Today, Sept. 26, Code Pink and the Troops Out Now Coalition disrupted the Senate Appropriations Committee chaired by Senator Byrd on war funding.
Holding signs and wearing signs against war and Congressional complicity on war funding, a large group of 30 to 50 people left chanting "Troops out! Stop war! Stop war funding!" An activist from Code Pink was arrested.
The forces involved in the disruption are part of the weeklong Encampment in front of the Capitol reflection pool, that will culminate in a mass march on Sat., Sept. 29. The Encampment and march are demanding an end to war funding and immediate withdrawal of all troops. Events at the Encampment have focused on the impacts of the war at home and abroad.
A press conference was held Sept. 24 to announce the Encampment and the mass march on Sept. 29. Larry Holmes of the Troops Out Now Coalition opened the conference, saying, "The Democrats say they want to cut war funding but they can't get past a veto. We know this isn't true. They could simply make sure the funding question doesn't get to the floor. Meanwhile, Bush is prepared to veto $30 to $35 billion for health care for children."
Holmes also discussed the serious threat of a new war on Iran: "Iranian President Ahmadinejad is being demonized in the media, and we're not naive. We know that they are preparing the population for an expansion of the war in Iraq to war in Iran. But the biggest terrorists are in the world sit in the White House."
Rev. Lennox Yearwood spoke about unity in the people's struggle against multiple wars: "I'm so pleased to see support here at the Encampment for the struggle in Jena; I was pleased to hear, in Jena, people talking about how the bombs in Baghdad are affecting people in the United States. ... If it calls for getting arrested, getting in the way, then we'll get arrested and get in the way. Our struggles will continue, but we will win." Yearwood was recently beaten by D.C. police at an anti-war press conference.
Adam Kokesh, Co-Chair of the board of directors for Iraq Veterans Against the War described his organization's demands, including immediate withdrawal of all forces from Iraq, "and when we say all forces, we mean Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Blackwater, Halliburton"; and full payment of reparations to the people of Iraq.
Nana Soul of Artists and Activists United for Peace, a TONC member organization, described the weeklong concert that is being held as part of the Encampment. "The movement needs cultural inspiration, talent and creativity. Iraq may be the issue today, but we know that this isn't the first time that the United States has invaded a sovereign nation. They use tools at home like not funding health care and education. We have a chance to translate these actions."
Rick Clemens, Ann Wilcox and Joyce Robinson-Paul represented the Green Party. Clemens, a Vietnam War veteran, stressed: "This war is about imperialism, about the exploitation of labor power and markets of other peoples. There is no thing as ending the war without ending the economic system that perpetuates war--capitalism." Wilcox discussed the effects of the war at home in Washington, D.C., where neighborhood libraries are being closed and thousands of affordable housing units have been lost.
Toby Blomé of Code Pink Women for Peace described the two encampments their group has undertaken at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's house, after she refused to meet with them to discuss war funding for three months. They plan on going to her office regularly during the Encampment and will be fasting for the week as "another way to show commitment to ending the occupation and bringing the troops home."
Vernon Hoffman, who biked 4,500 miles with his family from Portland, Oregon to join the Encampment, said he'd "rather bike for peace than kill for oil." He described how throughout the country, people took opened up their homes for the family and their anti-war message.
Lastly, a young war resister described how he enlisted in the military in 2005 because of limited career opportunities in his hometown. However, he says, "I happened to join at the same time as Hurricane Katrina, and I saw on TV the bodies floating in the streets. It really hit home to me. I got out of training 25 weeks later and nothing had changed. Despite all the rhetoric about homeland security and national security, this government's priorities are not for the people."
Other actions at the Encampment today included an event on Pelosi hosted by Code Pink, and an outreach sound truck caravan through the streets of D.C. to mobilize for the march on the 29th.
As part of the national effort to build towards September being a truly ‘Anti-War Month’ we are building a united set of actions that involve youth and students.
From September 22 to 29, activists working on a number of different struggles from around the country will be coming together in Washington, D.C. and setting up an encampment in front of Congress to raise the stakes in the anti-war movement during a week of direct actions against the war.
We want to make Friday, September 28, a Youth and Student Day of Action in which autonomous, student- and youth-led direct actions originate from this space.
Then, we will all be marching together in a youth and student contingent in the September 29th anti-war demos in Washington and LA.
In order to be able to have conversations about what types of actions will happen on the 28th in a way that is both democratic and safe (ie-not on the internet), organizers will be convening consultas in the coming weeks in different regions of the country for folks to come together and plan. We will hopefully have all the dates of the consultas sorted out within the next week and will post that information here. If you as an individual or your campus organization would like to hold a consulta or endorse the youth day of action, please let us know.
Chapters of anti-war youth and student groups from all over the nation including various SDS, CAN, FIST and Campus Greens chapters have already begun to organize around these actions. Please add your name to the endorsement list by emailing youthantiwarweek@gmail.com
Please keep checking back here in the coming days and weeks as we will continue to update this page with more information.
National Antiwar Strategy Meeting: Activists call for unified struggle to stop the war
Report from the June 16 National Antiwar Strategy Meeting:
M ore than 100 anti-war organizers, including many students and youths, labor, community and immigrant organizers, veterans and GI organizers gathered June 16 at the Solidarity Center in New York City for the standing-room only National Antiwar Strategy and Planning Meeting. They came from as far away as California, Cleveland, North Carolina, New Orleans and Boston to discuss the need to move from protest to resistance and build a grassroots movement to stop the war.
September: The next big confrontation over the war
The meeting focused largely on a proposal from the Troops Out Now Coalition for an Encampment to Stop the War and a Mass March in Washington during the week of September 22-29. According to the Washington calendar, this will be the next big political confrontation on the war. This is when the House and Senate debate war funding for 2008. And it is when General David Petraeus reports to Congress on the status of Bush's troops " surge."
Many applauded this proposal as the necessary next step to take the struggle against the war to a new level of resistance. The encampment has the potential to ensure that another war vote does not go unchallenged. The proposal opens an opportunity for an independent intervention representing the people, who are overwhelmingly against the war.
Many ideas were raised for the week-long encampment, including a proposal for a Peoples' Peace Congress to challenge the corporate war Congress in Washington. At such a gathering, different groups could argue for better uses for the funds now earmarked for war. By demanding funds for health care, education and job creation, for example, they could directly confront the “war Congress” meeting at the Capitol.
Youth activists reported on their work to build a national student strike during the week of the Encampment. Activists volunteered to begin working on logistics, housing, transportation, and the many other tasks involved in bringing an encampment to Washington. Others are working to bring musicians, artists, and poets to DC for the Encampment and March. Activists and organizations have volunteered to set up tents at the Encampment that focus on particular issues. Only the people will stop the war The Democratic Party bait & switch
Many took note of how the Democrats had betrayed their clear electoral mandate to end the war.
It was clear to all that despite being elected to bring the troops home and end the criminal occupation, the Democrats in Congress have completely capitulated to Bush on the issue of continuing to fund the war. Even a determined congressional minority of Democrats could block the funding for the war—if they had really decided to end the war. They could disrupt and filibuster. They could call on people from around the country to surround Congress. Instead, while posing as the “anti-war” majority party, the Democrats have completely capitulated to Bush and the Pentagon.
