Family bicycles 4500 miles to join Encampment to Stop the War
Vernon Hoffman, Michelle Darr, Tala, Willow and Grace bicycled all the way from Portland,
for more information see www.catalystsofhope.org Oregon to join the Encampment to Stop the War. They will be with us all week and will participate in the national march on September 29.
Schedule for Encampment to Stop the War: Sept 22-29
Schedule for Encampment to Stop the War: Sept 22-29
Below is a preliminary schedule of events for the Encampment to Stop the War, beginning on Saturday, September 22: ACTIONS ALL WEEK
People from around the country will start arriving on Saturday, September 22 and Sunday, September 23. The Encampment will expand to major actions on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, culminating in a mass march on Saturday, September 29.
Saturday, 9/22 & Sunday 9/23 Help erect scaffolding for a giant billboard demanding: 'Congress: Stop Funding the War - Fund Peoples' Needs.' Music and work at the site on tents, canopies, and displays. Crews will be doing outreach throughout neighborhoods in the DC/Baltimore area with sound cars and leafleting brigades.
Monday, 9/24 & Tuesday, 9/25 Actions demanding: - Impeachment of Bush & Cheney for War Crimes - Stop War on Iran - action and a strategy meeting on Emergency Network to focus on the growing threat of a U.S. attack on Iran
Wednesday, 9/26 - Turn up the heat Actions TBA in the halls and offices of Congress to confront their political complicity in the war - Funding the war is a war crime.
Thursday, 9/27 - Stop the War at Home Day - Katrina survivors from New Orleans & Immigrant Rights activists from around the country organizing actions challenging FEMA & ICE. Events at the Encampment focusing on funding people's needs, not war.
Friday, 9/28 - Youth actions challenge military recruiters, war funding & police repression. 'Money for Education, NOT War.'
- Join Evening Vigil with SiCKO cast members at the Lincoln Memorial to remember those who died because they were denied health care.
- A concert of hip-hop and spoken word at the Encampment with BAYAN Philippine Alliance to oppose U.S. military in the Philippines.
Other actions & meetings TBA. Set up, banner & sign making, outreach & organizing all day.
The Troops Out Now coalition has requested legal support from the progressive legal community for their encampment & march in Washington DC from Sept 22-29 . We especially need legal observers for the Sept 29th march.
If you are available to be in DC anytime during the or be on-call, or have additional questions, please contact Imani Henry imani@troopsoutnow.org with your availability and contact information. There is a need for on-call attorneys the entire week, but especially on the 29th.
CALL FOR HOUSING
Housing is desperately needed for encampment participants. City policy prevents participants from actually sleeping on the campsite. Therefore, we need to find free and cheap housing in/around DC for the period of the encampment, in order to make participation in the encampment as broad as possible.
If you can share any space (bed, floorspace, sofa/bed) in your apartment, house, organization or other space, please email housing@troopsoutnow.org. If you are unable to email, please call (917) 279-9720.
Please try to include at least the following information in your email:
* Your Name & Email * Your phone (& best times to call) * Your location * How many people you can house, and what dates (We mainly need housing starting 9/21, but may need some housing earlier for key organizers)
Other helpful information:
* Nearest Metro line/station * Sleeping conditions ("i.e. 1 queen bed plus floorspace for 3 sleeping bags") * Other considerations (i.e. "I have cats/dogs", "It is a 4th-floor walk-up", "Not near any public transportation", etc.)
Drivers/Cars Needed
Attention drivers with vehicles:
If you live in and/or are familiar with the DC-metro area, your help is greatly needed. We will need experienced drivers during then week, to help transport people to/from motels, food from restaurants, equipment, and various other events. If you have availability during the encampment, to help out with this task please contact us at logistics@troopsoutnow.org with the following information:
* Your name and email * Your phone(s) and best times to call * Your Availability to drive from 9/21 to 9/30 * Your vehicle type / how many it seats * Storage space in vehicle.
Other helpful information:
* Your location / distance from Downtown DC
Even if you do not have much time available, but can make your vehicle available, we would greatly appreciate it, as that would greatly reduce rental costs.
Call for Medical Workers for S29 and the Encampment
As part of the preparations for the encampment and the march and rally, we are asking for volunteer health care workers who are doctors, nurses, first aiders and medics to assist at the first aide tent at the encampment and at the demonstration on Saturday.
We will have a bus at the back of the march that will pick up people who are unable to walk the march route. This vichicle will have water and first aide equipment. There will be an orientation the morning of the march.
If you are able to help out please call the International Action Center at 212-633-6646 and ask for or leave a message for Sharon Eolis. You may also email sharone@wwpublish.com.
Namibia Donadio, youth organizer for Troops Out Now and FIST (Fight Imperialism, Stand Together), discussed the struggle for encampment permits at the LA Federal Buildings and the September 29 demonstration to Stop the War - at home AND in Iraq, Afghanistan and everywhere.
Donadio stressed that the encampment and march will go on as planned! Also interviewed was Fernando Suarez whose son was killed in Iraq. Suarez also spoke at the TONC press conference at the Veterans' Cemetery. Listen to the interview on Enfoque Latino con Ruben Tapia at
*Calling for Activist video trainees and volunteers! *
*Work with Peoples Video Network! *
*Train to use cameras, large and small! Edit! Use DVD technology! Stream and distribute your work!*
* *First Workshop Series coordinated with Sept 22-29 Anti-War Encampment and demonstrations in Washington DC: http://www.troopsoutnow.org
Series of workshops in video documentation, camera, editing and distribution. Work with Peoples Video network in hands-on classes and field-work in video activism. Mentoring with seasoned video activists. Final presentation to an appreciative audience. Opportunity to learn distribution to wider audiences.
