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Join Iraq
Vets in the Historic March Against the Iraq War on September 15, 2007
By Kevin Zeese
ccun.org, September 12, 2007
The People
vs. the Establishment:
Peace March
on September 15th Scares the Powers that Be
Because
the People Have The Power to End the War
The
Washington
,
DC
establishment is coming to a conclusion – we’re staying in
Iraq
. There is only one thing that can change that conclusion – the power of
the people. The March against the war, scheduled for
September 15th, is a unique opportunity for anti-war activists to
stand in coalition with Iraq V
et
erans who oppose the war and have taken the lead on this historic march.
If you have not made plans to be in
Washington
,
DC
on September 15th make them now. The
establishment wants the people to go away, to give up in the midst of the
hopelessness of the two-party, corporate government. The
Democrats are joining the Republicans to ensure
Iraq
is the center of
U.S.
military and political operations until oil runs out in the
Middle East
.
You can see the fear of the people
in the overreaction to efforts to advertise the September 15th
event. Last week federal police manhandled Marine Mom
Tina Richards and Adam Kokesh, co-chair of Iraq V
et
s Against the War, arresting them for putting up posters about the
demonstration (link to video below). This comes after $35,000 dollars in
fines being levied against organizers of the protest. These actions show the
establishment fears of the people and should encourage people to turn out
and use their power. A big turnout on the 15th
is standing in the way of plans to keep
U.S.
military and corporations in
Iraq
for the rest of our lives and they are doing their best to suppress the
turnout.
They should be afraid. The
15th is going to be a dramatic day that kicks off a week of
important anti-war advocacy. At the demonstration Iraq V
et
erans Against the War and V
et
erans for Peace will be leading a giant die-in symbolizing the mass deaths
caused by the
U.S.
military action in
Iraq
. Sign
up to participate in this historic die-in.
The 15th is a key date
because it comes in a week when
Washington
,
DC
will be buzzing over the congressional testimony of General P
et
raeus and Ambassador Crocker on ‘progress’ in
Iraq
. The establishment political figures in
Washington
,
D.C.
are all waiting to hear from P
et
raeus even though he has shown himself to be a solid Bush Republican.
Indeed, before the last presidential election he wrote an op-ed
in the Washington Post proclaiming the progress being made in
Iraq
. At that time he was in charge of training Iraqi troops,
a project that has still not been accomplished, despite the rosy picture he
painted 3 years ago. P
et
raeus and Croker will provide the fig leaf that allows the Democrats to join
with the Republicans in continuing the occupation.
According to a Washington Post poll
a majority of Americans believe P
et
raeus will exaggerate the ‘progress’ in
Iraq
. They read the newspapers and are able to g
et
a glimmer of the truth – a truth very inconsistent then what P
et
raeus and Crocker will report. They know that civilian
deaths are rising, the
Green Zone is shelled on a daily basis often multiple times each day,
Iraq has not
met 13 of 18 benchmarks, U.S.
deaths are up compared to a year ago, and Iraqis are without electricity,
water, oil,
food, medicine and living an unbearable life forcing millions to leave the
country and millions more to be internally displaced. But
when the P
et
raeus-Crocker duo sing their rosy tune it will provide Congress with the
cover to give Bush another $190 billion to continue the occupation.
The September 15th
demonstration is the beginning of a week
of actions that will culminate in a major action
on the 20th. September 15th and
the following week is bringing tog
et
her a broad coalition of anti-war groups because we all recognize that this
is the key time for the peace movement to l
et
elected officials know that continuing the occupation of Iraq is
unacceptable.
If you oppose the war, this is the
pivotal week to participate. Your voice is needed. Come
to
Washington
,
DC
and join in these events. The military-corporate
establishment has shown it fears the people. L
et
’s show them they are right to do so. It is time for
the majority of Americans to g
et
what they want – a rapid end to the occupation of
Iraq
.
For more information visit:
September 15th, March on
Washington
website at http://sept15.org.
Video of the arrest of Adam Kokesh
and Tina Richards at http://youtube.com/watch?v=5EAfPgX7gs0.
Kevin Zeese is executive director
of Voters for Peace (www.VotersForPeace.US)
and executive director of Democracy Rising (www.DemocracyRising.US).
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