Posted by Sadie from D006069.N1.Vanderbilt.Edu (129.59.6.69) on Sunday, March 30, 2003 at 2:14PM :
April 12 International Day of Action - Only the People Can Stop the War
Dear VoteNoWar Member:
On Saturday, April 12, join the tens of thousands of people of conscience who will March on Washington, DC and surround the White House. The whole world is watching to see if the people of the United States can intensify the power of the anti-war movement at the moment that the Bush Administration is intending to slaughter tens of thousands of Iraqi people and occupy their country and wantonly sacrifice the lives of U.S. servicemen and women.
VoteNoWar members from all across the country are organizing busses and car caravans, handing out leaflets, putting up posters, and doing everything that it takes to bring mass united pressure from the people to force the government to bring the troops home and end this vicious assault. We urge every anti-war organizer and concerned person to bring your friends, neighbors and family members to this all-important mobilization on April 12. (For bus and other transportation information, see below.) Together we can stop this war.
The Iraqi people and the U.S. GI's who have been killed and wounded and are suffering, are the casualties of George W. Bush's unprovoked war of aggression. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families of all those who have been killed and wounded as a consequence of this illegal imperialist war.
On April 12 -- in addition to the National March on Washington DC and joint actions in San Francisco and Los Angeles -- massive and coordinated demonstrations will take place around the world, in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Please help build the April 12 Stop the War Demonstration in the U.S. In England, the Stop the War Coalition UK -- the group that organized over 1.5 million people to demonstrate in London on February 15 -- will hold their next national demonstration on April 12. Protests are already scheduled for Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Spain and Sweden, in addition to England, Germany and the U.S. Other protests are currently in the planning stages and will be announced soon.
The world is in a state of Shock and Revulsion as the murderous Bush Administration follows through on its promise to "Shock and Awe" the Iraqi people by dropping thousands of bombs and missiles on their capital, a city that is home to 4.5 million human beings. Baghdad has been bombed relentlessly, terrorizing the occupants of that city and of the entire country. U.S. "precision" bombs have slammed into poor residential neighborhoods in Baghdad and busy shopping streets and markets.
U.S. and British troops are leaving a "trail of death" in their wake as they invade and bomb Iraq and reporters describe charred corpses littering the roads to Baghdad as well as in its streets. U.S. and British forces have laid siege to Basra, bombing and destroying the electrical supply to the main water plant and blocking the Iraqi food distribution system into Basra, a city of 1.7 million.
The people of Basra are now starving and without water. Various U.N. agencies state that Basra is in humanitarian crises and on the verge of a major cholera outbreak and massive child mortality. This crisis is caused by the U.S. attack coupled with the effect of 12 years of U.S.-led U.N. economic sanctions. The United States government is telling the people of Basra that they may only have food and water if they rise up against the Iraqi government and accept the U.S. occupation.
U.S. and British forces have stopped and rerouted food and medicine from entering the city that the Iraqi people have already paid for themselves under the U.N. oil for food program. In an act of extreme cruelty, the U.S. is blockading the city, depriving the residents of food and water, bombing and firing upon them, and then insisting that they may only have rations from the hands of U.S. and British troops, when they decide to provide the rations with appropriate photo opportunities.
In past months, massive demonstrations on January 18 and February 15-16 were the decisive factor in changing the political climate contributing to the political isolation of George W. Bush, Tony Blair and their war plans. There have been many other huge demonstrations in the United States and around the world on October 26, March 15 and March 22. The whole world is now taking to the streets in almost daily protests. April 12 will be another opportunity for a coming together in vast numbers to show the continuing and growing power of the anti-war movement that has shifted the world-wide momentum and can stop this war.
At this critical moment, we need your help.We want to express our gratitude to all those of you who have contributed, and for those who have not had a chance to make a contribution, we urge you to consider doing what you can. Without all of your continuing support the movement could not continue to grow and we could not carry out this important work.
Today our hearts are filled with both anger at the war and sadness for the suffering people of Iraq who are enduring this unprovoked terrorist attack, and for the grieving families of the sons and daughters of America who Bush has sent to kill and be killed for his war of aggression and conquest. But sadness and grief should be coupled with a profound understanding that the sudden emergence of a new global movement offers the best and only hope that the U.S. government's plans for militarism, war and domination -- the doctrine of endless war -- can and will be overcome. In the days ahead we must intensify the struggle against this cruel war.
In solidarity,
All of Us at VoteNoWar
-- Sadie
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