Our goal is to encourage you to take this course from beginning to end and to participate in Peoples Video Network on an ongoing basis.
Camera:
Workshop 1: handling a small camera in action situations. Care of equipment and safeguarding footage. Coordination with field editors, camera crew
Workshop 2: Learning the Canon XL1 series. Focus, lighting, sound, care of equipment. Work with a team
Field-Work: Field-work will go on throughout training and provide the raw material for viewing, editing and discussion. Document the encampment Sept 22-29 in Washington DC. Learn to shoot at demonstrations and in other action situations. Shooting formal events. Working with the sound crew. Interview technique. Opportunity for independent work as well as mentoring andfeedback sessions.
Workshop 4: Viewing the raw footage. Group comments and feedback in a supportive environment.
Editing:
Workshop 5: Basics of Final Cut Pro. Beginning the editing process; using raw footage from field-work and also from archival material.
Workshop 6: More basics of Final Cut Pro
Distribution:
Workshop 7: Finishing a project and exporting it. Streaming, printing, dvd making
Workshop 8: More concepts of distribution. Discussion of festivals,internet, grants
Final Workshop Presentation
Each video activist will present a sample of work to be shown at a commencement recital event with invited guests.
Sign up for PVN WORKSHOPS: pvn@action-mail.org <mailto:pvn@action-mail.org> or call (212) 340-1286. Leave your name, phone number and e-mail and the best time to reach you.
Encampment to stop wars gathers steam in D.C. and L.A.
Encampment to stop wars gathers steam in D.C. and L.A. By Scott Scheffer Los Angeles Published Sep 9, 2007 10:36 PM
The mainstream media has been writing about the upcoming Congress sessions as if some epic battle between anti-war forces and the Bush/Cheney cabal will take place there.
Not many are as excited about it as the media is. After the last national election, newly elected Democrats wasted no time in making it clear that they would not cut war funding, and that calls to impeach Bush and Cheney for war crimes would be ignored.
The real momentum against the war comes from the people, and there is growing excitement over parallel anti-war/social justice mobilizations during the week of Sept. 22-29 in Washington, D.C., and in Los Angeles. Activists will set up ‘tent cities’ on the lawn of the Capitol in the week leading up to major demonstrations on Sept. 29. In Los Angeles, there will be a three-day tent city at the Westwood Federal Building, followed by a 15-mile walk across Los Angeles on Sept. 25 to the Downtown Federal Building. Another tent city will be set up and will remain there until the mass march and rally on Sept. 29.
The walk across town itself will be a day-long protest with stops at the Israeli Consulate, to demand liberation and the right of Palestinian people to return to their homes, and at the Salvadoran consulate, where the local FMLN will demand that Salvadoran troops pull out of Iraq. Other stops may be added as plans develop.
The actions were called by the Troops Out Now Coalition to carry out an anti-war event that includes organizations and activists fighting for immigrant rights, those who are struggling against the heightening assault on workers, and all others affected by the war. This is reflected in the list of endorsers and participants (see troopsoutnow.org).
In Los Angeles, the events will be kicked off a day earlier with an important action at the Filipino Consulate to mark the anniversary of the imposition of martial law and to protest the arrest of Filipino people’s leader Jose Maria Sison, organized by BAYAN-USA.
Code Pink plans actions in Washington, D.C., and in Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles chapter of American Friends Service Committee, which shut down a Hollywood military recruiting center last year, will carry out a civil disobedience action.
Healthcare will be a major issue at the protests, and some of the people who were featured in Michael Moore’s film “SiCKO” will organize a vigil in Washington on Sept. 28th.
Sept. 27 has been selected to be the day for major immigrant rights actions at both encampments.
As a result of efforts by the Los Angeles chapter of U.S. Labor Against the War, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor has endorsed. Union officials will join Ron Kovic, other anti-war veterans and military resisters such as Agustin Aguayo in a press conference to push the encampment next week. L.A. USLAW plans a teach-in on the war and labor solidarity.
Other actions will highlight the connection between racism and violence against the Iraqi people and others victimized by U.S imperialism, and repression, racism and sexual and gender oppression in the U.S. In Los Angeles, there will be a special event to honor Victoria Arellano, a transwoman who was denied access to AIDS medication by jail officials and died as a result.
From across the country people are boarding buses, flying and driving long distances to get to Washington, D.C., or Los Angeles with their tents and their protest signs to join in these unique and important actions to stop the war against workers and the poor, and to stop the U.S. wars abroad.
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, has made his long-awaited report to the U.S. Senate. As expected, it was crafted to bolster the Bush administration’s claims that, having sent tens of thousands more troops into combat over the last few months, it is now making “progress” in that ravaged country. Indeed, the report had been “vetted” by the White House itself.
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, also testified in a similar vein.
The administration’s vow to prolong the war is sure to be answered by tens of thousands of protesters who will descend on Washington in September to demand an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Senate Democrats and a few Republicans asked Petraeus the kinds of questions that showed their extreme skepticism with his claims. Five of the senators on the panels that heard the general’s testimony are candidates for president. They are very aware of the mass anti-war sentiment in the U.S. that is also growing among the troops themselves. They took advantage of this forum to make thinly veiled campaign speeches.