Building an independent movement is more important than ever, as pressure grows to abandon struggle on the streets and surrender the antiwar movement to the Democratic Party, a party that now completely shares in complicity for the criminal war and occupation in Iraq. Participants noted that Wall Street and their mouthpieces always want to divert the mass movement into safe channels—into lobbying and voting and trusting in the bought-and-paid-for politicians. The challenge is to develop clear demands that move the struggle into the streets.
Back to the streets: Unite to shut down the war
Many present noted that the lack of unity in the antiwar movement is a crisis that must be frankly addressed. Some noted that during the last struggle over war funding in March, the movement had a real opportunity to intervene if it acted decisively. Instead, organizations and coalitions called competing events in different venues, deliberately timed to undermine participation in other actions. This sort of cynical maneuvering for organizational advantage weakens the movement, demoralizes activists, and only plays into the hands of Bush and the warmongers in Washington.
TONC organizers and others stressed that the September struggle over the war funding is a crucial fight that can be a real opportunity to galvanize the struggle against the war, particularly if the movement can unite. There was a broad consensus on the need to reach out to ALL national antiwar coalitions, as well as the many local grassroots organizations, to build a united demonstration that will be as large and as strong as possible. TONC organizers emphasized that they welcome and encourage discussion and suggestions for modifying and improving the proposal for the actions in September.
Many participants also emphasized the importance of uniting the struggle against the war abroad with the struggle against the war at home. Those at the meeting encompassing these struggles included Teresa Gutierrez, a leading organizer of the May 1st Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Brenda Stokely of the Million Worker March Movement, Larry Hales of the Colorado United Communities Against Police Brutality, along with many trade union activists.
Regarding the content of the anti-war call, there was overwhelming sentiment that it should be for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, with many expressing solidarity with the resistance movements in those countries and in Palestine and Lebanon. The TONC organizers took note of the U.S. threats against Iran and are raising slogans against U.S. aggression against Iran, too. Together we can and must change the political agenda
The struggle to stop the war has made tremendous gains. The vast majority of the people are now opposed to the occupation. G.I. opposition is growing as soldiers increasingly oppose being sent to fight and die in this horrific war, in which they have no interest. The politicians in Washington are clearly on the defensive, as their dreams of Empire in the Middle East crumble, their lies about the war are exposed, and as the vast majority of people here and worldwide oppose their heinous war.
But we must do more! The war in Iraq is not a “failed policy;” it is a horrendous crime against the Iraqi people. It must be stopped! Everyday the occupation brings more death and destruction to the Iraqi people. It brings more deaths and serious injuries to U.S. youth who are trapped in this war, and return home to find inadequate medical care and benefits.
It will take an independent movement to stop the war, a movement that takes an independent road geared to mobilizing people in this country to challenge all of the war makers in Washington, that strongly demands the withdrawal of all U.S. troops NOW and calls for ending ALL war funding immediately.
This is a crucial time. What is needed now is an unprecedented outpouring of resistance. We must demonstrate to the politicians in Washington that we will not allow business as usual to continue.
The Troops Out Now Coalition encourages all of the antiwar coalitions on the local and national level to engage each other and where communication has broken down, to open new lines of communication so that our combined efforts will make us stronger.
Let us join forces with the movements struggling for:
* No War against Iran * End all occupations now - from Iraq to Palestine, the Philippines, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Afghanistan * Impeach Bush & Cheney for War Crimes * No to U.S. intervention – Hands off Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and the Sudan * Stop the raids against immigrant workers -- Full rights for undocumented workers * Justice for Katrina survivors – End racist police terror * Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners * Money for health care, jobs and education, not endless war
Together let's unite to demand: * Immediate withdrawal of all troops * Cut off ALL war funding
Protest Bush's veto - Don't let the Democrats veto the antiwar movement
END THE WAR NOW
CUT-OFF ALL WAR FUNDING
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW
Warning:Don't let the Democratic Party leadership and the '08 Presidential Election veto the antiwar movement.
President Bush's veto of the Democratic Party's bill containing a non-binding timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq displayed once again the Administration's absolute contempt for the will of the people, who are now overwhelmingly in favor of ending the occupation.
But more ominous than Bush's inevitable veto of the war funding bill is the prospect of the leadership of the Democratic Party "vetoing" and derailing the anti-war movement by pretending to be against the war while continuing to support it with billions of dollars of more war funding.
The Democratic Party was elected to control of the House and Senate with a mandate to end the war. As pressure grew from the antiwar movement for the Democrats to cut off the funding and withdraw the troops immediately, they turned to a desperate act of political theater in a an attempt to change the subject, attaching their support for continued funding for the war to a non-binding timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
The Democratic Party bill, even if not vetoed, would not have required the withdrawal of a single soldier from Iraq. The bill allowed Bush to exempt entire categories of troops at his discretion, including: troops “training the Iraqi military;” troops engaged in “special operations"; and troops “protecting diplomatic enclaves” including the U.S. Embassy and the Green Zone. This means that Bush could maintain current troop levels in Iraq and still be in compliance with the Democrats' bill.
Furthermore, even if Bush agreed to observe withdrawal dates that the Democrats suggested, it would mean that this criminal, colonial war would go on for at least another year and a half. Another year of Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers dying; Another year of Abu-Ghraib style torture. Another year of a criminal occupation.
Actually the truth of this "antiwar" charade is even worse. Everybody knew all the time that Congress would put on an antiwar show, and after Bush vetoed the bill containing non-binding withdrawal timetables, they would then give Bush the war funding. Leading Democrats announced months ago that they had absolutely no intention of cutting off the funding for the war.
By pretending to fight Bush on the war, Congress is hoping to neutralize the growing movement demanding the immediate end to this criminal war and occupation. Democrats in Congress hope that by hiding behind non-binding resolutions, imaginary timetables, and other acts of political theater they will send the message to those of us who have marched and organized to end the war that we don't need to march and mobilize anymore, because the real struggle against the war is now in Congress.
Part of this message is that, instead of taking to the streets to demand that Congress cut of all war funds and bring the troops home now, we should instead come in off the streets and sign up to support whoever the Democratic Party's presidential candidate is in 2008. We must never again allow the antiwar movement to be co-opted, misled, and demobilized in the name of Presidential politics or the agenda of either major political Party.
Let's make sure to stay in the streets, continue to demand that Congress cut of all war funding, stay focused on the demand for immediate withdrawal of all troops, and stay independent of both the Democrats and the Republicans who share responsibility for the war.
Only the people will stop this criminal war. Tomorrow, antiwar groups across the U.S. have called for demonstrations against Bush's veto. We urge you to take part in these demonstrations and demand that the troops be brought home now -- no phony timetables, no more political theater, no waiting for after the 2008 Presidential elections -- now!
In New York City: Times Sq. Wednesday 5:00 pm World Can't Wait is calling on everyone to gather in front of Times Square's military recruiting center--43rd and Broadway--at 5pm WEDNESDAY to demand an immediate end to the Iraq war and impeachment of the Bush Regime for war crimes.
Tell Bush, Pelosi, and Halliburton: No War on Iran!
Tell Bush and Congress: Hands Off Iran!
We must act now to stop another war.
As the war in Iraq drags on into a fourth brutal year, the same politicians who led the U.S. to war in 2003 are preparing for a new war --this time against the people of Iran.
