Liberation News: Anti-War March NYC Sat April 9th from PSLweb.org on Vimeo.

I've been busy with things in my personal life, but I thought people might be interested in some voices of the underrepresented from last weekend's big anti war protest in NYC.

 

Details have emerged on the upcoming protest against the seemingly endless wars. The protests, organized by the United National Antiwar Committee UNAC. You can download the protest flyers.

NYC · SF

Here are the demands from the flyers:

WE DEMAND Bring U.S. Troops, Mercenaries and War Contractors Home Now: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan! End the sanctions and stop the threats of war against the people of Iran, North Korea and Yemen. No to war and plunder of the people of Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa! End U.S. Aid to Israel! End U.S. Support to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine and the Siege of Gaza! End support of dictators in North Africa!

WE DEMAND an end to FBI raids on antiwar, social justice, and international solidarity activists, an end to the racist persecution and prosecutions that ravage Muslim communities, an end to police terror
in Black and Latino communities, full rights and legality for immigrants and an end to all efforts to repress and punish Wikileaks and its contributors and founders.

WE DEMAND the immediate end to torture, rendition, secret trials, drone bombings and death squads.

WE DEMAND trillions for jobs, education, social services, an end to all foreclosures, quality single-payer healthcare for all, a
massive conversion to sustainable and planet-saving energy systems and public transportation and reparations to the victims of U.S. terror at home and abroad.

I especially am fond of the mention of public transportation, since it prevents Global Warming. Also, our dependency on automobiles puts us in Big Oil's pockets, which results in a lot of wars and military bases.

Here are the whens and wheres.

NYC:
Saturday, April 9th Noon
March & Rally
Union Square
14 St & Broadway

...

SF:
SUNDAY, APRIL 10TH
ASSEMBLE AT DOLORES PARK AT 11AM · NOON RALLY · MARCH AT 1:30PM

I hope a lot of people in those areas can turn out. These wars are horrific by themselves, but then you have to add the budgetary pressure they create, which is used as an excuse to cut desperately needed government programs and desperately needed government jobs.

 

Save the Date!

From the United National Antiwar Committee:

Call to Action

April 9, 2011

New York & San Francisco

from the United National Antiwar Committee

Here's the intent behind this protest:

Bi-coastal mass spring mobilizations in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles on April 9, 2011. These will be accompanied by distinct and separate non-violent direct actions on the same day. A prime component of these mobilizations will be major efforts to include broad new forces from youth to veterans to trade unionists to civil and human rights groups to the Arab, Muslim and other oppressed communities to environmental organizations, social justice and faith-based groups. Veterans and military families will be key to these mobilizations with special efforts to organize this community to be the lead contingent.

Stay tuned. We need to get back into the streets as part of a larger movement to stop the wars. We can not rely on Barack Obama or any other politician to stop the wars for us.

They also are looking for organizations to endorse the marches.

 

This video is from a protest that was launched at the location of the sign by Broome County Peace Action.

The Iraq and Afghanistan wars are two of the biggest causes of the federal deficit, yet the Cat Food Commission and other "deficit reduction" groups have left ending the wars off the table. As bad as the financial and physical costs of this war are for Americans, things are much worse than Iraqis, Afghans, and Pakistanis.

Cost of War Sign - Binghamton, NY from bvideo on Vimeo.

Last I heard, the sign was on loan to other cities.

 

The corporate media never thought much of Cindy Sheehan. And, when she started criticizing pro war Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in 2007 and 2008, partisan Democrats on the blogs often either attacked her or ignored her for holding the same opinions and values they praised her for when Republicans controlled all three branches of government.

It's really an embarrassment. Sheehan is still one of the brightest and most committed activists for peace and social justice issues. She should be a leader in liberal thought and action, yet liberals too tethered to the Democrats are ignoring her or resenting her for speaking out against politicians like President Obama who go against the values and policies supported by grassroots Democrats.

In a recent blog posting of hers, Sheehan makes numerous points. Here are some of the most telling.