According to the U.S. Constitution, it is Congress, not the White House, that has the right to declare war and to raise the money for it. Less than a year ago, completely disgusted with this war, the electorate voted out enough Republicans to give both houses of Congress a Democratic majority. Ever since grammar school, they had been taught that this was how you change the government and its policies.
Yet the unanimous view of all the big capitalist media today is that none of the political theater now happening in Washington will lead to any significant withdrawal of troops from Iraq, nor will the Democratic Party lead a struggle to stop the funding of the war—which will be up for a vote within the next month.
Partisan politics and posturing
Looking at what happens in Washington purely from the point of view of partisan politics, all this can seem quite puzzling. Aren’t the Democrats the opposition party? Don’t they know they’ll get more votes if they seize the golden opportunity Bush has given them and voice their opposition to this most unpopular war?
Yes, they know it very well. And so they talk quite eloquently about the lying, the deceit and all the “blunders” that caused the war to go ahead. Of course, they voted to make it happen in the first place, so they have to excuse themselves by saying they, too, were deceived.
Talk is one thing. Voting to stop the funding of the war is quite different. When that subject comes up, the now-majority party suddenly pleads weakness and invokes the probability of a presidential veto.
None of this should be surprising. Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992 promising a health care plan that would cover everyone in the country. He won the election and the Democrats also took both houses of Congress. But the health care plan was dropped after running into stiff opposition from industry lobbyists. His administration also gutted the welfare system, which had been a safety net for the very poor since the Depression.
And, far from pursuing a peaceful foreign policy, the Clinton administration, together with Europe’s imperialist powers, also launched a war against Yugoslavia that saw the merciless U.S. bombing of the capital city of Belgrade—a prelude to “shock and awe.”
Vietnam: similar but reversed
More and more, the present war is being compared to Vietnam. Then, the political situation was reversed from what it is now.
It was two Democratic Party administrations—under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson—that started the war. The public had to be deceived, of course, so in 1964 an “incident” was cooked up that later was proven to be phony. But the Senate passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave the president the authority and funds to vastly escalate the war. Only two senators opposed it.
When Richard M. Nixon ran for president in 1968, he claimed to have a plan to end the war. It dragged on for seven more years under two Republican administrations. Millions of Vietnamese were killed in combat and by abuse and torture; the land was poisoned by Agent Orange and other chemicals that are still causing birth defects and lingering deaths today; nearly 60,000 U.S. soldiers were also killed and a huge number disabled by both physical and psychological injuries.
The determining factor in both these wars is not which party controls the White House or the Congress. It is how the ruling class of the United States sees its interests. If the super-rich think a war will open up vast new areas for exploitation and profit, their attitude is: Go for it.
This view then becomes the dominant one in the corporate media and among the politicians of both capitalist parties. All kinds of justifications are invented to convince ordinary working people, the ones who have to do the fighting and dying, that the war is for a noble cause, that their way of life is threatened and that the targeted people are an evil enemy.
If, however, the war fails to achieve its objectives despite overwhelming U.S. military superiority, if the heroic resistance of the Vietnamese or the Iraqis prevents the kind of stability that would allow for “orderly” capitalist exploitation of their labor and natural resources, then voices of dissent begin to be heard even within the U.S. ruling establishment itself.
This is where things are at now with the war in Iraq. Even more than Vietnam, the economic stakes are immense. Iraq’s strategic location in the Middle East—at a time when the huge oil companies and the military-industrial-banking complex see control over the world’s petroleum as vital to their immense wealth and power—is the main reason why few politicians have taken a definite stand for immediate withdrawal. To do so would bring down the wrath of the corporate media, which is so embedded with the military-industrial complex that it still uses phrases like “cut and run.”
At the same time, the military can’t recruit, so it has to send soldiers back to Iraq for a third tour, risking potential mutiny. Immigrant workers are told that joining the military is the only way to get legal documents. Senators can still be forced out through anti-gay entrapment but not because they voted for a criminal war. Police shootings and overstuffed prisons show where the racist brutality behind Abu Ghraib comes from.
And the U.S. economy is turning sour, disproving the idea that war brings prosperity for the many along with the profits for a few.
Even the puppet government in Iraq chosen by the U.S. occupation is being criticized for not being able to carry out its master’s orders to “pacify” the country.
With all this, won’t the ruling class establishment just decide it’s in their interests to end the war?
Not yet. There is no easy way to end this war. The first thing to understand is that the people, not the capitalist political establishment, will do it. The orders to really bring the troops home will be written only when the ruling class has become convinced that it will never win, no matter how many soldiers it grinds up and no matter how much suffering and destruction it inflicts on the Iraqi nation.
That will take more than the resistance in Iraq. It requires a storm at home, a rebellion of the type that swept this country in the sixties and seventies.
The youth, facing the military draft, joined forces with returning GIs to rock the establishment. Rebellions against racism in hundreds of cities were also huge de-facto demonstrations against the war. The military chain of command broke down as soldiers deserted, demonstrated, disobeyed orders and even “fragged” their officers.
Several anti-war demonstrations are coming up in Washington—a march called by ANSWER on Sept. 15, followed by the Troops Out Now Coalition’s Sept. 22-29 Encampment on the Mall and march to Congress to say NO to war funding. TONC is also organizing an encampment and mass march in Los Angeles. These protests must let the real rulers of this country know that they face another period like the sixties if they don’t end this abominable war.