Once again using the pretext of "weapons of mass destruction," the U.S. is moving the forces into place in preparation for a possible attack. The USS Eisenhower strike force, with some 800 Tomahawk cruise missiles and a fleet of bombers, has moved into the Persian Gulf. A second carrier group, led by the USS Stennis, is now steaming toward the region. The London Telegraph reported this spring that "a major American attack on Iran's nuclear sites would kill up to 10,000 people and lead to war in the Middle East."
In addition to moving military forces into place, the U.S. pushed through UN Sanctions on December 23 intended to cut off vital technology and funds to the people of Iran. History teaches us that we cannot trust politicians in Washington to stop this new war.In 2002, both Democrats and Republicans rushed to vote for war against Iraq and they have voted every year to fund that war. Now, politicians of both major parties are calling for aggressive action against Iran, at the same time they are discussing sending more troops to Iraq.
The only force that will stop this war is a grass roots movement, and we need your help now to help stop a new brutal war in the Middle East.
Over the next few months, the Stop War on Iran campaign will be organizing meetings, speak outs, and teach-ins to help build a movement to stop the drive to war. We will also be preparing "Stop War on Iran" placards, banners, and leaflets to bring to antiwar and progressive activities, including the national antiwar marches on January 27 and March 17, the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
What we do over the next few weeks and months can be decisive. Please join us in helping to build a movement to stop Bush's new war.
Sign the petition - Sign the online petition -- flood Bush, Cheney, Halliburton, and Congress with the message - No War on Iran!
Summit maps out strategy opposing U.S. wars at home, abroad
A significant anti-war summit meeting took place Nov. 18 in the heart of "Little Senegal" in Harlem. The Troops Out Now Coalition (TONC) sponsored the event at the spacious Africa Kine Restaurant located on 116th Street near Frederick Douglass Blvd.
Anti-war, community, labor activists meet in 'Little Senegal' in Harlem, New York Nov.18.
The turnout was standing room only. An estimated 150 organizers and activists-representing more than 50 different antiwar, community, immigrant and labor organizations from around the region-were in attendance.
Some of the key activists at the summit included Comrade Shahid, Pakistan U.S.A. Freedom Forum; Charlotte Kates, New Jersey Solidarity/Activists for the Liberation of Palestine; Ardeshir Ommani, American-Iranian Friendship Committee; members of FIST-Fight Imperialism, Stand Together-student and youth group; Pam Africa, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; former Pennsylvania death-row inmate Harold Wilson; Mexican activist Brian Barraza; and a delegation of Latino immigrant workers representing the Freeport, Long Island Day Laborers. Elena Everett from Raleigh FIST spoke about the inspiring two-day wildcat strike carried out by a majority of Latin@ workers at the Smithfield, N.C., hog processing plant on Nov. 17 and 18.
Following a delicious Senegalese buffet/lunch, the meeting included opening and closing remarks from key activists, and then broke into smaller discussion groups. Fallou Gueye from the Union of African Workers-Senegal gave welcoming remarks. The four-hour meeting was co-chaired by Larry Holmes and Sharon Black from TONC and Sara Flounders from the International Action Center.
The group discussions on solidarity with liberation movements and countries fighting the empire were summarized by Ellie Ommani; on community, labor and anti-racist organizing by Philadelphia IAC activist Betsey Piette; on students, youth and counter-recruitment activism by Raleigh FIST organizer Dante Strobino; and on immigrant workers' rights by Teresa Gutierrez.
The following are some of the major issues that were agreed upon unanimously at the summit: The need to organize mass and militant actions in the streets to stop the wars abroad and at home now that the Nov. 7 elections are over. The importance of linking the fight against racism and national oppression to the anti-war struggle in order to build a strong, multi-national movement for social change. And the urgency of forging unity between all the anti-war formations to organize a national mobilization in Washington, D.C ., on March 17, the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war.
The proposal that was greeted with the most enthusiasm was the idea of launching an encampment in Washington DC to stop Congressional approval of mar war funding, sometime in the early spring of 2007.
In a preliminary report on the Nov. 18 meeting, a TONC statement read, "Participants in the meeting felt very strongly that notwithstanding important political differences within the broader anti-war movement, including past difficulties in working together, that it was most critical at this time when the mass struggle in the streets against the war needs to be revived, that all coalitions reject fragmentation, unnecessary divisiveness and competition around protest dates and national protest, and instead pull together so that the movement in the U.S. can do what the world is waiting for it to do and shut down the war machine."
To help build for the March 17 mobilization, nationally coordinated days of action linking the anti-war, anti-racist and pro-worker movements will be called for Jan. 15-the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. The follow-up TONC meeting will be held in New York on Dec. 5 at Solidarity Center. For more information, call 212-633-6646 or go to www.troopsoutnow.org
Fallou Gueye Hospitality is a big word in our culture. To have you in little Senegal is very important because we feel that you are just like us. We don't have borders. We are fighting for the same noble cause-to defeat imperialism which is the cause of war. People who are living here are deeply, deeply victimized and negatively impacted by that war. We are fighting against the war, we are fighting against IMF, World Bank. International corporations are dominating us daily and impacting negatively on our lives.
Sara Flounders What kind of a movement is being built? Connections must be made between Iraq , Palestine, Lebanon , Syria , Sudan , and North Korea . We have to look at the struggle globally; we can't allow the imperialists to criminalize and demonize the liberation movements. We must oppose the massive raids and detentions of our immigrant sisters and brothers and endless war and no money for education, day care, healthcare, etc. We are stronger when we are united, when we embrace these issues.
Teresa Gutierrez May 1 Coalition We have to recognize the power that each and every one of us in the room represents because these are the same people who quickly shifted to support the rise of one of the most oppressed sectors of our class, immigrants, and came out on May 1 and supported workers marching around the country; when you consider the support that this sector of the anti-war movement has for one of the most oppressed sectors, you have to know how extremely powerful this support is. What TONC can do is everything possible to bring out the anti-war movement for May Day. The workers know what the heck they are doing like in Smithfield, No. Carolina. What a contribution the anti-war movement is making to the people of Iraq , Palestine and everywhere by making this kind of this connection.
Larry Holmes The top Democratic Party politicians were not against the war in principle. They are not against wars of colonial conquests; they want to recolonize the Middle East . Their problem against the [Iraq] war is that it was done badly, incompetently. Their program now is how to fix it. They don't have an anti-colonial difference, or anti-exploitation difference or anti-racist difference [with Republicans]. It's just a tactical difference of people who have the same interests. The [Nov. 7] anti-war referendum took place because the Iraqi people are refusing to be occupied. The Iraqi people are doing what is expected of them. The question is what the hell are we doing? We have to challenge ourselves to carry out more militant tactics; campuses must be shut down. We are not speaking to just one racial demographic grouping. We have to reach out to immigrant communities. The Palestinian liberation movement is central to Arab liberation. The Israeli Army acts as if it is a detachment of the U.S. armed forces. All wars are connected. It isn't just an issue of having a bad president-wars are systemic. The road to unity is to adopt an anti-imperialist world view.