To some of us, the problem is not so much that Obama has proven to be a dismal failure—because we know that he has been a huge success to the ruling class and corporations--but that partisan politics always overshadows common sense and true peace. We lost a lot of time giving Obama a “chance,” and thousands have lost their lives and their ways of life.

I was outraged when, after three days in office, Obama authorized a drone strike into Northern Pakistan that killed dozens of civilians, but I was excoriated for being outraged. I was devastated when he announced an increase in troops (3 times so far) to Afghanistan, and attacked for not caring about Afghan women (the ones our Empire are “protecting” by killing them and their children). I was laughed out of town when I was infuriated that Obama had declared himself “Judge, jury and executioner” of American citizens. People who formerly supported me told me to “shut up and go away, you have had your 15 minutes of fame.”

In some ways, its similar to the way that Jane Hamsher of Firedog Lake has been the target of a smear campaign by the HMOs, the health insurers, and their Democratic enablers. She has been attacked by the notoriously misogynistic, racist, homophobic, and rightist DailyKos and by other "A List" Democratic bloggers for sticking to the same positions that they advocated on healthcare before Obama, Pelosi, and Reid demanded that everyone go along with a wealthcare bill that robs the vast majority of the country and hands the booty over to the super rich. Some blogs featured wild and unsubstantiated headlines claiming that Hamsher was part of the teabagger movement even though the position of the Democratic politicians on healthcare was far closer to those of the teabaggers than Hamsher's. The body of the postings didn't live up to the salacious headlines, but it created a partisan feeding frenzy among naive left bloggers who wanted so much to believe in a party apparatus that had abandoned them.

Meanwhile, the brunt of suffering under the healthcare system and the crap economy is being inflicted on the middle class and the poor. The rich are doing fabulously well. The Democratic politicians are doing precious little change this.

It's worse abroad. Things for the Iraqi and Afghan people keep deteriorating. The reconstruction still isn't being done, but more destruction piles up. Obama hasn't been withdrawing from Iraq. He's been replacing regular troops with mercenaries who commit more atrocities while costing the US Treasury far more money. He's been hugely ramping up the US presence in Afghanistan, using a strategy of killing civilians because our troops are so overburdened and burnt out by far too many deployments in south and southwest Asia they can do little else at this point.

Really, where are the peaceniks? Where are the liberals with enough common sense and human decency to fight back against "Democrats" like Obama, Reid, and Pelosi who keep treating us like shit?

Photo: D.C.Atty

 

That's the kind of headline you should be seeing in every major newspaper in this country. No one can honestly dispute it on a factual level. However, racism and the influence of corporate interests such as arms merchants and Big Oil keep the corporate media spinning Israel's latest heinous act of terrorism, just as they spin every terrorist act by Israel. Here's the lead paragraph from Alternet (5/31/10), an independent news source, that takes facts and journalistic integrity seriously.

Days of tension between Israel’s hawkish government and the organizers of the Freedom Flotilla carrying 700 peace activists and 10,000 tons of desperately needed supplies to Gaza culminated in grisly carnage after a deadly pre-dawn attack by Israeli commandos. The operation left between nine and 19 international activists dead and dozens more injured and bleeding on the decks of the civilian vessels.

Hillary Clinton and other war hawks here in the US go on about how Iran supposedly sponsors terrorism in efforts to try to incite an attack and eventual invasion of that country, but they refuse to acknowledge the fact that Israel commits more acts of terrorism than Iran is accused of sponsoring. Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, according to this narrative, but it is perfectly OK for the terrorist state of Israel to have nuclear weapons, despite the fact that they got their nuclear capabilities by launching a terrorist attack against a US naval ship. There is no excuse for our government to provide foreign aid to the terrorist regime in Israel.

Enough!

 

I'm sure you know by now that President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Reading about this had to be the biggest WTF momemt of the past few months. Let's look at the relevant facts.

- Our troops are still fighting the illegal war in Iraq, at very high levels. The numbers of mercenaries fighting that war has either stayed the same or gone up.

- The Afghanistan war continues.

- Obama has started a new war in Pakistan.

- Obama has given tacit support for the Honduran coup leaders.

- Obama is continuing the Bush regime policy of destabilizing Columbia, using rightist death squads and propping up the dictatorship there.