Articles copyright 1995-2007 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
PETRAEUS REPORT Senators posture, but will they vote war funds? By Deirdre Griswold Published Sep 12, 2007 11:43 PM
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, has made his long-awaited report to the U.S. Senate. As expected, it was crafted to bolster the Bush administration’s claims that, having sent tens of thousands more troops into combat over the last few months, it is now making “progress” in that ravaged country. Indeed, the report had been “vetted” by the White House itself.
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, also testified in a similar vein.
The administration’s vow to prolong the war is sure to be answered by tens of thousands of protesters who will descend on Washington in September to demand an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Senate Democrats and a few Republicans asked Petraeus the kinds of questions that showed their extreme skepticism with his claims. Five of the senators on the panels that heard the general’s testimony are candidates for president. They are very aware of the mass anti-war sentiment in the U.S. that is also growing among the troops themselves. They took advantage of this forum to make thinly veiled campaign speeches.
According to the U.S. Constitution, it is Congress, not the White House, that has the right to declare war and to raise the money for it. Less than a year ago, completely disgusted with this war, the electorate voted out enough Republicans to give both houses of Congress a Democratic majority. Ever since grammar school, they had been taught that this was how you change the government and its policies.
Yet the unanimous view of all the big capitalist media today is that none of the political theater now happening in Washington will lead to any significant withdrawal of troops from Iraq, nor will the Democratic Party lead a struggle to stop the funding of the war—which will be up for a vote within the next month.
Partisan politics and posturing
Looking at what happens in Washington purely from the point of view of partisan politics, all this can seem quite puzzling. Aren’t the Democrats the opposition party? Don’t they know they’ll get more votes if they seize the golden opportunity Bush has given them and voice their opposition to this most unpopular war?
Yes, they know it very well. And so they talk quite eloquently about the lying, the deceit and all the “blunders” that caused the war to go ahead. Of course, they voted to make it happen in the first place, so they have to excuse themselves by saying they, too, were deceived.
Talk is one thing. Voting to stop the funding of the war is quite different. When that subject comes up, the now-majority party suddenly pleads weakness and invokes the probability of a presidential veto.
None of this should be surprising. Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992 promising a health care plan that would cover everyone in the country. He won the election and the Democrats also took both houses of Congress. But the health care plan was dropped after running into stiff opposition from industry lobbyists. His administration also gutted the welfare system, which had been a safety net for the very poor since the Depression.
And, far from pursuing a peaceful foreign policy, the Clinton administration, together with Europe’s imperialist powers, also launched a war against Yugoslavia that saw the merciless U.S. bombing of the capital city of Belgrade—a prelude to “shock and awe.”
Vietnam: similar but reversed
More and more, the present war is being compared to Vietnam. Then, the political situation was reversed from what it is now.
It was two Democratic Party administrations—under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson—that started the war. The public had to be deceived, of course, so in 1964 an “incident” was cooked up that later was proven to be phony. But the Senate passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave the president the authority and funds to vastly escalate the war. Only two senators opposed it.
When Richard M. Nixon ran for president in 1968, he claimed to have a plan to end the war. It dragged on for seven more years under two Republican administrations. Millions of Vietnamese were killed in combat and by abuse and torture; the land was poisoned by Agent Orange and other chemicals that are still causing birth defects and lingering deaths today; nearly 60,000 U.S. soldiers were also killed and a huge number disabled by both physical and psychological injuries.
The determining factor in both these wars is not which party controls the White House or the Congress. It is how the ruling class of the United States sees its interests. If the super-rich think a war will open up vast new areas for exploitation and profit, their attitude is: Go for it.
This view then becomes the dominant one in the corporate media and among the politicians of both capitalist parties. All kinds of justifications are invented to convince ordinary working people, the ones who have to do the fighting and dying, that the war is for a noble cause, that their way of life is threatened and that the targeted people are an evil enemy.
If, however, the war fails to achieve its objectives despite overwhelming U.S. military superiority, if the heroic resistance of the Vietnamese or the Iraqis prevents the kind of stability that would allow for “orderly” capitalist exploitation of their labor and natural resources, then voices of dissent begin to be heard even within the U.S. ruling establishment itself.
This is where things are at now with the war in Iraq. Even more than Vietnam, the economic stakes are immense. Iraq’s strategic location in the Middle East—at a time when the huge oil companies and the military-industrial-banking complex see control over the world’s petroleum as vital to their immense wealth and power—is the main reason why few politicians have taken a definite stand for immediate withdrawal. To do so would bring down the wrath of the corporate media, which is so embedded with the military-industrial complex that it still uses phrases like “cut and run.”
At the same time, the military can’t recruit, so it has to send soldiers back to Iraq for a third tour, risking potential mutiny. Immigrant workers are told that joining the military is the only way to get legal documents. Senators can still be forced out through anti-gay entrapment but not because they voted for a criminal war. Police shootings and overstuffed prisons show where the racist brutality behind Abu Ghraib comes from.
And the U.S. economy is turning sour, disproving the idea that war brings prosperity for the many along with the profits for a few.
Even the puppet government in Iraq chosen by the U.S. occupation is being criticized for not being able to carry out its master’s orders to “pacify” the country.
With all this, won’t the ruling class establishment just decide it’s in their interests to end the war?
Not yet. There is no easy way to end this war. The first thing to understand is that the people, not the capitalist political establishment, will do it. The orders to really bring the troops home will be written only when the ruling class has become convinced that it will never win, no matter how many soldiers it grinds up and no matter how much suffering and destruction it inflicts on the Iraqi nation.