Brenda Stokely Labor, community leader Regarding Katrina survivors, the same forces that dismantled people and their lives are still alive and well. Demonstrations took place on Nov. 18 in New Orleans and Baton Rouge confronting Gov. Kathleen Blanco who has set up a blue ribbon commission stacked with wealthy people, developers, financiers, real estate barons to solidify control in that region including Mississippi . Who is missing are people of color; those adversely affected particularly African Americans, people who work and people who were not homeowners. Fifty-seven percent of the people before the hurricane were renters. Blanco's proposal has nothing to do with renters. Public housing folks are not being allowed to go back home and nothing is wrong with the housing. The people are not being welcomed back; inner displaced persons have been created in Mississippi , Alabama and Louisiana which is a violation of UN Human Rights Charter for Displaced Persons; the U.S. does not carry about human rights.
Lourdes Vela Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle Please help us educate the immigrant communities about [Hugo] Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution because we have not been allowed in that door in spite a lot of the work you all have done. Chávez is someone that we need not only in the U.S. but all over the world.
Chuck Mohan Guyanese Workers Association The immigrant movement is not about one group of people but about everyone. We need to come together as one. I have no illusions about the new Congress. We can't struggle in a vacuum. Our struggle is linked to other struggles that were here before we came-Native American, African American, Latin@, women and other struggles present in the U.S.
NY City Councilperson Charles Barron What should Bush's sentencing be after so many Iraqis and soldiers are dead? If you have some elected officials who have problems with Hugo Chávez saying that Bush is a devil, well, if you act devilish, it makes you a devil. You can't murder people all over the world and not be the devil incarnated; you can't be playing golf, while people are dying in New Orleans and not be the devil. Right on to Chávez; I think he did the right thing and is doing the right thing in our communities. I don't know if this is something that you want to brag about but you are the reason why the Democrats are in office now because it is the anti-war movement that is the only movement in this country that was against the Iraqi war; the Democrats voted for war. We have one party, the Republicrats. The Democrats voted for Bush to have the right to go to war; Democrats voted for him to finance the war and when [John] Murtha said you have a way out, I want to put forth a resolution for a phased withdrawal, none of the Democrats voted for it. Now you have to keep marching so that the shift in positions means a shift in policy. We have to continue to go forward to revolutionize this country; America needs a revolution; we need a radical change in America and I believe it can happen; we shouldn't compromise our principles, compromise our position. Free Mumia, free all political prisoners, and pay us our reparations. Forward ever, backward never.
Dr. Asha Samad-Matias SAFRAD-Somali Association Repression is continuing; City College is not what it is not what it use to be; we have to bring the struggle to the students who are workers; that refugees, whether they are so-called refugees from New Orleans or those seeking political asylum who are struggling, imprisoned, having their homes raided, having their homes washed away purposely, just like Harlem is being re-gentrified for Black and Latin@s, all of this should show that this is one struggle.
Larry Hamm People's Organization for Progress African Americans, from the beginning, have consistently opposed the war in Iraq and oppose the policies of the Bush administration but a lot of times when we go to the peace activities we really don't see the numbers of African Americans that reflect that opposition to the war. Every time there is a poll, 95 percent of the African American community is opposed to the war but this opposition has not been made manifest in the streets; and it's in the streets where it really counts. On the wave of anti-war sentiment, the Democrats got control of the House and Senate; Democrats are backpedaling on the issue of the war; troops are hostages of the Bush administration. Veterans Administration had funds cut. There are a bunch of liars at the White House . We need to take many buses to the White House to make a citizens' arrest of Bush for crimes against humanity, for war crimes; impeachment is just a process, it's not a conviction. It is pressure from the masses of people who will end this war, not electing politicians. The people's movement ended the Vietnam War. POP is calling for a People's Peace Conference at Rutgers Law School on Jan.20. We are going after groups who have not come out against the war-ministers, unions, street gangs, politicians. This conference has a particular objective-when white folks come to the conference, bring some Black folks with you; we don't want the conference to be another conference of the left; we want the conference to be dominated by masses of the people. We want to get people who may not be politically active. A millions for peace march in New Jersey is needed.
Pam Africa These monsters have been trying to pull every trick to divide us off but we have to be strong; it is nothing new; we know the game, we know the tricks; we must continue to teach and bring unity. This government is at war with every form of life and we must unite with every movement to bring this monster down. Onamove!
Gary Labao BAYAN USA We stand here in solidarity with immigrants, the workers' struggle and the anti-war movement. Whether it is the struggle for liberation in the Philippines , Iran , Iraq , North Korea ; whether it's the workers, the immigrants or the soldiers in Iraq right now, our common enemy is U.S. imperialism. Down with U.S. imperialism.
Panama Vicente Alba Puerto Rican activist, immigrant rights organizer We need to think globally and act globally. We need to take responsibility for what goes on in this country because it affects the rest of the world. This is the empire and this empire is out of control. The environmentalist movement has been telling us for the past 30 years that the world is on the way to destruction; now you got Chomsky, Chavez saying it; we are not listening, we don't act; we need to take every step against the empire and globalization; we must engage in the Katrina front, anti-war front; immigrant rights movement; we are going to win not because the Democratic Congress is anything different from the Republican Congress. We're gonna win because we take it to the streets. We need to learn to collectively transfer the power of the people into the streets into legislation that gives all of the legalization necessary for 12 million human beings; not only the workers but their children, their grandmothers, grandfathers; we don't have the time or the luxury not to come together in a principled way.
Sharon Black The energy at the anti-war summit in Harlem was incredible. Not only was there a resounding call for unity of the anti-war movement to descend on Washington on March 17. The gathering itself was an expression of unity. To bring representatives of both the class struggle at home against racism and for immigrant rights, and the anti-war and anti-imperialist movements abroad, points in the direction that the anti-war movement must go-this fact, along with many others including the political content of the meeting, made the Troops Out Now Coalition summit unique and important.
The elections are over -- the war is not -- back to the streets
THE ELECTIONS ARE OVER -- BUT THE WAR IS NOT
It’s Time to UNITE and TAKE THE FIGHT AGAINST THE WAR BACK TO THE STREETS
EMERGENCY ANTIWAR SUMMIT MEETING
OF ACTIVISTS AND MOVEMENTS
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18
FROM 1:00 PM TO 5:00 PM
AFRIKINE RESTAURANT IN HARLEM, NYC 247 W 116TH ST. (NEAR FREDERICK DOUGLASS BLVD)
The TROOPS OUT NOW COALITION invites everyone to join activists at an EMERGENCY ANTIWAR SUMMIT MEETING on Saturday, November 18 in Harlem NYC at the spacious Afrikine Restaurant, 247 W. 116th St. The meeting will began promptly a 1:00 PM. There will be a buffet lunch featuring delicious African Cuisine for a $ donation.
Our challenge as a movement is to turn the electoral referendum against the war into a mass movement in the streets. Yes, Rumsfeld's been pushed out, and both Democratic Party and Republican Party politicians have vowed to change the course of the war and occupation of Iraq--but we must not be fooled. The war will go on unless we take this struggle back to the streets. Join activists in the fight against both the war abroad and the war at home at an emergency antiwar summit meeting on Nov. 18th in Harlem. Amongst the questions that this important meeting will be taking up are:
- How can we merge the antiwar movement with movements against racism, for the rights of immigrant workers, hurricane Katrina/Rita survivors, and for economic and social justice in a way that goes beyond symbolism?
- How can the movement here in the U.S. show solidarity and build stronger relationships with liberation and resistance movements around the world, from Palestine to Haiti, and across the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Asia?
- How can we mobilize to make the fourth anniversary of the war and occupation of Iraq in March 2007 helpful to our goal of ending the war, and unifying the movements that need to be working together?