The notion that a president who has been feverish in his pro war stance can get a peace prize is absolutely Orwellian. You have to wonder if the Nobel Committee lives in a parallel universe or something.

You have to wonder about the right's talking point too. They keep saying that Obama hasn't done anything, so he shouldn't get the prize. The facts say otherwise. He has been able to implement a pro war agenda that these same rightists agree with. They aren't in any position to make legitimate criticisms because they share the same pro war agenda with Obama. So, they parrot a talking point that is completely disassociated from the truth.

 

Our nation is involved in one of the deadliest wars on Earth right now, the war on Iraq. Over 1.3 million Iraqis have been killed in this war, a number that dwarfs the disturbing US death and casualty numbers. The hundreds of billions we have spent destructively in another country are a major contributing factor to our banking crisis and our deep recession.

Yet, our corporate media only mention it on an occasional basis. The economic consequences are censored from coverage entirely. We have so much media consolidation and corporate power over news content, our nation is sleepwalking through one of the biggest crimes ever committed in our name.

However, it isn't just the corporate media that are at fault. The peace movement has focused little on Iraq ever since Obama has been in the White House. Living under the delusion that the Obama Administration and the Democratic controlled Congress are friendly on peace issues, peace groups have put way too much time into pushing ever conceivable issue that interests them, ignoring the political reality that focusing on one or two issues is necessary for any progress in a hostile governmental environment.

It's as if many peace groups have decided to let President Obama put a fig leaf over the continued occupation and slaughter of the Iraqi people. They are more interest to access to politicians and getting invited to meetings than they are in stopping the Iraq War. Every day, every leader of every peace organization should be asking herself or himself the following question.

“What else can I do to stop the Iraq war?”


Blood and Oil 2 by ~shattercat on deviantART

 

The corporate media are downplaying the story, because they don't want us to think about the people being slaughtered in Iraq. They would prefer that we feel sorry for the rich people who were so irresponsible that they were easy pickings for Madoff. CODEPINK isn't forgetting.

From their 3/12/09 press release:

CODEPINK women across America to mark Iraq War’s sixth anniversary
Call for immediate withdrawal from Iraq, aid to Afghanistan, end to war economy

WHAT: Events nationwide organized around sixth anniversary of Iraq War, occupation of Afghanistan
WHEN: March 14 to March 20
WHERE: Cities and towns across America

NATIONWIDE — To recognize and mourn six tragic years of war in Iraq, CODEPINK
women across America on its anniversary this year will host rallies, film screenings, marches and conferences, connecting the failing U.S. economy with continued military spending.

This March 14 to 21, most will call on Pres. Obama to keep his campaign promise to withdraw all troops from Iraq by early 2010, urge him to stop any military efforts in Afghanistan and rely on diplomacy first and last. They will also call for investigation and prosecution of U.S. officials, proper care for American veterans and refugees.

“After six devastating years of war, thousands of people from San Francisco to Central Florida are planning inspiring marches, vigils, film screenings and more to continue the call for end to war, proper care for veterans, and a reinvestment in America,” said Rae Abileah, CODEPINK’s local groups’ coordinator. “In every pocket of the country this month, they’ll tell Obama they want U.S.-Middle East foreign
relations to be replaced with diplomacy and peaceful solutions.”

Born in the lead up to the Iraq War in 2003, CODEPINK Women for Peace has become a vibrant, creative voice in the peace movement, an outlet especially for women in the United States and worldwide. The consistent hard work of thousands in more than 200 chapters worldwide has helped to turn public opinion against the atrocities of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza.

Nearly two dozen sixth anniversary events are planned thus far nationwide, and more are currently being finalized. For updated information, please visit the CODEPINK website here.

The call for ending the war economy is telling. If we keep shoveling resources to an effort to dominate and humiliate Iraq, that could very well push us into another Great Depression.

 

Kucinich had enough courage and integrity to later be one of only five members of the House to vote against a non-binding resolution supporting Israel's slaughter in Gaza.

 

From Mark Crispin Miller 1/8/09:

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY….