That will take more than the resistance in Iraq. It requires a storm at home, a rebellion of the type that swept this country in the sixties and seventies.
The youth, facing the military draft, joined forces with returning GIs to rock the establishment. Rebellions against racism in hundreds of cities were also huge de-facto demonstrations against the war. The military chain of command broke down as soldiers deserted, demonstrated, disobeyed orders and even “fragged” their officers.
Several anti-war demonstrations are coming up in Washington—a march called by ANSWER on Sept. 15, followed by the Troops Out Now Coalition’s Sept. 22-29 Encampment on the Mall and march to Congress to say NO to war funding. TONC is also organizing an encampment and mass march in Los Angeles. These protests must let the real rulers of this country know that they face another period like the sixties if they don’t end this abominable war.
No more phony deadlines!: Response to Gen. Petraeus
No more phony deadlines! Not another day. Not another dollar. Bring the troops home now!
Congress: Don't use the report from Petraeus to betray us!
Today, Sept. 10, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, gave his much-anticipated assessment of the results of the "surge." The recommendations General Petraeus made were no surprise. As expected, he said that that U.S. troop levels need to remain at high levels until next summer.
This report by General Petraeus, who has consistently supported and echoed the failed policies of the Bush administration, is just the latest ploy to continue the occupation by creating phony deadlines that provide political cover for members of Congress--from both parties--to continue voting to fund the war.
Last November, after voters in the U.S. gave Congress a clear mandate to bring the troops home and end the criminal occupation, the Bush administration and its allies in Congress repeatedly said, "Wait for the Baker-Hamilton report."
After the report was published, rather than bring the troops home the Bush administration deployed more troops to Iraq in a "surge" supported by both parties in Congress.
Then, in March, as anti-war sentiment continued to grow, the response from Bush and Congress was: "Wait until September for the report by General Petraeus."
Now that report has been made and Petraeus is proposing a new vague deadline: next summer, when he says that it may be possible to reduce troop levels.
We should recognize that these deadlines and reports are political theater, designed to dampen anti-war mobilizing. Even the way the "debate" is framed is a lie. The administration and its generals are saying that the surge is meant to stem the violence; critics in Congress are saying that it has failed. But the surge IS violence, at an unprecedented level. It is the U.S. occupation that has brought this daily blood-letting to Iraq, along with the total disruption of daily life.
Every day that the war continues, more Iraqi people and U.S. soldiers are killed.
Every day that the war continues, the Pentagon spends another $720 million on war in Iraq--money that is robbed from working people here, who need healthcare, education and affordable housing, not war and occupation.
While Congress pretends to debate whether or not the surge is working, it is important to note that the invasion of Iraq was a crime from the very beginning, and that “success” means the subjugation of the people of Iraq, along with Wall Street’s control of their vast petroleum reserves.
We must demand that the troops be brought home now. Not another day. Not another dollar. No more phony deadlines.
We call upon activists to support the many acts of protest and resistance planned for this month. We should escalate the protests as they have escalated the war.
The protests started with anti-war chants as Petraeus was speaking.
Then, on Sept. 15, a march in Washington organized by the ANSWER coalition will demand an end to the war and the impeachment of Bush.
On Oct. 1, current funding for the war expires. This spring, the Democratic leaders in Congress betrayed their mandate and voted to continue to fund the war against the people of Iraq. As Congress debates Bush's new funding request, we must be there to let them know that we're not going to let them betray us again.
During the week of Sept. 22-29, activists from across the U.S. are organizing an Encampment to Stop the War, directly in front of the Capitol. The Encampment, sponsored by the Troops Out Now Coalition, will include daily acts of protest and resistance, building for a massive March from the Capitol to the White House on Sept. 29.
We cannot wait for more phony deadlines--we need to set a deadline and demand that the troops be brought home now. Here's how you can help:
1) Help get the word out - download leaflets: http://troopsoutnow.org/downloads.html
2) Donate to help with organizing expenses: http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml
3) Become a local organizer: http://www.troopsoutnow.org/sept2207volunteer.shtml
4) Link to us - graphic buttons available at: http://troopsoutnow.org/buttons.html
Troops Out Now Coalition 55 W. 17th St. #5C NY NY 10011 www.TroopsOutNow.org 212.633-6646
CALL FOR MEDICAL WORKERS for the S29 and ENCAMPMENT
CALL FOR MEDICAL WORKERS for the S29 and ENCAMPMENT
As part of the preparations for the encampment and the march and rally, we are asking for volunteer health care workers who are doctors, nurses, first aiders and medics to assist at the first aide tent at the encampment and at the demonstration on Saturday.
We will have a bus at the back of the march that will pick up people who are unable to walk the march route. This vichicle will have water and first aide equipment. There will be an orientation the morning of the march.
If you are able to help out please call the International Action Center at 212-633-6646 and ask for or leave a message for Sharon Eolis. You may also email sharone@wwpublish.com.
Julie Pierce & Tracey Jr., Donna & Larry Smith, Adrian Campbell, Dawnelle Keys, Rev Andy Bales, Dr. Linda Peeno, who courageously shared their lives, vision and pain in Michael Moore’s film “SICKO” will be taking a stand. They will be coming to Washington D.C. to protest the war on September 28 and marching for Healthcare, Not war on Sept. 29th. Take a stand too and come to Washington D.C.