Let's come together to analyze, strategize and plan the next phase of the struggle.
No Matter Who Wins The Elections – The War Will Go On: Bring The Struggle Against War & Occupation Back Into The Streets
An International CALL From The TROOPS OUT NOW COALITION :
No Matter Who Wins The Elections – The War Will Go On Bring The Struggle Against War & Occupation Back Into The Streets
MARCH ON WASHINGTON D.C. & WORLDWIDE PROTEST SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2007 4th Anniversary of the U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
The Troops Out Now Coalition calls on antiwar forces in the U.S. to unite, rise up and take over Washington, D.C.; and antiwar forces across the world to march as well on Saturday, March 17, the weekend of the fourth anniversary of the criminal war and occupation of Iraq. TONC proposes that the period between now and March 17th be viewed critically and strategically as a time to reenergize, transform and strengthen the antiwar movement. As part of TONC's preparations for this period, we will be convening a post U.S. election's Summit Meeting in NYC on Saturday, Nov. 18. We are also targeting, along with other forces, the Monday, Jan. 15, 2007 holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. as a day of nationwide actions against the war at abroad and at home.
ALL COALITIONS SHOULD WORK TOGETHER FOR THE MARCH 17 PROTESTS
We must work for and fight for greater unity within the antiwar movement. It is not necessary that the various coalitions and forces organizing against the war have complete agreement on political outlook or tactics in the struggle. What's important is that we work together, when and where doing so maximizes our strength. TONC is appealing to all coalitions, at the national and local levels, to work together for the March 17, 2007 march on Washington D.C. What follows are TONC'S thoughts on the important issues, as we all assess what we need to be doing between now and the spring.
NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTIONS, THE WAR WILL STILL GO ON THE MOVEMENT MUST GET BACK INTO THE STREETS
No matter what the outcome of the November elections in the U.S., the occupation of Iraq along with more sanctions and war threats against North Korea and Iran will continue. No doubt many will vote next month hoping that somehow their vote will stop the war. But the vote won't stop the war; at best it sends a message. We cannot vote against the war on Nov. 7 because there is no such referendum on the ballot. Even if the Democratic Party wins a majority in both houses of Congress, the war will go on because both the Republican and Democratic parties are dedicated to the interests of U.S. imperialism and not the people of the U.S. While they may differ on methods, the politicians of both parties are dedicated to re-colonizing the Middle East, robbing its oil, and depriving its people of the right to determine their destinies.
IT'S TIME FOR THE U.S. ANTIWAR MOVEMENT TO GET SERIOUS
The two interrelated processes that will end this criminal war and occupation are its defeat by the resistance of the Iraqi people on one hand, and on the other the mass struggle of the people right here in the streets of this country that refuse to tolerate the war any longer. The resistance of the Iraqi people has virtually accomplished its part. The weakness in this equation is the U.S. antiwar movement.
The people of Iraq, the Middle East and the entire world are waiting for the people of the U.S. to rise up and stop the war. The problem is not convincing people that the war is a crime. The overwhelming majority of the people in the U.S. hate the war and occupation. In large part the crises that we must address is the need for stronger, less fragmented, and a more determined antiwar movement. At this juncture, our challenge as an antiwar movement has never been clearer. The political system wants to dissipate, demoralize and channel the mass anger of the people over the war into “safe” outlets that do not threaten the status quo. As a movement, we will be of little use unless we deliberately counter the schemes to pacify mass antiwar anger and help to unify and liberate that anger through political consciousness raising, alliance building, and most importantly, mass struggle. The antiwar movement can draw inspiration, as well as a lesson about boldness, courage and the necessity to take the struggle to a higher level from the example of the millions of immigrant workers who left work across the country on May 1, 2006 to rally and march for their rights.
FIGHT RACISM & NATIONAL OPPRESSION--IF WE DON'T, IT WILL DIVIDE US
The more the system attacks the living standards of working people, the more the political servants of the system are going to intensify racism and repression with the aim of scapegoating, dividing and conquering all of us. Solidarity amongst peoples and movements and forward motion in the struggle will depend upon our movements' understanding of this, and whether or not we consciously fight against racism and national oppression in our day-to-day work and around all issues local, national and international. BUILD ALLIANCES WITH THE MOVEMENTS FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS & KATRINA SURVIVORS
A top priority for the antiwar movement must be building real alliances with the movements against racism and national oppression here at home. Doing so will require that the movement forges a far more serious and qualitative relationship with the struggles of Black, Latin@, Asian, Arab, Native, and all peoples of color, and in particular the struggle of undocumented immigrants and workers for full rights and the struggle of the survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita for justice, the right of return, self-determination and reconstruction.
WE MUST MERGE THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE WAR WITH THE STRUGGLE OF WORKERS
It's not enough for the antiwar movement to merely give lip service to the struggles of working people for jobs, a living wage, the right to a union, health insurance, housing, education, pensions etc., and go on as a movement, separate from the masses. Our challenge from here on is to help facilitate something that is as necessary as it is natural--the merging of the struggle against the wars at home with the wars abroad. The struggle against the war should be inseparable from the struggles against political repression and for the rights of women, lesbian, gay, bi and trans people, youth and prisoners. We must find the tactics that bring more workers, both organized and unorganized, into the center of the struggle against the war, bearing in mind that ordinary workers may understand more about imperialism than some full-time activists do. AN ANTI-IMPERIALIST WORLD VIEW IS CENTRAL TO OUR SURVIVAL AS A MOVEMENT
There's a false notion in some quarters of the movement that we can only be effective by diluting our demands, our politics and our analyses (and tactics) to the lowest, safe common denominator. Just the opposite is true. If we are not guided by a deeper analysis, our movement will be left confused, ineffective and irrelevant. The truth is that we are not only fighting one president--dangerous war criminal that he is--we are also fighting a dangerous and criminal imperialist system. The magnitude of the world crises of this system today--and the wars, oppression, misery, destabilization and social chaos that it is generating with greater destructive intensity each day--demands that we fight it consciously. We do not have the luxury to pick and choose which U.S. war to oppose and which ones to ignore. We must be prepared to fight the global scope of U.S. imperialism's war drive. We must also fight for an end to the occupations of Palestine, Afghanistan, Haiti and all U.S. occupations, interventions, plots, colonial machinations, direct or indirect as well as threats across the globe, whether against the peoples of the Philippines, Sudan, Cuba, Venezuela or Puerto Rico. Our challenge as an antiwar movement based in the in U.S. is to be stronger, bolder and more consistent in our understanding of the issues and in our actions.
THE IMMEDIATE, COMPLETE, & UNCONDITIONAL END TO THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ
The war and occupation in Iraq is in a head-spinning freefall, and right now the generals and politicians are scrabbling in desperation to stem or at least slow down the meltdown. In the coming weeks, we will hear more plans coming from politicians, generals, and the White House for major changes to their Iraq war strategy. None of these face-saving plans will call for what we want--an immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all occupation troops from Iraq. This demand has been and will now be all the more central to the independence, clarity, and strength of the antiwar movement henceforth.