PLEASE JOIN US

Monday, January 12 at 5:30 P.M., in front of the Israeli Consulate, at 800 Second Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets, NYC

We are Jews who say “Not in Our Name” to the Israeli Government.

We ask you to stand with us as we call for:

- an immediate end to the massacre of the Palestinian people
- an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops
- an immediate end to the blockade of Gaza
- immediate steps taken to end the Israeli occupation

We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, with our sisters and brothers in Israel who are bravely opposing the brutality of their government, and with all those around the world calling for justice and peace in the Middle East.

There will be no speakers at this event. We will stand together in silence, holding up signs reiterating the points above.

initiators of this call for action:

Renate Bridenthal
Nina Felshin
Sherry Gorelick
Jane Hirschmann
Carol Horowitz
Esther Kaplan
Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz
Abigail Levine
Alan Levine
Richard Levy
Donna Nevel
Michael Ratner
Amy Schoenwald
Len Weinglass
Dorothy Zellner

I recognize the name Michael Ratner. He is from the Center for Constitutional Rights and is on WBAI's Law and Disorder.

I think it is important to publicize these kind of events to oppose the war and to break down the view that being Jewish necessarily means supporting everything the rightist government there does. That is essential for healing and understanding.

 

The corporate media have some strong financial motives for supporting the slaughter in Gaza, and they are acting on those motives. After all, arms merchants regularly advertise on news shows, not to directly sell their products, but to push a pro-war bias that sells more wars. More wars mean larger markets for the death merchants. Even worse, NBC and MSNBC are owned by GE (General Electric) which is an arms manufacturer.

Just as we must show the humanity of the Palestinians getting killed in Gaza, we also need to show the Israelis who are opposing this carnage. We need to promote human values and humane responses, rather than blindly accepting the pro-war propaganda.

To this end, I posted a message from an Israeli peace activist which deconstructs the narrative that is being shoved down our throats, one that treats Israelis and Palestinians as permanent and intractable enemies.

Pagan Sphinx is linking to a wonderful article by Amy Goodman on Truthdig which covers the Israeli peace movement from a journalistic perspective.

Here's an Israeli perspective you probably won't see on ABC News:

Israeli professor Neve Gordon is chair of the department of politics and government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in southern Israel, the region most impacted by the Hamas rockets.

Speaking over the phone from Beersheba, Gordon said: “We just had a rocket about an hour ago not far from our house. My two children have been sleeping in a bomb shelter for the past week. And yet, I think what Israel is doing is outrageous. ... The problem is that most Israelis say Israel left the Gaza Strip three years ago and Hamas is still shooting rockets at us. They forget the details. The detail is that Israel maintains sovereignty. The detail is that the Palestinians live in a cage. The detail is that they don’t get basic foodstuff, that they don’t get electricity, that they don’t get water. And when you forget those kinds of details, all you say is, ‘Why are they still shooting at us?’ That’s what the media here has been pumping them with, then you think this war is rational. If you look at what’s been going on in the Gaza Strip in the past three years and you see what Israel has been doing to the Palestinians, you would think that the Palestinian resistance is rational. And that’s what’s missing in the mainstream media here.”

Here's some info about a peace march that won't get much press here in the US either (bolding mine):

Gordon attended a large peace march last weekend in Tel Aviv with more than 10,000 other Israelis. Longtime Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery was there. He called the invasion “a criminal war, because, on top of everything else it is openly and shamelessly part of Ehud Barak’s and Tzipi Livni’s election campaign. I accuse Ehud Barak of exploiting the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers in order to get more Knesset seats. I accuse Tzipi Livni of advocating mutual slaughter in order to become prime minister.” Israel’s elections will be in February.

It turns out that Jonathan Ben-Artzi, nephew of raging rightist and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is one of many Israelis who opposes the war.

An item at the end of Ms. Goodman's piece is particularly disturbing (again bolding mine):

While Israeli planes drop pamphlets urging Palestinians to leave, the 1.5 million residents of the Gaza Strip, perhaps the most densely populated place on Earth, have no place to run, no place to hide. Calls for an immediate cease-fire are ignored by Israel and blocked by the U.S. government. It is not clear what the Obama administration will do—but the people of Gaza can’t wait until the inauguration. There must be a cease-fire now. And that’s just the beginning.