Say NO to War Funding - Demand Money for Health Care, Jobs, & Education NOT War and Occupation - SEPT 22-29
Join the cast of “SICKO” for a vigil on Friday evening to honor the life of Tracey Pierce and to demand justice for him and all of the many other victims of the profit first, people last – healthcare system. (See box below.)
AND MARCH WITH THE CAST OF “SICKO” ON SEPTEMBER 29TH to demand Healthcare, Not Warfare. People from all over the country who are sick of seeing billions of dollars wasted on war and occupation and who feel that people’s needs must come first will be forming a giant contingent to demand healthcare for all at the Sept. 29th march to stop the war in Washington D.C.
They will be joining trade union and community activists who are tired of seeing layoffs, mortgage foreclosures and cuts; students and youth who are questioning the injustice of the war; veterans and active duty GI’s who are courageously speaking out against the war; Katrina/Rita survivors who are still fighting for their long over due rights; immigrant workers who are facing unfair deportations; and the tens of thousands of other people who simply want to bring the troops home now.
IT IS URGENT TO ACT NOW because funding for the war and occupation of Iraq will expire on Oct 1st. At this time Congress will be considering the largest increase ever to fund the war. They will be voting on an additional $50 billion on top of the $147 billion already allocated to continue the war.
We cannot be silent! One fourth of the Iraq war budget alone could pay for health care for close to 47 million uninsured people. Join the Encampment across from Congress, in front of the Capitol from Sept 22 to 29 to demand that NO WAR FUNDING; attend the Friday evening vigil; and MARCH ON SATURDAY.
If you cannot come to Washington, you can still help. Please donate (http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml) whatever you can to help others join the march. Every single dollar helps to make our voices stronger. Your donations can help pay for buses, flyers, picket signs, mailings and all of the necessary costs. Everyone can be a part of this effort.
For more information see: www.TroopsOutNow.org/HealthCareNotWarfare.html
Now that the summer’s over, we need to ramp up the mobilizing for the September 29th March on Washington and the Encampment.
We only have 15 days left until the Encampment begins. To help with the mobilizing for the demonstration there are weekly volunteer meetings on Wednesday nights at 7PM at the Solidarity Center at 55 West 17th Street, 5C in Manhattan. We have been leafletting and postering on Saturdays and throughout the week. Our next important outreach day is Saturday, September 8th at 11AM at the office. If you are not able to come in on Saturday, please come by to pick up leaflets, stickers, and posters to get up in your community. The office is open from 1- 8 PM Monday through Friday and 11AM until 5 PM on Saturday.
Troops Out Now Coalition 55 W. 17th St. #5C NY NY 10011 212.633.6646 www.troopsoutnow.org
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.
from Protest to Resistance... Cut Off ALL War Funding! Fund People's Needs - NOT War!
It's time to turn up the heat! Funding for the criminal war in Iraq will expire on October 1. The month of September will see the next big struggle over war funding, but this time the antiwar movement needs to be there to demand the immediate cut off of all war funding.
We have all seen that the Democratic leadership in Congress, despite being elected with a clear mandate to end the war, has completely capitulated to the Bush Administration. We cannot wait for politicians to end the war.
In addition to the enormous cost in human lives - more than 600,000 Iraqis and nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers - the attempt to occupy and colonize Iraq has already cost more than $1 trillion. Every day, the Pentagon spends another $720 million.
This is money that is stolen from working people who need funding for human needs.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported last week that:
• 36.5 million people in the U.S. lived below the official poverty line in 2006.
• 47 million people in the U.S. were without health insurance in 2006, up from 44.8 million in 2005.
• The number of uninsured children increased from 8 million (10.9 percent) in 2005 to 8.7 million (11.7 percent) in 2006.
Meanwhile, infrastructure is crumbling. Schools are understaffed and falling apart. Affordable housing is disappearing. And almost nothing has been done to rebuild the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.
Let's bring the occupation to Washington and demand money for human needs, not war! On September 29, tens of thousands of activists, community organizers, youth and students, veterans, military families, and health care activists will march on the White House to Demand: Cut off ALL War Funding! Fund People's Needs, NOT War!
Buses, vans, and car caravans are coming from more than 75 organizing centers, with more than 100 buses already scheduled, and more being added every day. Organizing a mobilization of this scale is enormously expensive -- please consider making a donation online at http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml.
Also, during the week of September 22-29, antiwar activists will erect an Encampment on the Lawn directly across from the Capitol. The site of the Encampment is a square of land directly in front of the Capitol, where we will maintain a determined, visible 24-hour antiwar presence as a direct challenge to the politicians - both Republican and Democrat - who voted for the war and vote to continue to fund the war.
Organizing a week-long enccampment and a national march is an enormous organizational challenge, and we need your help. Please consider helping with the costs by making an online donation at http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml.
Activists, military families, veterans, trade unionists, and community organizers from activists from across the U.S. are planning to erect a tent city, in Washington, DC, which will be a center of organizing, resistance, and action for the week. At the same time, activists will also be converging in Los Angeles for a West Coast week-long antiwar Encampment and March (see http://www.iacenterla.org for more information and to get involved.)
If you want the social justice issues you are fighting for to be seen and heard around the world and by the national media, then bring your displays, art, graphics and signs to the week long encampment.
Many local and national organizations are planning to have their own tents for the Encampment. There will be actions, protests, and speak outs organized by health care activists, military family members, immigrant rights organizers, and more.
