War Resisters League

The War Resisters League (WRL) was formed in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I. It is a section of the London-based War Resisters' International.

Many of the organization's founders had been jailed during World War I for refusing military service. From the Fellowship of Reconciliation many Jews, suffragists, socialists, and anarchists separated to form this more secular organization.

Although the WRL was opposed to US participation in World War II, it did not protest against it; the WRL complied with the Espionage Act, ceased public protests, and did not solicit new members during this period. During World War II, many members were imprisoned as conscientious objectors. In the 1950s, WRL members worked in the US civil rights movement and organized protests against nuclear weapons testing and civil defense drills. In the 1960s, WRL was the first pacifist organization to call for an end to the Vietnam War. The organization's opposition to nuclear weapons was extended to include nuclear power in the 1970s and 1980s. The WRL has also been active in feminist and anti-racist causes and works with other organizations to reduce the level of violence in modern culture.

Current activities
Presently, the War Resisters League is actively organizing against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the impact of war at home. Much of its organizing is focused on challenging military recruiters and ending corporate profit from war. It publishes an annual peace calendar, the quarterly magazine WIN: Through Revolutionary Nonviolence, and other materials and is involved in a number of national peace and justice coalitions, including United for Peace and Justice and the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee. Since 1958, WRL has awarded almost annually the War Resisters League Peace Award to a person or organization whose work represents the League's radical nonviolent program of action.

The War Resisters League annually publishes a pie chart showing how much of the U.S. federal budget actually covers current and past military expenses, listing the total as 54%:
 * "The figures are federal funds, which do not include trust funds — such as Social Security — that are raised and spent separately from income taxes....The government practice of combining trust and federal funds began during the Vietnam War, thus making the human needs portion of the budget seem larger and the military portion smaller. "

These figures are at odds with official government figures:
 * "[Dov S. Zakheim, the Pentagon comptroller pointed] out that the 2004 military budget would represent 16.6 percent of all federal spending, compared with 27.3 percent in the late 1980's."


 * "...War Resisters....count moneys appropriated for veterans' benefits and payment of the national debt as "taxes to support past wars." The group does this because the only way it can arrive at the figure of 47 percent of the federal budget going to the military is to count what they see as past military spending."

Key members

 * Sidney Aberman
 * Devere Allen
 * Norma Becker
 * Ruth Benn
 * Frida Berrigan
 * Albert Bigelow
 * Karl Bissinger
 * Maris Cakars
 * Mandy Carter
 * Winston Dancis
 * Dave Dellinger
 * Barbara Deming
 * Ralph DiGia
 * Julius Eichel
 * Roy Finch
 * Larry Gara


 * Sidney E. Goldstein
 * Walter Gormly
 * Edward P. Gottlieb
 * Richard Gregg
 * G. Simon Harak
 * George W. Hartmann
 * Ammon Hennacy
 * Nat Hentoff
 * Isidor B. Hoffman
 * John Haynes Holmes
 * George Houser
 * Evelyn West Hughan
 * Jessie Wallace Hughan
 * Abe Kaufman
 * Randy Kehler
 * Roy Kepler


 * Steve Ladd
 * Frieda Langer Lazarus
 * Bradford Lyttle
 * Dwight Macdonald
 * David McReynolds
 * A.J. Muste
 * Tracy Mygatt
 * Frank Olmstead
 * James Otsuka
 * Grace Paley
 * James Peck
 * Orlie Pell
 * Frances Rose Ransom
 * Earle L. Reynolds
 * Ruth Mary Reynolds
 * Edward Richards
 * Igal Roodenko


 * Vicki Rovere
 * Bayard Rustin
 * Ira Sandperl
 * Lawrence Scott
 * Joanne Sheehan
 * Craig Simpson
 * Upton Sinclair
 * William Sutherland
 * Arlo Tatum
 * Evan W. Thomas
 * Carmen Trotta
 * Jay Nelson Tuck
 * Anna Strunsky Walling
 * George Willoughby
 * Lillian Willoughby
 * Frances Witherspoon
 * Irma Zigas