NO U.S./U.N.SANCTIONS & WAR AGAINST NORTH KOREA & IRAN – DISARMAMENT BEGINS AT HOME
Other crises likely to take on more importance are the U.S. drives for sanctions and possibly military aggression against North Korea and Iran. Let the message from the U.S. antiwar movement to the world on this be united, loud and clear--that the number one nuclear threat to the peoples of Asia, the Middle East and the world comes from the U.S. Pentagon's war machine and nuclear arsenal. As long as U.S. rulers are plotting regime change, occupation or both for any country that dares to object to U.S. domination, those countries are quite predictably going to try and find the means to defend themselves. We must oppose sanctions and threats against North Korea and Iran and demand that nuclear disarmament begins at home.
FREE PALESTINE – FIGHT ANTI-ISLAMIC RACISM
The response to the call for mass protests throughout the U.S. to protest the U.S./Israeli war against Lebanon a few months ago came primarily from the Arab and Muslim communities. While it's a positive step forward when a targeted community is able to take to the streets and exercise its unity and power, as the Arab and Muslim communities did last August in solidarity with Lebanon and Palestine, it was a problem that participation at those demonstrations from protestors who are not from the targeted communities was relatively small. An important part of forging an anti-imperialist movement is fighting against the influence of racism--anti-Arab and anti-South Asian bigotry, Anti-Islamism and the demonizing of resistance movements within the antiwar movement. The more that we are a consistently anti-imperialist movement, the more we will strengthen the foundations of genuine solidarity and unity in the struggle.
THE MORE WE ARE ANTI-IMPERIALIST MOVEMENT – THE MORE UNITED WE WILL BE
The more anti-imperialist our movement is, the more connected it will be to the rest of the world; as well as the growing immigrant communities in the U.S. of Latin@, African, Asian, and Arab peoples; the more it will be a force for lasting solidarity; and the stronger, more independent and effective it will be. How do we forge greater unity? All one need do is observe the social and racial character of most antiwar activities to realize that limiting the demands and dumbing down the politics of the movement serves to narrow the base instead of broadening it. The next five months is a time to transform our movement and make it what it needs to be in order to push forward and stop the madness. FORGE ALLIANCES WITH MOVEMENTS AGAINST THE WAR AT HOME AN ANTI-RACIST, ANTI-IMPERIALIST MOVEMENT IS A UNITED MOVEMENT
* STOP THE WAR AT HOME AND ABROAD
* END ALL OCCUPATIONS--FROM IRAQ TO PALESTINE TO HAITI
* NO SANCTIONS & WAR AGAINST NORTH KOREA & IRAN
* FULL RIGHTS FOR IMMIGRANTS
* JUSTICE AND RECONSTRUCTION FOR KATRINA AND RITA SURVIVORS
* MONEY FOR JOBS, A LIVING WAGE, HEALTHCARE, SCHOOLS, PENSIONS--NOT WAR
The 4th Anniversary of the U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
Troops Out Now!
Forge alliances with movements against the war at home An anti-racist, anti-imperialist movement is a united movement
Stop the war at home and abroad
End all occupations -- from Iraq to Palestine to Haiti
NO Sanctions & War against North Korea and Iran
Full rights for immigrants
Right to return and recosntruction for Katrina survivors
Money for Jobs, Healthcare, Schools and Pensions - Not War
November 18 in NYC: Troops Out Now Coalition National Planning Meeting (Location to be announced) January 15th: Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday – National Day Of ACTION
The Troops Out Now Coalition calls on antiwar forces in the U.S. to rise up and take over Washington, D.C., and antiwar forces across the world to march as well on Saturday, March 17, the weekend of the fourth anniversary of the criminal war and occupation of Iraq. TONC proposes that the period between now and March 17th be viewed critically and strategically as a time to re-energize, transform and strengthen the anti-war movement.
As part of TONC’s preparations for this period, we will be convening a National Strategy Meeting in NYC on Saturday, Nov.18. We are also targeting, along with other forces, the Monday, January 15, 2007 holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., as a day of nationwide actions against the war at abroad and at home.
The overwhelming majority of the people in the U.S. hate the war and occupation; yet it goes on with no end in sight. According to the latest reports the occupation has killed a minimum of 655,000 Iraqis, along with nearly 3,000 U.S. soldiers with more than 20,000 more soldiers maimed since the invasion of March 2003.
No matter what the outcome of the November elections in the U.S., the occupation of Iraq along with more sanctions and war threats against North Korea and Iran will continue. No doubt many will vote next month hoping that somehow their vote will be interpreted as a vote against the war.
We cannot vote against the war on Nov. 7 because there is no such referendum on the ballot. Even if the Democratic Party wins a majority in both houses of Congress, the war will go on because both the Republican and Democratic parties are dedicated to the interests of U.S. imperialism and not the people of the U.S.
The Democratic and Republican Party politicians may differ both between and within themselves over methods and tactics; however, apart from the mass struggle from below, the politicians of either party are incapable of really stopping Bush’s endless war for world domination because of their fundamental purpose which is to defend U.S. imperialist interests.
The two inter-related processes that will end this criminal war and occupation are its defeat by the resistance of the Iraqi people on one hand, and on the other, the mass struggle of the people right here in the streets of this country that refuse to tolerate the war any longer.
The resistance of the Iraqi people has virtually accomplished its part. The weakness in this equation is the U.S. antiwar movement. The people of Iraq, the Middle East and the entire world are waiting for the people of the U.S. to act on their anger and rise up and stop the war.
At this juncture, our challenge as an antiwar movement has never been clearer.
The political system wants to dissipate, demoralize and channel the mass anger of the people over the war into “safe” outlets that do not threaten the status quo. As a movement, we will be of little use unless we deliberately counter the schemes to pacify mass antiwar anger and help to unify and liberate that anger through political consciousness raising, alliance building, and most importantly, mass struggle. The antiwar movement can draw inspiration, as well as a lesson about boldness, courage and the necessity to take the struggle to a higher level from the example of the millions of immigrant workers who left work across the country on May 1, 2006 to rally and march for their rights. Some of the essential needs that we must address as a movement include: Forging an alliance with the movements against the war at home means:
• Establishing real alliances with the movements against racism and national oppression here at home.
• Building serious working relationships with the struggles of Black, Latin@, Asian, Arab, Native, and all peoples of color. In particular, forging a new and qualitative alliance with the struggle of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina for justice, the right of return, self-determination and reconstruction, and with undocumented immigrants and workers in their struggle for full rights is crucial.
• The more the system attacks the living standards of working people, the more the political servants of the system are going to intensify racism and repression with the aim of scapegoating, dividing and conquering all of us. Solidarity amongst peoples and movements and forward motion in the struggle will depend upon our movements understanding of this, and whether or not we consciously fight against racism and national oppression in our day to day work and around all issues local, national and international.
• The struggle against the war needs to be connected to the struggles of women; lesbian, gay, bi and trans people; youth and students; prisoners; the disabled; the struggle against political repression; the struggles of all working and poor people for jobs; the right to organize, for a living wage, healthcare, education, housing and pensions, etc. We must the find the tactics that bring more workers, both organized and un-organized, into the center of the struggle against the war, bearing in mind that ordinary workers may understand more about imperialism than some full-time activists do.
• It’s not enough for the antiwar movement to merely give lip service to these struggles and yet continue to function organizationally as a movement separate from the masses. Our challenge from here on is to help facilitate something that is as necessary as it is natural--the merging of the struggle against the wars at home with the wars abroad.
