Hi. I think we can add Mother Nature to the endorsers of today's rally. -Ed
From: Leslie Cagan Subject: Reports of third anniversary activities The number of anti-war events around the 3rd anniversary keeps growing. In the 48 hours since we put out our last call to list activities in our website, another 100 events have been added. We've now identified over 600 activities in all 50 states, and it's not too late to add yours! In towns and cities around the country people are gathering to publicly voice their opposition to the war and occupation in Iraq. (The full list is at http://www.unitedforpeace.org) We're writing to urge you to send us short reports about your events as soon as possible after they are over. We'd love to get the following information: * name of your group, with your contact information * a brief description of your event, including an estimate of how many people attended * what kind of response you might have gotten from others viewing your event or activity * how this compares to the turnout at previous anti-war events in your community * anything distinctive about your event * what press coverage you received, including links and/or text of coverage is possible * any police problems We would also like to know if your group used any of the materials UFPJ had available. Were they useful? What could have made them better? And if you have been using the petition, how many signatures have you gathered so far? Because of the volume of responses we expect to receive, please do not send photos. However, we welcome links to websites that feature photos, reportbacks, or news coverage of your events. Please send this informationto us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- the sooner the better, as we will be responding to media inquiries in the coming days and want to present as full a picture as possible of what has happened around the country. peace, Leslie Cagan National Coordinator United for Peace and Justice *** Troops Out Now Coalition - Mar 16, 2006 http://www.TroopsOutNow.org Read the Editorial in today's NYC Metro: http://ny.metro.us/metro/blog/my_view/entry/Islamophobia_only_helps_Big_Oil/1580.html An Appeal to all who are opposed to the war: *ON THE 3RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR - WE MUST BE IN THE STREETS!* People all over the world will be marking the 3rd anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq this weekend by marching against the war, *what will you be doing?* Here in the U.S. thousands will march in Times Square New York City, LA, Boston, DC, and scores of other places including a march from Mobile to New Orleans. *What will you be doing?* In *New York City on Saturday March 18th*, thousands will assemble in Times Square at 1:00 pm to demand the *immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of all troops from Iraq*. We will then march to the UN to tell the Security Council that instead of cooperating with Washington's plans to attack Iran, they should be talking about New Orleans, and the international laws the U.S. government has violated in the treatment of the primarily poor and African American victims, survivors and evacuees of hurricane Katrina. Where will you be on Saturday afternoon? For all of those who haven't yet planned to participate in antiwar protests this weekend - we urge you to make plans right now to swell the numbers of those who will be in the streets on Saturday and Sunday demanding and end to the war against the people of Iraq, and the war at home against the poor. Nothing could be more important, more timely, more necessary than coming out to demand "Troops Out Now!" this weekend. There is a contradiction that can only be corrected through action, because passivity will only make the problem more glaring and dangerous. This contradiction is that, on one hand, the overwhelming majority of the people of the world, of Iraq, of the United States, (including the troops who have been sent to Iraq and Afganistan to kill or die for oil) want the war to end. On the other hand, the war-makers are not only determined to continue the war and occupation, but to expand the war throughout the entire Middle East-- with the next target being Iran. The fact that the war was based on lies about weapons of mass destruction is well known. The killing and carnage of the last 3 years has revealed much more of the awful truth. The motive that connects the occupation of Iraq and Afganistan, the war plans against Iran, and the U.S.-made tanks that led that latest Israili military assault on a Palestinian prison in Jericho are not a "war against terror" or some ancient "feud between religions". The thread that connects all of this is a drive to reconquer, recolonize and redivide the Middle East. It's not just Bush and the neo-cons who are behind this. This military madness that is robbing social needs to purchase death is systemic to the nature of capitalism--expand, exploit and plunder by any means necessary. *The problem isn't just addiction to oil, it is Wall Streets' addiction to profits.* We have also learned that the Democratic members of Congress (even if they win a majority in next fall) will not do anything to stop the war, despite the fact that every poll points to growing, overwhelming opposition to the occupation. Neither will the United Nations. The only thing that's going to stop the war is what a February 17, 2003 /New York Times/ editorial called the "Second Super Power," referring to the 20 to 30 million people who filled the streets on every continent during world wide antiwar protests 3 years ago on February 15 and 16. True, we did not stop the war during that weekend in Febuary 2003, one month before the invasion. Nor could one or even 10 big protests. What we did do in the course of those huge protests is unleash the only power whose sustained and active pressure, anger, and militancy is capable of ultimately shutting down the war. What we demonstrated to the world when we filled the streets with antiwar human energy is that it's the government's war, not ours! When we march together in the streets for all of the world see, it smashes the racism and anti-islam xenophobia that the war makers feed us to divide and conquer, and it engenders hope for the world, a hope premised on the time-tested certainty that determined people power will ultimately prevail over the crimes that governments commit in the interest of the greedy billionaires. *So don't stay home on Saturday, seize the time, claim the streets, and reclaim the future.