Those pamphlets are direct evidence of ethnic cleansing. This isn't about self-defense. The siege and now war in Gaza are about the Israeli government trying to drive out the Palestinians and take the land.

 

Outside of Saturday's protest in NYC against Israel's slaughter in Gaza, some peace activists were handing out the text of a recent email from an Israeli peace activist. What that activist said was incredibly important.

we are experiencing the worst repression inside israel i have experienced since the eighties. maybe its because there is a big anti war movement, arabs and jews working closely together. the media is only reporting the "violent arab mob" and ignoring the thousands of jews and arabs demonstrating together. they can't admit that there are israeli jews against this war. the friday weekend newspapers almost a week later were a bit better but still we are very worried about tomorrow and the next week. of course i acknowledge that the people of gaza have it 100 times worst, and the citizens of the south of Israel are poor hostages of our government's cynical election campaign.

i'll keep you posted.

shalom
ronen

From an October 19, 2008 email from A.N.S.W.E.R.:

Mass Actions on the 6th Anniversary of the Iraq War -- March 21, 2009
Bring All the Troops Home Now -- End All Colonial Occupations!
Fund People's Needs, Not Militarism & Bank Bailouts!

Marking the sixth anniversary of the criminal invasion of Iraq, thousands will take to the streets of Washington D.C. and other cities across the U.S. and around the world in March 2009 to say, “Bring the Troops Home NOW!” We will also demand “End Colonial Occupation in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Everywhere,” and “Fund Peoples’ Needs Not Militarism and Bank Bailouts.” We also insist on an end to the war threats and economic sanctions against Iran.

The ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) is organizing for unified mass marches and rallies in Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami and other cities on Saturday, March 21, 2009. Months ago we obtained permits for sixth anniversary demonstrations. ANSWER has been actively involved with other coalitions, organizations, and networks to organize unified anti-war demonstrations in the spring of 2009. ANSWER participated in the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations that was held in Cleveland, Ohio on June 28th-29th and attended by 450 people, including many national and local anti-war coalitions. The National Assembly gathering agreed to promote national, unified anti-war demonstrations in the Spring of 2009.

The war in Iraq has killed, wounded or displaced nearly a third of Iraq’s 26 million people. Thousands of U.S. soldiers have been killed and hundreds of thousands more have suffered severe physical and psychological wounds. The cost of the war is now running at $700 million dollars per day, over $7,000 per second. The U.S. leaders who have initiated and conducted this criminal war should be tried and jailed for war crimes.

The war in Afghanistan is expanding, and both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates and Congressional leaders have promised to send in more troops. Both have promised to increase the size of the U. S. military. Both have promised to increase military aid to Israel to continue its oppression of the Palestinian people, including the denial of the right of return.

While millions of families are losing their homes, jobs and healthcare, the real military budget next year will top one trillion dollars, $1,000,000,000,000. If used to meet people’s needs, that amount could create 10 million new jobs at $60,000 per year, provide healthcare for everyone who does not have it now, rebuild New Orleans and repair much of the damage done in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Federal bailouts of the biggest banks and investors many of whom have also made billions in profits from militarism, are already up to an astounding $2.5 trillion this year. None of that money is earmarked for keeping millions of foreclosed and evicted families in their homes.

Coming just two months after the inauguration of the next president, March 21, 2009 will be a critical opportunity to let the new administration in Washington hear the voice of the people demanding justice.

I suspect other anti-war groups will be planning protests around that time too.

 

CODEPINK Was Impossible for Anyone But Most of the Corporate Media to Ignore


From a CODEPINK email 8/29/08:

Yes, there were some places where we were not welcome (and even kicked out!) but most delegates embraced us with love and gratitude. They, too, are frustrated by the lack of leadership in our country when it comes to getting out of Iraq, and are ready to stand up for issues and not just candidates. Over 1,000 delegates wore or held our message, I am A Delegate for PEACE.