Each day will have a variety of different activities, focused on the impeachment of Bush and Cheney for war crimes, student and youth action, political prisoners, Katrina, stopping a war against Iran, and more. Each night will feature "Culture and Resistance," including spoken word artists, musicians, poets, and more.
Many of the working people that Michael Moore featured in SICKO are planning a special candle-light vigil for all those who have died for lack of health care.
Youth are meeting and planning resistance actions in the Congressional office buildings and streets of DC.
At the end of the week, activists at the Encampment will join tens of thousands of people from across the country for the massive March on Washington on September 29.
Organizing a week-long encampment and a national demonstration is a major challenge, and we need your help with the enormous expenses. Please consider making a donation online at http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml.
We need your input planning giant displays, literature and organizing tents, skill sharing sessions, and acts of creative protest and resistance. Please contact us to share your ideas and to volunteer to help organize for the encampment.
Over the next few days, we will be posting a calendar of events for the Encampment. If your group would like to organize a tent, protest action, teach-in, etc. please contact us.
We are developing a list of inexpensive housing in the area and will be posting it soon -- activists who are able to join us all week, should also line up housing in the area. We can be a presence on site around the clock but we can not actually sleep at night or cook on-site.
If you are in the Washington DC - Maryland - Virginia area, we need your help with housing, food, transportation and help on set-up. Please contact us online or by phone at 212-633-6646.
Calling for Activist video trainees and volunteers!
Calling for Activist video trainees and volunteers! Work with Peoples Video Network! Peoples Video Network
Train to use cameras, large and small! Edit! Use DVD technology! Stream and distribute your work!
First Workshop Series coordinated with Sept 22-29 Anti-War Encampment and demonstrations in Washington DC: http://www.troopsoutnow.org
Series of workshops in video documentation, camera, editing and distribution. Work with Peoples Video network in hands-on classes and field-work in video activism. Mentoring with seasoned video activists. Final presentation to an appreciative audience. Opportunity to learn distribution to wider audiences. Our goal is to encourage you to take this course from beginning to end and to participate in Peoples Video Network on an ongoing basis.
Camera: Workshop 1: Learning the Canon XL1 series. Focus, lighting, sound, care of equipment. Work with a team Workshop 2: handling a small camera in action situations. Care of equipment and safeguarding footage. Coordination with field editors, camera crew Workshop 3: Interview technique. Lighting, sound, conducting interviews.
Field-Work: Field-work will go on throughout training and provide the raw material for viewing, editing and discussion. Document the encampment Sept 22-29 in Washington DC. Learn to shoot at demonstrations and in other action situations. Shooting formal events. Working with the sound crew. Interview technique. Opportunity for independent work as well as mentoring and feedback sessions.
Workshop 4: Viewing the raw footage. Group comments and feedback in a supportive environment.
Editing: Workshop 5: Basics of Final Cut Pro. Beginning the editing process; using raw footage from field-work and also from archival material. Workshop 6: More basics of Final Cut Pro
Distribution: Workshop 7: Finishing a project and exporting it. Streaming, printing, dvd making Workshop 8: More concepts of distribution. Discussion of festivals, internet, grants
Final Workshop Presentation
Each video activist will present a sample of work to be shown at a commencement recital event with invited guests.
Sign up for PVN WORKSHOPS: pvn@action-mail.org or call (212) 340-1286. Leave your name, phone number and e-mail and the best time to reach you.
Join Stop War in Iran in Washington DC September 22-29 for the
Encampment to Stop the War directly in front of the Capitol
and the Sept 29 March on Washington
Today President Bush once again threatened to use the Pentagon’s weapons of mass destruction by refusing to ‘rule out the use of force.” against Iran. Yesterday, speaking before the American Legion, he said,"Iran’s actions threaten the security of nations everywhere, and the United States is rallying friends and allies to isolate Iran's regime, to impose economic sanctions."
We must take action now to stop the Bush Administration's drive towards a new war.
During the week of September 22-29, antiwar activists will erect an encampment on the Lawn directly across from the Capitol. The site of the Encampment is a square of land directly in front of the Capitol, where we will maintain a determined, visible 24-hour antiwar presence as a direct challenge to the politicians - both Republican and Democrat - who voted for the war and vote to continue to fund the war. The Stop War on Iran Campaign will be there all week, with displays, a Stop War on Iran tent, special programs, and teach-ins.
On September 29, we will join tens of thousands for a massive march on the White House. There are now more than 75 organizing centers from more than 32 states for September 29, and more than 1,600 endorsers.
Now, more than ever, it is vital that we be in the streets to demand an end to the bipartisan program of endless war. President Bush continues to threaten the people of Iran, using (once again) claims about "weapons of mass destruction." And once again, Congress is unwilling to oppose the Bush agenda in the Middle East.
There are now 3 aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf area and almost half of all the ships in the U.S. Navy are withing striking range of Iran. Vice President Cheney and others in the Administration are pushing hard for military action.
We have all seen that the Democratic leadership in Congress, despite being elected with a clear mandate to end the war in Iraq, has completely capitulated to the Bush Administration. We cannot wait for politicians to end the war. And we can't wait while they plan to launch a new war.
With the confrontation in September over the Iraq war gaining momentum, there is the growing risk that a weakened and isolated administration will risk wider war as a reckless way of overwhelming opposition to his criminal policies. Please consider joining us for the week of the Encampment, September 22-29, even if only for a day or two. There will be a Stop War on Iran program at the Encampment in the early part of the week - Monday or Tuesday.
