than 10, and
Whereas, President Trump has on multiple occasions literally threatened to destroy North Korea. North Korea has nevertheless decided to take seriously his recent on again off again offers to negotiate a final settlement of the 1950-53 Korean War and his demands for unilateral denuclearization, and
Whereas, the US Government has for nearly two years aided a proxy against the people of Yemen by enabling Saudi Arabia, one of the world's least democratic states, to bomb and blockade that country. The resulting cholera epidemic is considered to be the worst in modern history and has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. Recently the Saudis bombed a wedding party, and
Whereas, US weaponry was recently used by the Israeli military to kill and injure 1,500 civilians in Gaza, and act condemned by the United Nations and virtually the entire world, and
Whereas, US troops have been re-introduced in Iraq and deployed in Syria ostensibly to fight ISIS. However, there appears to be no end to their presence short of regime change, and
Whereas, unjustified threats of US military intervention have been made against Venezuela, likely using Colombia as a base of operations, while Venezuela has not threatened the US in anyway whatever, and
Whereas, right-wing forces often push to redistribute tax allocations away from the public sector and into corporate and military sectors, be it
Resolved, that the Chicago Teachers Union calls upon the federal government:
- to renounce use of a nuclear or other pre-emptive strike on Iran, North Korea or any other country and.
- to prioritize peace and social spending in place of our growing emphasis on military expansion and war-mongering; and be it finally
Resolved, that the Chicago Teachers Union will support anti-war groups such as Veterans for Peace, Women for Peace and Labor Against War* and participate in mobilizations and other actions to stop a ramp up to war that reflect the concerns raised in this resolution.
* this bold text was added by CTU officer Michael Brunson during resolution debate in the House of Delegates
(Resolution Passes Unanimously at June, 2018 House of Delegates Meeting)
President Trump's efforts to massively increase the military budget at the expense of public education tell us what he and the war hawks in Congress value.
Whereas, public schools in working class communities and communities of color in Chicago and across the U.S. are consistently underfunded and in many instances subject to closure, and
Whereas, the US currently has the lowest number of public employees on record since 1967, and
Whereas, the federal government is fully capable of remediating funding shortfalls that occur at state and local levels if that was their priority; while instead, President Trump's budget asks for an an $80 billion increase in military spending: 13 percent more than in FY 2017 when the US spent $634 billion (more than the combined military budgets of the next eight countries combined), and
Whereas, an ongoing and intensifying state of belligerence against Iran and North Korea has increased the military's share of the discretionary federal budget (65%, up from 62%) and directed funds away from public education and other social needs, and
Whereas, mainstream media in the US and in the West generally present Iran and North Korea as aggressor nations despite their not having attacked any other nations, and
Whereas, mainstream media, parroting the US State Dept's positions, rarely acknowledge that North Korea's missile tests are conducted for defensive purposes as a deterrent to invasion by a US military that possesses about 900 nuclear weapons (NY Times 1/3/18). North Korea has less than 10, and
Whereas, President Trump has on multiple occasions literally threatened to destroy North Korea. North Korea has nevertheless decided to take seriously his recent on again off again offers to negotiate a final settlement of the 1950-53 Korean War and his demands for unilateral denuclearization, and
Whereas, the US Government has for nearly two years aided a proxy against the people of Yemen by enabling Saudi Arabia, one of the world's least democratic states, to bomb and blockade that country. The resulting cholera epidemic is considered to be the worst in modern history and has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. Recently the Saudis bombed a wedding party, and
Whereas, US weaponry was recently used by the Israeli military to kill and injure 1,500 civilians in Gaza, and act condemned by the United Nations and virtually the entire world, and
Whereas, US troops have been re-introduced in Iraq and deployed in Syria ostensibly to fight ISIS. However, there appears to be no end to their presence short of regime change, and
Whereas, unjustified threats of US military intervention have been made against Venezuela, likely using Colombia as a base of operations, while Venezuela has not threatened the US in anyway whatever, and
Whereas, right-wing forces often push to redistribute tax allocations away from the public sector and into corporate and military sectors, be it
Resolved, that the Chicago Teachers Union calls upon the federal government:
- to renounce use of a nuclear or other pre-emptive strike on Iran, North Korea or any other country and.
- to prioritize peace and social spending in place of our growing emphasis on military expansion and war-mongering; and be it finally
Resolved, that the Chicago Teachers Union will support anti-war groups such as Veterans for Peace, Women for Peace and Labor Against War* and participate in mobilizations and other actions to stop a ramp up to war that reflect the concerns raised in this resolution.
* this bold text was added by CTU officer Michael Brunson during resolution debate in the House of Delegates
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