* *Join us in the streets Saturday March 18!* For a full list of local actions, see http://www.troopsoutnow.org/m18orgcents.shtml *Troops Out Now Coaltion* *** Statement by Iraqi expatriates on the Third Anniversary of the Occupation of Iraq March 18, 2006 We the undersigned expatriate Iraqi workers, students, scientists, academics, writers, artists, professionals and business people, witnessing with horror the destruction of our people under an illegal foreign occupation, stand together with the peace movement throughout the world in commemorating three years of a brutal military occupation that has killed and maimed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions, blighted the lives of an entire population and spoiled their environment, shattered our country's physical infrastructure, its civic institutions and its life-support systems, assaulted our culture and desecrated sacred sanctuaries, violated people with deviant cruelty and racist intent, implanted mercenaries and death squads, and encouraged corruption and sedition that threaten us as a people. We support the call for world-wide demonstrations on 18 March and the demand for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq, the dismantling of US bases, and an end to US domination of economic and social policies and its interference in domestic Iraqi affairs. We believe that the occupation is the main cause of insecurity in Iraq, encouraging mistrust among Iraqis, and fomenting sectarian strife and ethnic conflict. The occupation has nurtured corruption and fostered gang crime, and it bears primary responsibility for the activities of murderous sectarian terrorists and criminals. The US occupation prevents Iraqis from overcoming the legacy of 35 years of corrupt and vicious dictatorship and of decades of sanctions and war. It promises nothing except more war of one kind or another for a generation to come. We do not believe that the occupation acts as an insurance against civil war, but that sectarian attacks and the threat of civil war are being used to prolong the occupation. The Iraqi people have a legitimate inalienable right, under International Law, to resist the occupation. We call upon all Iraqi civil society and political activists, community and religious leaders to cease forthwith all meetings and communications with US, British and other occupation officials and military commanders in Iraq, and to pursue instead a national Iraqi dialogue that is inclusive of the genuine patriotic resistance. The United States must not be allowed to wage its war by proxy, and Iraqi security forces will only gain legitimacy if they break links with the US occupation and dedicate themselves to the service of the Iraqi people. We call upon officials in the new Iraqi military and police, together with civilian officials in government, local authorities, public institutions and state enterprises to end co-operation with US and British occupation forces and to boycott all US and British official personnel, except for withdrawal negotiations. The objective must be to terminate the abnormal relationship between Iraq and the United States and to establish a healthy state-to-state relationship that is based on Iraqi sovereignty, independence, mutual respect and the principles of international legality. Peaceful resistance, resistance by other means, and non-cooperation with occupation forces and officials must be a prelude for the new Iraqi Parliament to remove the fig leaf of legitimacy from the forces of occupation. Only then would the new state institutions and political process gain respect and acceptance. Iraqis want unity, peace and stability in order to rebuild their shattered lives and to pursue a national programme of reconstruction and development. The American and British peoples and the whole world can help Iraq by exerting maximum pressure upon the US and British administrations to remove all their troops and bases, along with the forces of the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" from Iraq; to acknowledge the injustice committed against the people of Iraq; and to help a unified democratic fully independent Iraq in a reconstruction effort. Professor Abbas Alnasrawi Vermont, USA Professor Tareq Ismael Alberta, Canada Dr Scheherazade Hassan Paris, France Dr Sami Albanna Bethesda, MD, USA Dr Kamil Mahdi Exeter, UK Dr Mohammed Alwan Boston, USA Sami Ramadani London, UK Professor Kamal Majid London, UK Ghazi Sabir-Ali Bath, UK Dr Ahmed Al-Kawaz Dr Haifa Jawad Birmingham, UK Ja'far al-Samarrai Toronto, Canada Sabah Jawad London, UK Hani Lazim London, UK Fenik Adham London, UK Mayada Akrawi Geneva, Switzerland Dr Ali Al-Assam London, UK Dr Nada Shabout Texas, USA Valerie Sabir-Ali Bath, UK Dr Nadje Al-Ali Exeter, UK Rashad Salim London, UK Zaid Albanna San Francisco, CA, USA Ali AlShahwani New Zealand Badia Albanna Takoma Park, MD, USA Nesreen Melek Toronto, Canada Mumtaz Kamala UK Nadhim Al-Qazzaz UK Dr Jenan Ismael Texas, USA *** TODAY, Saturday, 3/18, March and Rally Commemorating the Third Anniversary of the U.S. War and Occupation in Iraq. March starts at 12:00 noon at the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Endorsers include all major L.A. area peace groups as well as rally speakers/endorsers such as State Assembly Leader Gloria Romero, Gold Star Familes for Peace, Academy Award winner Paul Haggis ("Crash"), peace activist Ron Kovic, actor Maria Bello, local labor leaders and clergy. Entertainment by Dwight Tribble and others.The media sponsor for this event is Air America. For more info: 323/464-1636. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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