An Anti-Racist, Anti-Imperialism Movement will be a more united movement.
• U.S.-initiated sanctions and threats against North Korea and Iran along with the U.S./Israeli invasion of Lebanon in August are the latest reminders that as a movement based here in the U.S., we will hardly be relevant or taken seriously by anyone if we are not up to fighting the full scope of the U.S. war drive and that scope is worldwide.
• The truth is that we are not only fighting one president--although Venezuelan President was right in calling Bush "the devil"--we are also fighting a dangerous and criminal imperialist system. The magnitude of the world crises of this system today and the wars, oppression, misery, destabilization and social chaos that it is generating with greater destructive intensity each day demands that we fight them consciously.
• Our challenge as an antiwar movement based in the in U.S. is to be stronger, bolder and more consistent in our understanding of the issues and in our actions. In the coming weeks, there will be more Iraq exist strategies emanating from politicians, generals, and maybe even the White House. We must reject all face-saving, partial or phased withdrawal plans. The way for our movement to be at the center of the struggle, instead of falling to the rear is to advocate the complete, unconditional and immediate withdrawal of all occupation troops from Iraq.
• Other crises likely to take on more importance are the U.S. drives for sanctions and possibly military aggression against North Korea and Iran. Let the message from the U.S. antiwar movement to the world on this be united, loud and clear. That message is that the number one nuclear threat to the peoples of the Asia, the Middle East and the world comes from the U.S. Pentagon’s war machine and nuclear arsenal. As long as U.S. rulers are plotting regime change, occupation or both for whatever countries dare to object to U.S. domination, those countries are quite predictably going to try and find the means to defend themselves. Mahmoud Ahmandinejad, the President of Iran, was right in his speech before the UN when he called upon the U.S. to get rid of its nuclear arsenal first. We must oppose sanctions and threats against North Korea and Iran and demand that nuclear disarmament begin at home.
• While ending the occupation of Iraq is strategic, we must also fight for an end to the occupations of Palestine, Afghanistan, Haiti and all U.S. occupations, interventions, plots, colonial machinations, direct or indirect as well as threats across the globe, whether against the peoples of the Philippines, Sudan, Cuba, Venezuela or Puerto Rico.
• The more anti-imperialist our movement is, the more connected it will be to the rest of the world; the more helpful it will be for all who are trying to understand what’s really going on; the more it will be a force for lasting solidarity and the stronger, independent and more effective it will be.
• We must work for and fight for greater unity within the antiwar movement. It is not necessary that the various coalitions and forces organizing against the war have complete agreement on political outlook or tactics in the struggle. What’s important is that we work together, when and where doing so maximizes our strength.
• How do we forge greater unity? All one need do is observe the social and racial character of most antiwar activities to realize that limiting the demands and dumbing down the politics of the movement serves to narrow the base instead of broadening it.
• The response to the call for mass protests throughout the U.S. to protest the U.S./Israeli war against Lebanon a few months ago came primarily from the Arab and Muslim communities. While it’s a positive step forward when a targeted community is able to take to the streets and exercise its unity and power as the Arab and Muslim communities did last August in solidarity with Lebanon and Palestine, it was a problem that participation from protestors who are not from targeted communities at those demonstrations was relatively small.
• An important part of forging an anti-imperialist movement is fighting against the influence of racism; anti-Arab and anti-South Asian bigotry; anti-Islamism and the demonizing of resistance movements within the antiwar movement. The more that we are a consistently anti-imperialist movement, the more we will strengthen the foundations of genuine solidarity and unity in the struggle.
• The next five months is a time to transform our movement and make it what it needs to be in order to push forward and stop the madness. How you can help:
Once again, the Bush Administration is using the pretext of "weapons of mass destruction" to justify its policy of global domination. With politicians of both parties following the same script, the antiwar movement has a responsibility to stand against war and sanctions.
Join us for an important discussion of the crisis in Korea. Hear:
an overview of the U.S. agenda in the region
a historical overview--who is the real threat to peace?
How we can organize to stop the threat of war and sanctions.
No Justice, No Peace - U.S. Out of the Middle East
No Justice - No Peace - U.S. Out of the Middle East!
August 5
Support the Palestinian and Lebanese Peoples' Right to Resist!
End the Occupation of IRAQ, PALESTINE and LEBANON
Support the Palestinian People's Right to Return
U.S./Israeli Troops Out Now
No More Fighting and Dying for Oil Profits
STOP U.S. Aid to Israel
What you can do to help:
* Join us for a work session Friday, from 2 pm to 7 pm and Saturday, from1 pm to 3 pm, at our new office at 55 W. 17th St. 5th Floor. We will need help assembling placards, painting banners, and preparing other materials for Saturday's demonstration.
* Help get the word out. We have only two more days to get out tens of thousands of flyers, stickers, and posters. Come by our office (55 W. 17th St. 5th Floor) and pick up materials to get out in your neighborhood, on the subways, in your workplace, etc.
* Volunteer during Saturday's demonstration. We will need volunteers to help collect names, hand out literature, staff tables, and to help with takedown after the closing rally. Look for the Troops Out Now table to volunteer.
* Donate to help with the enormous expenses of organizing national demonstrations.
* Download leaflets. We have local and national leaflets available in English, Spanish, and Arabic.
* At Saturday's demo, look for the Troops Out Now table to buy your bus tickets for the August 12th National March on Washington.
STAND WITH THE PEOPLE OF LEBANON AND PALESTINE AGAINST U.S.-ISRAELI TERROR AND WAR CRIMES
Wednesday, July 26Friday, July 28
6:00 P.M. 3:30 to 6:30 P.M. Union Sq. South Israeli government offices 14 Street and Broadway 801 Second Avenue (42 and 43 Sts.) Called by the Arab Community of Brooklyn
With the full backing of the U.S. government, Israel continues to unleash its U.S. funded military might on the civilian and refugee populations of Lebanon and Palestine. Israel has killed hundreds, wounded thousands and displaced over half a million people, while intentionally targeting the infrastructure of Lebanon and Gaza with missiles and bombs. With their propaganda, the U.S. and Israel also demonize Iran and Syria, in a bloodthirsty attempt to expand their war crimes further throughout the region. All the while the U.S. continues to occupy Iraq. The onslaught against the Arab world expands and continues, and we stand up to say no more!
Join Al-Awda New York on Wednesday, July 26th at 6:00 p.m. in Union Square at 14th St. to rally against the war crimes in Palestine and Lebanon!
Stop the War on Lebanon and Palestine!!
Freedom for All Arab Political Prisoners in Zionist and U.S. Jails!! End US Aid to Israel Now!! The People of Palestine Have the Right to Return!!
Join Awda NY and other Arab and community organizations again on Friday, July 28th from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 at the Zionist Consulate at 42nd St. and 2nd Ave.
Unite to Demand Immediate, Complete, Unconditional Withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq!
March 18: Unite to Demand Immediate, Complete, Unconditional Withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq!
Troops Out Now Coalition Statement on Withdrawal from Iraq
On the 3rd Anniversary of the war, let's make our message clear:
A Call to Unite Around the Demand for an:
Immediate Complete Unconditional Withdrawal of All Occupying Forces from Iraq
The best way that the antiwar movement can mark the third anniversary of the criminal war and occupation of Iraq is to unite around the demand for an immediate, unconditional and complete withdrawal of all occupying troops from Iraq.
