| All Out For March 20 Antiwar Actions! |
| Written by The Organizer | |
| Saturday, 06 February 2010 | |
|
All Out For March
20 Antiwar Actions!
The escalation of the war in Afghanistan is quickly reducing illusions in the Obama administration. Nationally known figures and organizations such as Michael Moore and Veterans for Peace, who had hoped the election of Obama might lead to peace, have issued open letters to Obama expressing their disillusionment and disgust. Throughout the country, protests were held on December 3, the day after the escalation was announced, on very short notice and with only online publicity. Though still modest in size, the turnout rivaled October 17 actions that involved months of planning.
Despite modest
improvement in certain financial indicators -- hailed by media and
politicians as "recovery" -- the economic situation for U.S.
workers continues to worsen, with unemployment at the highest levels
since the 1930s, and foreclosures and homelessness still on the
rise.
Hardest hit, as
always, are those who were already at the bottom of the economic
ladder before the current crisis: African-Americans, Latinos,
immigrants, and youth. Sadly, for the first time since the
beginning of the current Iraq war, the military has met its
recruitment goals for 2009, demonstrating the power of the "economic
draft," as youth face extreme cutbacks in education and no jobs, and
their families can no longer afford to keep supporting them as they
enter adulthood.
Already, the
majority of the people in this country opposes the war in Afghanistan
and is beginning to notice the link between military spending and the
economic crisis. In California, where college students, faculty, and
campus workers are engaged in a militant movement against drastic
budget cuts and tuition increases, student organizations and unions
are issuing statements demanding U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and
Afghanistan.
While political and
moral opposition to the murderous imperialist oppression of others has
driven much of the antiwar effort thus far, the recognition that
ending these wars is in the direct interest of working class people
here at home offers an opportunity to build a movement of much greater
size and power. Every dollar spent killing people elsewhere is a
dollar that could have been spent on education, health care, and
housing.
ANSWER, USLAW, the
National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and scores of
other coalitions nationwide have called to mobilize on March
20.
Already, large local
ad-hoc March 20 coalitions are forming in Washington, San Francisco,
and elsewhere, to begin planning what are intended to be massive
protests. Key to success will be gaining the support of the growing
student movement, labor, and communities of color. -- The
Editors
***********************
Obama Steps Up
War in Afghanistan:
"Say It Isn't
So!"
On December 1, 2009,
Obama announced that he will send 30,000 more troops for Afghanistan
-- at a cost of $30 billion per year.
This decision was hotly contested, even among the leadership circles of the administration. Initially, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, opposed the surge, arguing instead for funds to prop the Afghan army and police and to rebuild the war-torn economy. After heavy pressure from the generals and from Obama himself, the U.S. ambassador acquiesced and expressed his support for the 30,000 new troops. This decision was strongly opposed by the peace activists and organizations that comprised a huge sector of Obama's grassroots supporters. Michael Moore, a staunch Obama supporter, expressed this opposition best in an Open Letter that he sent to Obama on the eve of his speech at West Point. Moore wrote: "If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8 pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do -- destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they've always heard is true -- that all politicians are alike. I simply can't believe you're about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn't so."
"I Feel
Betrayed"
Similarly, Kathy Smith, a mother of a son who was severely injured in Iraq and who is now an organizer with Military Families Speak Out, told a crowd of labor activists gathered at the National Assembly of US Labor Against the War in Chicago on December 5: "I feel betrayed by the President that WE helped elect. The unions played a huge part in Obama's victory. "My son Tomas, nearing the end of his rehab here in Chicago, sat in the VIP tent in Grant's park with Brad Pitt, Oprah, Tammy Duckworth and the like. He was a member of a group called Vets for Obama. He cried openly because he was a part of the change. He had hope. He truly blamed Bush for not only his being shot in Iraq, but for the halt to stem-cell research. Obama was very clear in saying that he would immediately start bringing the troops home.
"I have spoken
adamantly all along that Obama just needed a little more time to fix
Bush's mistakes. Now it becomes his mess. I am done defending Obama.
If 30,000 isn't a big enough number, how about 30 billion -- that is
what it will cost to keep those troops in Afghanistan for one year.
This could pay for 600,000 jobs at $50,000 per year each. That would
go a long way toward fixing the broken economy. I imagine if 600,000
people got jobs tomorrow that paid 50 K a year. they might buy a new
car or a new house might be built -- sounds like that would keep some
union members in jobs."
USLAW Promotes
Fight Against War
At its National
Assembly in Chicago in early December, USLAW delegates voted to oppose
the war in Afghanistan and to demand the immediate withdrawal of all
U.S. troops and military contractors from that country. They also
voted to support the antiwar movement in mass bicoastal demonstrations
against the war on March 20, 2010 -- the 8th anniversary of the U.S.
war on Iraq.
Also significant, the USLAW assembly approved a work plan for 2010 that mandated the incoming leadership to lobby the top leaders of the AFL-CIO and Change to Win, as well as the main Black, Latino and antiwar organizations, to issue a call for a huge mass demonstration in Washington, D.C. at the earliest possible date, to press the demands for jobs, peace, and justice.
Union leaders and
activists told the assembly that more than ever it is necessary to
link the fight against the war -- and against war funding -- to the
fight for jobs, healthcare for all, free and quality public education,
affordable public housing and an end to foreclosures and evictions,
and more.
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