On our pinked up rollerblades and bicycles we painted Denver pink with PEACE. We even created a giant "Make Out Not War" aerial image with our bodies--and check out more great DNC photos here. We covered the streets with our powerful posters, designed by Favianna Rodriquez. They are now collectors' items

Unfortunately, a CODEPINK member was beaten and arrested by Denver police for videotaping an arrest of a protester from another group.

The video from the Rocky Mountain News doesn't capture her videotaping the previous arrest, but it shows the woman being knocked to the ground by a police officer's baton and then being arrested when she was being interviewed by media on scene.



The protester, Alicia Forest, was later released. According to CODEPINK, she plans on taking legal action against the Denver police.

CODEPINK will be heading to the Republican National Convention (Repugnant Nazi Carnival) next.

---

IAVW at the DNC:

From Iraq Veterans Against the War 8/28/08 (hat tip to GDAEman):

Iraq vets lead biggest successful action of DNC: push Obama toward real antiwar position

Denver, Colorado – Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) led a non-violent march of 8,000 allies, including members of Rage Against the Machine, to the front entrance of the Pepsi Center. There they delivered a letter containing their three points of unity to the Obama campaign’s veteran staff. IVAW’s three points of unity are:
1.Immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq
2.Full benefits and healthcare for returning veterans
3.Reparations to the Iraqi people

More on the Protest from the Indypendent

---

Third Party and Independent Candidates

Cindy Sheehan spoke at the Open the Debates Rally:


She now refers to the Republicans and the Democrats as "the twins."

According to a Green Party press release, the scheduled speakers were:

Rosa Clemente, the recently nominated vice-presidential candidate running with former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney on the Green Party ticket, will join Ralph Nader, Matt Gonzalez, Val Kilmer, Sean Penn, Cindy Sheehan, Tom Morello, Jello Biafra, Nellie McKay, and Ike Reilly at the "Open the Debates" Super Rally on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. at the University of Denver Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado.

Rosa Clemente, Green Party VP candidate, also had a controversial speech during the time of the DNC. She is introduced by Green presidential candidate, Cynthia McKinney.


 

I found this linked on the United for Peace and Justice website, which is a good example of peace groups with different viewpoints cooperating to promote common goals.

StopWarOnIran.org is the coordinating site for a collection of actions in over 20 states so far. The efforts are on or around August 2.

Find an Action Close to You!

Here is a description of the New York action and a call for similar efforts around the world.

MASS MARCH IN NYC

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2
Assemble 12 p.m. at Times Square

43rd St. & Broadway

AN APPEAL TO ORGANIZERS AND ACTIVISTS
ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD:

Consider as soon as possible if you can organize a STOP WAR ON IRAN protest in your locality during the weekend of August 2 – 3. Let us know so that your protest can be listed.

YET ANOTHER U.S. WAR?

The U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan is hated by the people there. These wars have no support at home and are ruining the domestic economy. Instead of pulling out, the Bush administration is preparing for still another war—this time against Iran . This must be stopped!

AGRESSION TOWARDS IRAN IS ESCALATING

On June 4, George Bush, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at his side, called Iran a “threat to peace.” Two days before, acting as a proxy for the Pentagon, Israel used advanced U.S. fighter planes to conduct massive air maneuvers, which the media called a “dress rehearsal” for an attack on Iran ’s nuclear facility. Under pressure from the U.S. , the European Union announced sanctions against Iran on June 23; a bill is before Congress for further U.S. sanctions on Iran and even a blockade of Iran .

IRAN “THREATS” A HOAX

Iran as a “nuclear threat” is as much a hoax as Bush’s claim of “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq used to justify the war there. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which inspects Iran ’s nuclear facilities, says it has no weapons program and is developing nuclear power for the days when its oil runs out. Even Washington ’s 16 top spy agencies issued a joint statement that said Iran does not have nuclear weapons technology!

U.S. and Israel are the real nuclear danger. The Pentagon has a huge, nuclear-capable naval armada in the Persian/Arabian Gulf, with guns aimed at Iran . Israel , the Pentagon’s proxy force in the Middle East , has up to 200 nuclear warheads and has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran did sign it.