Immediate - not in 10 years or in six months--as soon as it takes to put soldiers on planes and bring them home. Not waiting for the "Iraqi" army to be trained or for the establishment of a government subject to U.S. control, or for any other reasons that really only amount to one thing: an excuse to justify and extend the occupation.
Complete - not in phases, not with bases left behind, not redeployment across the border, but a complete removal of all occupying forces from all Iraqi territory.
Unconditional - The Iraqi people have an absolute right to govern themselves today, without any conditions imposed on them by Bush and Halliburton.
The principal argument advanced against the immediate and complete withdrawal of all occupation troops is that the occupation must continue until Iraq is stabilized in order to establish democracy and prevent a civil war. The basic premise underlying this argument is the racist assumption that the people of Iraq are somehow inherently incapable of governing themselves, and require the paternal tutelage of the U.S. We believe that the Iraqi people have the ability and the absolute right to govern themselves, without the presence of any occupying forces. However, stabilizing Iraq was never an objective of the invasion. Ted Koppel's op-ed in the Feb.24 New York Times made this clear. Koppel explained that oil has been the driving force of U.S. policy in the Middle East for "more than a half-century," and was the motive for the CIA overthrow of Mohammed Mossadegh 53 years ago. He concluded, “The reason for America’s rapt attention to the security of the Persian Gulf is what is has always been. It’s about the oil.”
U.S. troops are in Iraq to subjugate the people in order to ensure U.S. control of the Iraqi people's oil reserves. If the troops are there tomorrow, they will be there for the same reason. If they are there in six months or ten years, this will still be their goal. Stability and democracy has never been and will never be the goal of this brutal occupation.
If an armed gang invaded your home, destroyed much of the furnishings and tortured and killed members of your family--the idea of asking them to hang around with their guns to help fix up the place would be absurd. You would want them out immediately--not on a timetable, not when they decided that they had trained you in how to put your house in order, not when they had finished robbing you--but immediately.
We've all seen the photos of what the invasion and occupation have done -- the devastation wrought by U.S. bombers, the torture and abuse at U.S. prison camps. The U.S. announced on March 9 that it would soon be opening a new prison at Camp Cropper to take over the work of the torture chambers at Abu Ghraib. This new prison camp will join some 38 U.S.military-run detention centers where Iraqi people are routinely abused and held in conditions clearly violating international law. There is no justification for these crimes to continue one more day.
Moreover, the U.S.-led occupation is not preventing civil war, it is fomenting it. The violence plaguing Iraq today is the direct result of the occupation. There are some strategists in the Pentagon and the CIA that even look at civil war as an opportunity to carve up the country, based on a divide-and-rule strategy. As Gen. William E. Odom, former head of the National Security Agency, said, "We created the civil war when we invaded; we can't prevent a civil war by staying." Those concerned about the violence in Iraq should demand that the occupying forces, who are the cause of that violence, leave today.
The problem with “phased withdrawal” and relying on politicians for answers
It is critical that the antiwar movement steer clear of taking any position that condones the continuation of the criminal invasion and occupation of Iraq for even another hour.
One reason why antiwar activism is not as consistent and militant as it should be, despite the overwhelming opposition to the war, is that it has not rallied around a clear and principled position independent of the politics of the two major parties. Instead, many are inclined towards a strategy of tying the antiwar movement to the small number of politicians who offer some mild criticism of the war, in the hopes that this will make the movement broader and more credible.
The problem with this strategy is that with a few rare exceptions, the antiwar positions of the most outspoken elected officials have at best been inconsistent and weak. Despite overwhelming public opposition to the war, no one in leadership of either the Democratic or Republican Parties questions the legitimacy of the war or offers any real opposition. Instead, they are trying to repackage their war plans as an antiwar position, under the cover of "phased withdrawal" or "redeployment." The antiwar movement gains nothing whatsoever, and has much to lose, by cooperating with this deception.
A phased withdrawal may sound like a realistic solution, but is dangerous because drawing down or redeploying 5,000 or 30,000 troops is calculated to take the steam out of the opposition to the war and the antiwar movement.
A phased withdrawal plan would give the Bush regime the opportunity to prolong the occupation, including plenty of time to finish implementation of permanent military outposts the Pentagon is planning to leave in place throughout the Middle East and surrounding regions.
Phased withdrawal is just the Bush plan dressed up in antiwar clothing--the Bush Administration always planned to withdraw some troops, as soon as the conquest of Iraq was complete, permanent U.S. bases were built, and the oil revenues were under U.S. control.
Many who oppose the war have gravitated to Rep. Murtha's criticism of President Bush's handing of the war. But Murtha, who fervently championed the invasion of Iraq from the beginning, is not calling for an end to the war. What he is calling for is "redeployment," which is another cover for continuing the war with different tactics.
His proposal doesn’t call for the troops to come home. It calls for a partial, phased withdrawal, with troops being redeployed to Kuwait, ready to intervene in Iraq or elsewhere in the region. Marines and Special Forces would remain in Iraq, supported by U.S. bombers and gunships. Under his plan, U.S. bases would remain in Iraq, and U.S. corporations would continue to control the Iraqi economy under the guise of reconstruction. This is not a plan to end the war; it is an attempt to market the continuation of the occupation to an antiwar crowd.
The antiwar movement doesn't need to seek legitimacy anywhere, especially not from politicians who supported and helped plan the illegitimate and criminal war.
While there’s nothing wrong with getting politicians to speak at the big antiwar rallies, we cannot look to them or depend on them for leadership. When we do, our movement is pulled in a direction that weakens us, sacrifices our independence, and demobilizes us.
Political positions have a direct bearing on how a movement struggles, or even if it engages in struggle at all. Adapting to a soft position, like phased withdrawal or redeployment, gives people the message that there's no need to mobiize on the streets to bring the troops home now--just wait for the politicians to work out the details of the withdrawal. If the movement were united around the demand for an immediate, complete, unconditional withdrawal, this would elevate, intensify, and clarify the struggle against the war.
In the early days of the occupation, some called for the Pentagon to hand authority over the occupation to the United Nations. It’s likely that this position will be taken up again by some, as part of a phased withdrawal plan. We should be wary of the UN solution. As much as we wish that it were otherwise, more often than not the UN does not act in the interest of the people of the world, but in the interests of the U.S. government, the governments of the major European countries, and the corporate interests that those governments represent. In Haiti, as in so many other instances, the UN has merely provided a cover for what is in essence a U.S. occupation, and has engaged in gross human rights violations. It was the UN, on behalf of Wall Street and Washington, that sanctioned the first Gulf War and the genocidal sanctions against Iraq that killed between 1.5 and two million people.
The people of Iraq are not likely to accept another foreign occupation whose only distinction from the present one is superficial. Ultimately, it’s up to the people of Iraq to determine what role if any the UN or any other force should play in rebuilding their country.
As opposition to the war continues to grow, and the bipartisan lies about Iraq are exposed to the whole world, the antiwar movement has a tremendous opportunity. But to seize this opportunity, it needs a clear, independent message.
We need to unify around the demand for an immediate, unconditional and complete withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq.
The Troops Out Now Coalition (TONC) is a national grassroots coalition of antiwar activists, trade unionists, solidarity activists and community organizers.
For more information, or to find out how you can get involved, visit our homepage at TroopsOutNow.org
