------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Oct. 10, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
MOMENTUM GROWS FOR OCT. 26 MARCHES: SKEPTICISM OVER BUSH'S WAR FINDS VOICE IN STREETS By Greg Butterfield During the last weekend of September, anti-war protests took to the streets in cities across the United States and around the world, giving voice to growing skepticism over the Bush administration's hell-bent plan to invade Iraq. Washington, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix and Flagstaff, Ariz., were among the cities that were host to important manifestations against the war Sept. 27-29. Overseas, massive demonstrations were seen in London, Rome and Madrid. And on the heels of that weekend of protest, two anti-war coalitions based in the U.S. made an important contribution to the unity of the movement against war, racism and repression. On Sept. 30 the International ANSWER coalition--Act Now to Stop War and End Racism--and the Not In Our Name Project issued a joint statement. They called on all opponents of Bush's war on Iraq to mobilize for both Oct. 6 regional protests in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other cities, and for the Oct. 26 national march on Washington and the West Coast march in San Francisco. "We have the potential for a large, strong demonstration on Oct. 26 that can really show the deep opposition to this plan for war, invasion and occupation," said Deirdre Sinnott, an organizer for the International Action Center, one of the organizations on the ANSWER coalition steering committee. Sinnott spoke with Workers World Oct. 1. "Whenever we get out on the street with flyers, we get a lot of interest. So far there are 70 organizing centers across the country, and half are on campuses," Sinnott explained. "Every day we hear about new buses that are being planned and groups that want to have buses." She said organizers expect the response to grow when new literature emphasizing the connection between budget cuts and layoffs at home and the $200 billion budget for war in Iraq hits the streets. A visitor to the IAC's New York office--a local organizing hub for Oct. 26--found it bustling with volunteers who scrambled to answer busy phones and give out bus information, while others met in small groups to plan local outreach efforts, including flyering and postering. 'DEEP SKEPTICISM' OVER WAR "There have been very important anti-war demonstrations in Washington, Denver and other cities in recent days," Sinnott told WW. "This shows that, contrary to the public opinion polls being hyped by the corporate media, there is deep skepticism about Bushwar plans and his attempts to justify them. There's deep skepticism that this war has anything whatsoever to do with the Sept. 11 attacks. "The administration doesn't have the trust it claims to have. Part of the importance of these demonstrations is to show everyone that they don't have to feel isolated in opposing the war," she said. Last year the movement against capitalist globalization was thrown into disarray by the Sept. 11, 2001, events. But the threat of war infused it with a new surge of activism during a three-day mobilization coinciding with the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington Sept. 27-29. Protesters were confronted by a large and aggressive police presence. D.C. police beefed up their ranks with cops from as far away as Chicago, brought in to guard plate-glass windows at Starbucks, McDonald's restaurants and banks. A march by thousands of anti-capitalist protesters Sept. 27 was met with brutal police repression. At least 649 people were rounded up in violent pre-emptive arrests. Journalists, tourists and bystanders were arrested along with activists. Many were brutalized. Most were charged with "parading without a permit" and released the next day. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice denounced the pre-emptive arrests as illegal and a political move to chill the turnout for larger, permitted demonstrations planned on the weekend. While the stated aim of the anti-capitalist protest was to block traffic and disrupt access to the IMF/World Bank site, the D.C. and national media joined the police in violence- baiting the demonstrators. Up to 15,000 people turned out Sept. 28 for a demonstration against IMF/World Bank policies sponsored by the Mobilization for Global Justice. Again, police tried to repress the legal, permitted march by boxing in protesters. Seven were arrested. Unfortunately, organizers of this event blocked anti-war speakers from the podium. But signs held by many in the crowd showed that they knew that stopping the war on Iraq is the cutting edge of fighting capitalist globalization. Baltimore community organizer Sharon Black told WW that leaflets for the Oct. 26 anti-war march got a warm reception from the crowd. ANSWER activists got out 6,000 flyers. On Sept. 28, over 5,000 people marched through Washington's Embassy Row to Vice President Dick Cheney's residence. They chanted, "No blood for oil" and "Stop the war against Iraq!" BUSH RUNS, BUT CAN'T HIDE President George W. Bush made himself conveniently absent from the White House while the IMF/World Bank protests were underway. But even as he toured Western states raising money for Republican candidates, he couldn't hide from anti-war protests. In Denver Sept. 27, some 3,000 people turned out to protest the "all war, all the time" president. They marched from the Denver City and County Building to the Adam's Mark Hotel, where Bush was speaking at a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser. They chanted, "No war for oil! No war for votes!" Organizers pointed out that the Adam's Mark Hotel is the subject of an NAACP boycott because of the management's racist policies. Hundreds of protesters met Bush later that day in Phoenix and Flagstaff, some yelling, "Warmonger go home." Joe Herzog, a 51-year-old worker who described himself to the Arizona Daily Star as a "former Republican," came to the Phoenix protest. Herzog said, "My 401(k) has continued to drop and I want to know what these candidates facing election will do for me, but this war has taken so many important issues off the front page, it's all I hear about." Opposition to war with Iraq was also visible at demonstrations in solidarity with the people of Palestine in San Francisco Sept. 28 and Chicago Sept. 29. (See separate article in this issue.) Sinnott told WW that the Oct. 26 march in Washington will begin at Constitution Gardens, adjacent to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. "We chose this location because we want to show that this is another war that the U.S. government is lying to us about, just like in Vietnam. If we stand by and allow it to happen, then there could be another memorial for another 50,000 dead U.S. troops, not to mention hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. "We want to show that the answer isn't to depend on Congress or the UN, which is under the U.S. government's thumb." She concluded, "We have to build a strong people's movement that can take on the war propaganda coming from the White House." For more information on the Oct. 26 demonstrations, visit www.internationalanswer.org. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. 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