What We Can Do to End the War
By Tara Lohan, AlterNet. Posted October 26, 2007.
With 11 actions planned across the country, the U.S. will show this
Saturday that we will not be still or silent until our troops are
home. Will you join us?
The majority of Americans and Iraqis oppose the U.S.-led occupation of
Iraq. Polls indicate that 70 percent of Americans are against the war
and over 80 percent of Iraqis want coalition troops out of their
country. In the four and a half years since the invasion, nearly 4,000
U.S. soldiers have been killed and nearly 30,000 seriously wounded.
There have also been an estimated 1 million Iraqi civilians killed and
over 4 million have fled for their lives.
The war has racked up a bill of over $600 billion of our taxpayer
money and yet left Iraq a country in economic shambles and political
unrest, and with a population living in fear of daily violence. (Check
out the video to the right.)
For the duration of this war, people in the United States have raised
their voice in opposition. They have marched, signed petitions, held
vigils and written to their elected officials. But it hasn't been
enough. Yet.
This Saturday, Oct. 27, United for Peace and Justice, the largest
anti-war coalition in the United States, has organized 11 massive
anti-war rallies to take place around the nation. Participating
organizations include veterans and military family groups, as well as
hundreds of national and local peace groups.
Leslie Cagan, national coordinator of United for Peace and Justice
said, "Never before have we seen anything like this. In regional
centers throughout the nation people will gather in an expression of
the widespread opposition to the war. This war, with its senseless
death and destruction in Iraq, is draining our communities as
resources we need here at home are squandered every day. It is time to
bring our troops home."
Tens of thousands are expected to participate in the coordinated day
of opposition to the Bush administration's war in Iraq. The protest
will take place in 11 regional centers including New York, Boston, New
Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Jonesborough (TN), Seattle, Salt
Lake City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Orlando. Several other cities
are conducting smaller gatherings for those who are unable to travel.
Nancy Lessin, co-founder of Military Families Speak Out, stated, "In
the coming weeks, Congress will decide whether or not to continue
funding the war in Iraq for another year. Military families and Iraq
veterans will participate in the regional demonstrations on Oct. 27 to
join people from around the country to remind Congress that funding
this war is killing our troops."
The actions are designed to send a message both to the Bush
administration and to Congress, said Cagan. They hope to give people a
platform to express their opposition to the war in Iraq and to the
im****tance of channeling that money to local communities where health
care and education have been cut across the country. It will also be a
place to raise awareness to prevent another ill-conceived war, this
time with Iran.
"The timing is im****tant," said Cagan. "It has been almost a year
since voters said loud and clear that we want this war to end.
Everyone saw the midterm elections last year as a mandate to end the
war. And it is almost exactly a year until the next election. As we
gear up for 2008, we want to be clear that the anti-war movement is
not going away and we need to keep putting ourselves out there."
This is no longer Bush's war, said Cagan, but Congress' also since it
has had a year to take action.
Organizers of the event hope to not just remind people of the enduring
horrors in Iraq but to generate hope and energize people to go back
into their communities and keep working at the local level.
Cagan says she understands the frustrations that have come from people
who've been marching and opposing this war for years with little
positive response from our government. "Some people are fed up with
protests but are even more fed up with the war," said Cagan. "We have
few vehicles to express our opposition, and we need to use every one
we have. We'll never know the lives we may have saved or the
destruction we may have prevented that resulted from our previous
anti-war protests. But I do know that the minute we stop, things will
get worse."
Even if you've marched before -- even if you've marched 20 times since
March 2003, it is still im****tant to get out there on Oct. 27 and let
our elected officials and the entire world know that our country wants
our troops out of Iraq.
"Being a visible, public, bold movement does have an impact on
policymakers," said Cagan. "And it will ripple across the country and
get more people engaged in a whole range of activities."
For more information about the Oct. 27 actions, visit Oct.27.org or
United for Peace, and check out the video to the right.
See: http://www.alternet.org/
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