WAR HURTS U.S. ECONOMY

While billions of dollars go to war, at home the unemployment rate had the biggest spike in 23 years. Home foreclosures and evictions are increasing; fuel and food prices are through the roof. While the situation is growing dire for many, Washington ’s cuts to domestic programs continue. A new U.S. war will bring only more suffering.

WHAT WE DO RIGHT NOW CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

While the summer is a difficult time to call protests, the August recess of Congress gives the White House an opportunity for unopposed aggression against Iran . We must not let this happen! From the anti-war movement and all movements for social change, to religious and grassroots organizations, unions and schools, let us join forces to demand “No war on Iran, U.S. out of Iraq, Money for human needs not war! “

This call to action is issued by StopWarOnIran.org, a network of thousands of concerned activists and organizations fighting to stop a new war against Iran since March 2006.

 

The fabulous women from CODEPINK have started a campaign to build an important platform for opposing the Bush regime's lunatic idea of attacking Iran. Peace Action has supported it too.

Dear Friends,

CODEPINK has started a new effort to get mayors around the country to sign a resolution against going to war with Iran. The resolution will be presented at the US Conference of Mayors on June 20 in Miami. It is cosponsored by 11 mayors, and we are seeking more sponsors. Below is a copy of the resolution and a sample cover letter. Please consider sending this to your mayor and following up with a call encouraging him/her to sign on. The passage of a resolution against war with Iran on behalf of mayors nationwide will send a strong message to the White House and Congress that the American people want diplomacy, not war!

Sincerely,

Kevin Martin/Peace Action

Here is the wording of the resolution.

RESOLUTION OPPOSING MILITARY INTERVENTION IN IRAN
SUBMITTED TO THE US CONFERENCE OF MAYORS

1. WHEREAS, the President and members of his Administration have alleged that Iran poses an imminent threat to the United States, U.S. troops in the Middle East and U.S. allies; and

2. WHEREAS, these allegations are similar to the lead-up to the Iraq War and U.S. occupation, with the selective use of information and unsubstantiated accusations about Iran's nuclear program and its supply of weapons to Iraqi forces as centerpieces of a case to the American people for aggression against Iran; and

3. WHEREAS, Iran has not threatened to attack the United States, and no compelling evidence has been presented to document that Iran poses a real and imminent threat to the security and safety of the United States that would justify an unprovoked unilateral pre-emptive military attack; and

4. WHEREAS, we support the people of Iran who are struggling for freedom and democracy, and nothing herein should be misconstrued as support for the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but it should be understood that a unilateral, pre-emptive U.S. military attack on Iran could well prove counterproductive to the cause of promoting freedom and democracy there; and

5. WHEREAS, a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), representing the consensus view all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, concluded that Iran froze its nuclear weapons program in 2003, and an earlier NIE concluded that Iran’s involvement in Iraq “is not likely to be a major driver of violence” there; and

6. WHEREAS, an attack on Iran is likely to cause untold thousands of American and Iranian casualties, lead to major economic dislocations, and threaten even greater destabilization in the Middle East; and

7. WHEREAS, a pre-emptive U.S. military attack on Iran would violate international law and our commitments under the U.N. Charter and further isolate the U.S. from the rest of the world; and

8. WHEREAS, an attack on Iran is likely to inflame hatred for the U.S. in the Middle East and elsewhere, inspire terrorism, and lessen the security of Americans; and

9. WHEREAS, the Iraq war and occupation has already cost the lives of over 4,000 American soldiers, the maiming and wounding of over 38,000 American soldiers, the death and maiming of over one million Iraqi civilians; and

10. WHEREAS, the Iraq War and occupation has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $500 billion, depriving our cities of much-need funds for services and infrastructure; and

11. WHEREAS, except at our peril, we cannot ignore the history of U.S. government misinformation used to inspire U.S. aggression in Vietnam and again in Iraq, as embodied in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and more recently in the what we know now as false claims of weapons of mass destruction; and

12. WHEREAS, any conflict with Iran is likely to incur far greater costs and divert more precious national resources away from critical human needs,

13. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors hereby urges the Bush Administration to pursue diplomatic engagement with Iran on nuclear issues and ending the violence in Iraq; and

14. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors urges Congress to prohibit the use of funds to carry out any military action against Iran without explicit Congressional authorization; and

15. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that suitable copies of the resolution be forwarded to President George W. Bush and all members of Congress.

