Letter from Kick 'Em Off Campus

As stated in the November 7 edition of Forge Press we have given the Kick 'Em Off Campus campaign a full right of reply to our comment article entitled 'The military are not responsible for politics' that appeared on page 13 of our October 10 edition. Due to space constraints we could not publish the whole letter in the newspaper so we have included it here in its entirety:


To Kyle Christie, the editorship of the Forge Press, workers and students at Sheffield university,

The Forge Press recently ran some coverage of the Kick 'Em Off Campus campaign - one fairly neutral news piece, and then an opinion piece by Kyle Christie attacking our campaign. As the Forge Press aims to represent the views and opinions of students, we hoped that they would provide a full right of reply for the students involved in the campaign. However when we asked for space for our own article or offered the paper an interview our request was declined. We write this letter in the hope that readers of the Forge press can get the whole story.

Kyle Christie's basic criticism of our campaign was that banning the OTC would restrict the activities that students can undertake by denying them "a chance to earn money, undergo useful training and help with community projects". Interestingly, Christie does not attempt to defend the university's links with arms dealers – the other and equally important goal of our campaign. Contrary to Christie's opinion, we do not wish to restrict students’ activity on campus; we simply question why this has to take place in a military framework. We are also critical of the way the chance to earn extra money is used to lure students from poorer backgrounds, or ones with heavy debt problems, into army life.

Like Christie, we celebrate the range of activities available at university. There is, however, one crucial difference between the OTC and all genuine student societies: it's not run by students, it's run by professionals from the Ministry of Defence. Professionals who use this society with the specific intention of indoctrinating students with military values. Unlike Christie, we have enough confidence in our fellow students to trust that they're capable of organising fun and fulfilling activities for themselves, without the interference of outside parties who have no genuine interest in the student population outside of the prospect of recruiting them into the armed forces. The army is currently in a recruitment crisis, with a record number of troops leaving the forces or going AWOL, and organisations like the OTC are part of an attempt to fill the huge shortfall that has arisen as a result of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Our university already has the Duke of Edinburgh award, which offers many of the same activities, Sheffield Rag, who offer the opportunity to undertake extreme challenges while raising money for good causes, and a massive range of sports societies from Aikido to Ultimate Frisbee, and any group of students who feel that their interests aren't being adequately catered for have the opportunity to set up their own society, so it's difficult to see what unique benefit the OTC has to offer students – beyond, that is, the chance to be "advised and assisted" about military life.

The OTC and its defenders may try and claim that it's nothing to do with the real army, in spite of the fact it is an official part of the TA, with no intention of recruiting students into the armed forces. Perhaps we're overly cynical, but the idea that the Ministry of Defence would pay students £35 a day just out of the goodness of their hearts seems ever-so-slightly implausible to us. The anti-war movement has always been popular on university campuses and the MoD recognises this fact. The OTC is a deliberate attempt to present a “friendly face” of the military to the student body and disguise the brutal realities of military life.

Christie attempts to claim that "the Government takes decisions on the use of the military and it against them, and not fellow students, that any political opposition should be directed...This campaign has grossly misplaced its targets." Sadly, he doesn't state what form this political opposition should take - perhaps he'd like us to organise the largest demonstration in British history? Well that has already happened, in February 2003 millions of people marched in cities across the world in opposition to the invasion and the government paid no notice at all. The simple truth is that the war in Iraq has been consistently unpopular since it started, and the government have showed an equally consistent contempt for public opinion. In these circumstances, we can't just allow business to continue as usual while the death and destruction goes on and on - we need to build an effective opposition. This means challenging institutions that support the war in Iraq and Afghanistan right here at home – from the BAE labs that construct the missiles to the OTC that manufactures consent. There is already a growing student movement against militarism and the examples of UCL (University College of London) suggests that this is a struggle we can win.

Finally, Christie says that "there has long been an anti-war presence on campus" but that the current campaign is worse than any before - we agree that there has long been an anti-war presence on campus, but never before have the student media paid any attention to us. The fact that, for the first time we can remember, the student press have suddenly started discussing the anti-war views that many students hold, would seem to show that we're getting something right.
We welcome a more open debate with the Forge press on this matter and in the spirit of fair coverage we would ask that you only publish this letter in its complete form.
Dare to win.
www.kickemoffcampus.org.uk