Then, help build a Stop War on Iran contingent in the September 29 March on the White House.
Buses, vans and cars are coming from around the country and from a city near you. Momentum for the Encampment to Stop the War (Sept. 22-29) and the March on Washington (Sept. 29) is growing, with Organizing Centers in 75 cities, more than 100 buses scheduled and many more expected. The list of endorsers is growing daily, with more than 1,600 organizations, community groups and organizers. Recent endorsers include World Can't Wait, the Green Party of the U.S., Carlos Arredondo, Not In Our Name, former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Michael Parenti, MECAWI, Charles Barron, Ramsey Clark, Code Pink, After Downing Street, Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star Families for Peace, Ron Kovic, Michael Berg, numerous chapters of Military Families Speak Out and Veterans for Peace and more.
Stop the War at Home & Abroad Troops Out Now! Impeach Bush & Cheney for War Crimes! End All Occupations -- from Iraq to Palestine to Haiti to the Philippines!
Get your buses for the antiwar march on Washington - Saturday, September 29
Attention Students
-Campus-based groups -Activists who work at schools -Anyone associated with a campus community
You have less than one month to organize a bus (or buses) from your school for the march against the war abroad and at home on Saturday September 29.
Prior to the Sept. 29 march - there will be a week long encampment against the war on the mall in front of the capital - starting on Saturday September 22 - for more information the encampment go to: http://www.troopsoutnow.org
Three months ago, the Troops Out Now Coalition applied to the National Parks Service for permits to erect an anti-war tent city on the Mall across from the Capitol in Washington DC from September 22 to September 29, as a build up to the March against the war at home and abroad on September 29.
As some of you might recall, we organized a tent city (encampment) on this same area last spring, as a part of the fight to end all war funding.
In a meeting with representatives of the National Parks Service, on Thursday, August 23, we were informed for the first time that we would not be allowed to erect the tents because suddenly, it had been decided that all of the areas on the Mall where tents could be erected would be fenced off and would under go “re-soding” at the very time that we planned to use the mall.
We don’t believe that it’s a coincidence that the Mall area closest to the Capitol is suddenly off limits to protest during the very time when Congress will again be voting to spend another $145 billion dollars on the war and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Everyone knows that September is going to be a crucial month for the struggle to end this criminal war. The anti-war movement has been mobilizing all summer for the fall.
Momentum for the September 22-29 Encampment to Stop the War and the September 29 March on Washington is growing, with more than 70 organizing centers and 32 states across the U.S. actively mobilizing. Every day we learn of new cities that are organizing buses, car caravans, and vans. Every day, activists are calling and emailing to let us know that they will be joining the Encampment.
Apparently, the government has also been preparing for the fall, preparing to silence mass resistance to the war unless we do something about it. Recently the ANSWER Coalition was hit with $10,000 fines for postering for the Sept. 15 march. And now, we learn that the Mall is off limits. Make no mistake about it, the efforts on behalf of the government to squelch resistance to the empire are real and dangerous, but they will not work if we unite and fight back.
WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT WE WILL WIN WITH YOUR SUPPORT
Please call Mary A. Bomar, Director of the National Park Service at (202) 208-6843 and Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne at (202) 208-6416
Make a donation to help us with the enormous costs of organizing for the Encampment to Stop the War and the March on Washington. In addition to printing hundreds of thousands of leaflets, organizing buses, purchasing or renting equipment for the Encampment, we now face the expenses of mounting a political and legal challenge to stop Washington's attempt to silence dissent. You can donate online at http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml
With your continued help and support, we are continuing to organize and mobilize for the Encampment to Stop the War and the September 29 March on Washington. If you haven't made plans to participate, please contact a local organizing center at www.troopsoutnow.org/sept2907orgcents.shtml
1) Saturday, AUG 25 – NEWARK,NJ The People's March for Peace, Equality, Jobs & Justice
2) Saturday, August 25 - Kennebunkport, Maine Saturday, AUG 25 – NEWARK,NJ The People's March for Peace, Equality, Jobs & Justice
Troops Out Now Coalition urges all out support for the rally and march this Saturday, August 25 in Newark, NJ. The march will commemorate the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Members and groups in the Troops Out Now Coalition are active participants in the Peace & Justice Coalition based in Newark. The Peace & Justice Coalition is a coalition of now more than 150 organizations concerned about the war on Iraq and the impact of the war on our community.
On August 25, at 12:00 Noon the Peace & Justice Coalition is planning a mass march down Broad Street in downtown Newark beginning at Lincoln Park. The march, from Lincoln Park up Broad Street to Military Park and back, will be followed by a festival in Lincoln Park, with speakers, entertainment, information tables, and exhibits.
It is easy to reach the Newark Rally from anywhere in the NYC/NJ area. PATH trains out of New York City, Jersey City, and Hoboken or buses from Port Authority or NJ Transit trains from NYC and most places in NJ. It is a 15 minute walk on Broad St from the Newark train and bus station to Lincoln Park.
Vans are leaving from the Troops Out Now office at 55 West 17th St on Saturday morning at 9am. Call 212-633-6646 to reserve a seat.
Meet up with Troops Out Now ( http://www.troopsoutnow.org/ ) at our table at Lincoln Park and help distribute flyers and placards for the Sept 29 Stop the War at Home and Abroad demonstration in Washington DC.
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