CODEPINK has provided a copy of the resolution and a sample cover letter.

I was thinking when I read about this that the above campaign also sounds like a good idea for nonbinding resolutions for City Councils to pass. It turns out CODEPINK was way ahead of me, and they have a page on their website with just such an action. Oakland already has passed just such a resolution.

Go forth and kick ass.

 

We often are encouraged to disregard wisdom accumulated by elders by corporate media, both news and entertainment. The wealthy and the CEOswould much rather us blindly follow the boob tube than learn real lessons about life. This is one of many areas where we could learn a lot from the indigenous peoples' of this continent.

One group of elders we should all learn from is the Granny Peace Brigade. In addition to their website, they have a blog which keeps up with their activities to resist the Iraq war, promote peace, and defy complacency.

They show us a model of strength, compassion, and concern while managing to keep a sense of humor about themselves. Their use of parodies of songs from the days of their youth provides a way for them to get peoples' attention in an era of information overload.

They even let me sing with them once at Union Square a while back.

Of course, they don't just sing. They picket, march, and use a particularly pragmatic tactic to get people to call their congresscritters, PHONE-A-THONS.

Keep the pressure on Congress!
Response to our Phone-a-Thons has been so enthusiastic that we are repeating them regularly in different locations. We ask people to call Congress on the spot (using our phones) and urge their Senators and Representatives to stop the war by stopping the funding.

YouTube video of their singing at a recent Phone-A-Thon.


Here are links to a couple of their flyers (PDF - quarter sheet):

- Stop Funding the War

- Impeach Cheney Before He Attacks Iran

- Filibuster War Spending

They also have a great page that you shouldn't miss:

Resources for Lobbying Congress

 

Codepink is offering a way to support Mideast peace while challenging rightist media bias.

The US mainstream media has blasted Carter for meeting with leaders of Hamas--the party that won the January 2006 elections in Palestine. We, on the other hand appreciate his tremendous courage and conviction: by agreeing to talk with Hamas, Carter is staying true to America's democratic principles of recognizing the legitimacy of a representative government, while underscoring the hypocrisy of the US mainstream media and the White House.

...

Send Jimmy Carter a thank you and a Pink Badge of Courage for his efforts to actively seek a solution to the agonizing conflict between Israel and Palestine. We will deliver your signature directly to the Carter Center in Atlanta, along with a beautiful Jerusalem Hope Candle crafted by Israeli and Palestinian women that embodies Carter's vision of creating durable peace in the Middle East.

From a Peace Action West Action Alert:

Tensions continue between the US and Iran. In early March, the US voted in favor of the third UN resolution imposing sanctions against Iran for continuing to enrich uranium.

Representative Barbara Lee (D - CA) has introduced the Iran Diplomatic Accountability Act of 2008 (HR 5056) to begin direct and unconditional diplomatic negotiations between the US and Iran. This bill would allow the president to appoint a high-level representative of the US or a special envoy for Iran to help ease tensions between our two countries.

We are now in the sixth year of the war in Iraq, and it is important for all of us to speak up in favor of exercising diplomacy to prevent future conflicts.

US insistence that Iran suspend uranium enrichment as a precondition for direct talks is counter-productive to the ultimate goal of ensuring nuclear non-proliferation. To prevent an escalation of hostilities, the US should engage directly with the Iranian government. Real diplomacy is a tool that shouldn’t be used only to reward one’s allies.

The longer negotiations are postponed, the more likely it is that there will be a war between Iran and the United States.

An attack on Iran would put our troops in Iraq in an even more deadly situation, given that Iran has missles capable of reaching them, and the majority of Iraqis are Shi'ites who have strong religious and cultural ties to Iran.

In a world which even Bush admits is "addicted to oil," a war with Iran would be devastating to an already weak global economy. The losses of Iranian, Iraqi, and American lives would be inexcusable.

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