U.S. Protesters Target 'Pillars of War'
NEW YORK, Mar 19 (OneWorld) - Tens of thousands of people are taking to the streets in major towns and cities across the United States today to express their anger and frustration with the Bush administration's policy on Iraq.
"It is time to end this war and bring all the troops home," said Leslie Cagan, coordinator of United for Peace and Justice, a coalition of peace groups that has led dozens of antiwar protests in the past five years. "We don't want to be back here next year," she added in a statement ahead of the protest in Washington, DC. "We don't want there to be a sixth anniversary." Since the invasion, which started with the aerial bombing of Baghdad on Mar. 19, 2003, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed. The war has cost the United States billions of dollars and almost 4,000 soldiers. Cagan, who has been arrested on several occasions for organizing and participating in antiwar marches and rallies, said many demonstrators were ready to get involved in acts of civil disobedience.
"You cannot collect our tax money and then hand it over to the government to use for death and destruction," Cagan said. "We will be...in front of the IRS literally attempting to block the functioning of the agency." Protesters are also due outside the office buildings of major television networks. Activists charge that corporate media outlets such as ABC, CBS, CNN, and Fox News are directly responsible for the perpetuation of the U.S. military presence in Iraq because of what the demonstrators say is uncritical and unfair coverage. The most recent coverage of Iraq by the U.S.-based commercial media largely suggests that the Bush administration is justified in its claims that "the surge is working." However, the latest reports from the United Nations and humanitarian organizations tell a different story.
Describing the current situation as "disastrous," the group held the U.S.-led forces and the armed groups opposed to the Iraqi government responsible for unabated violence, including bombings, suicide attacks, kidnappings, and torture. According to the report, entitled "Carnage and Despair: Iraq Five Years On," since early 2006, violence has intensified and become more sectarian, which has contributed to the current total displacement of over 4 million people. The report suggests that civilians remain at risk from both U.S. and Iraqi soldiers, with many killed by excessive force and tens of thousands detained without charge or trial. Women are becoming increasingly vulnerable to physical violence. According to aid group Oxfam International, about 70 percent of Iraqis have no access to safe drinking water and 43 percent are living on the equivalent of less than a dollar per day. Oxfam's estimates suggest that at least 8 million Iraqis, including a large proportion of women and children, are in need of emergency assistance. The group says about 28 percent of Iraqi children are currently suffering from malnutrition. According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), about 4.5 million Iraqis have been uprooted by the conflict. These include over 2.5 million displaced within Iraq. Some 2 million Iraqis are currently living in Syria or Jordan as refugees.
"Americans are willing to go the distance, skip work, and even spend precious time away from their families to deliver the message to the war profiteers," said Jodie Evans, co-founder of CODEPINK, a women's group famous for protesting in creative ways. The group will carry a mobile bed, pajamas, and pink-slips to the White House today, with its members chanting "Wake up America." OneWorld TV: The World at the Invasion Global Perspectives About the War in Iraq UK Antiwar Video Diary Why Students Are Against the War Shielding Iraq
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"About the US occupation of Iraq"Author:
William Wood
Time: 03/20/2008 03:55
Comment: I hope the world and the US leaders hear all this discontent in the fight to end this terrible policy of the Bush Administration. A few years ago I would not have felt comfortable speaking out agianst this war. Things are changing now and more and more people are emboldend to speak. This government became the terroist they claimed to be fighting by trampling the Bill of Rights of this great country. I was in fear of it for too many years. Vice President Cheney and his crew are making way to much money. The purported oil revenue supposed to pay for this folly is going into the hands of the much out-sourced contractors who have no oversite. Actually the US taxpayers and not oil revenue is funding the whole thing. Did the people not learn from the Afgan-Russian war. Will the treasury go broke before the Bush Policy is stoped? How many more lives will have to be lost? How many more men and woman have to be maimed? What of the poor children suffering the loss of parents or their maimed bodies coming home? Senator's Stop The War
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