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All Out for Wednesday, March 19
5th Anniv. Iraq War Protest in Chicago!
Coordinated with 100s of protests around
the world
In a few days, Federal Plaza in Chicago will be
filled with people taking a stand against the Iraq War and the anti-people
policies of Washington. We are urging everybody to make their voice heard and
join the fully permitted mass march and rally that starts at 6 pm. To find out more info on March 19
scroll down or click the links to the right.
Why we are marching on March 19 and why you should make every
effort to join us
Since October 2001 the U.S. has been at war
with Afghanistan and then Iraq. The U.S. has also backed invasions of Lebanon,
Palestine, Somalia, Haiti and Ecuador. Economic war in the form of blockades and sanctions has
been waged against Iran, Syria, Palestine, Sudan, Cuba and North
Korea. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have spent over 4 trillion on
war since 2001 - every penny of it is spent to further the interest of the
corporations, not on "Defense."
One in three Iraqis - 9 million people - are dead
or refugees as a result of U.S. wars and sanctions on Iraq that span 17 years.
Though
the corporate media never mentions the real number, total U.S. casualties in
Iraq are now over 250,000—a quarter of a million. The number of confirmed
U.S. deaths is very close to 4,000. More than 60,000 U.S. soldiers have been
wounded, or suffered such serious injury or illness that they had to be
air-transported out of Iraq for treatment. And that does not count the 70,000+
Iraq veterans on disability for severe hearing loss, the estimated 100,000
suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or the tens of thousands believed
to have as-yet-undiagnosed Traumatic Brain Injury. These numbers will continue
to grow each day that the occupation continues.
Last year Cook County closed 8 badly needed
Health Clinics and laid off hundreds of medical professionals. Last month, the
Chicago School Board voted unanimously to close or "restructure" 16
schools. Hundreds of teachers working in the poorest neighborhoods have been
laid off. The hollow excuse for the cuts: "There isn't enough money in the
budget." Similar budget cuts are taking place all over the country.
With the country in an economic recession caused
by war spending and corporate greed and the oil corporations
swimming in wealth, the endless " war on terrorism" and the $400
million
spent on it everyday will greatly increase the suffering of workers and
oppressed communities at home. It is time to end the criminal war and start immediately funding education,
healthcare, housing, and all the other things people need.
We cannot count on the politicians. They are busy
jockeying for political office while the war rolls on and the recession deepens.
Every one of the front running candidates in the presidential campaign has given
their unwavering support for the "war on terrorism". Let's fill the streets and march together on March
19. Only the people can stop the war!
March 19 Mass
Anti-war Protest in
Chicago 3 weeks away
Help Spread the Word Now!
Your help is needed to make
this important nationally-coordinated protest as big as possible. Click the links
on this page to find out how you can help spread the word or go to http://www.chicagoanswer.net/March
19.htm. To
make an urgently needed donation click here!
There
will be hundreds of powerful anti-war actions all over the country
on Wednesday, March 19, the 5th Anniversary of the Iraq war. Every
day that the war continues $400 million will be spent on unnecessary
mass destruction and
death - money that is badly needed for schools, healthcare, housing, to
create jobs and so much more. The war is a catastrophe that should
end immediately, not in 2009, 2013 or 2020. March 19 is an opportunity
to continue building resistance to the war criminals in the Bush Administration, the Pentagon and Congress.
On March 19
in Chicago,
we will be
meeting at Federal Plaza at 6 pm for a spirited mass rally. We will then
march through
the loop to Washington Square Park. On the march we will be carrying
anti-war placards and banners and raising our voices loudly against the war.
March 19 will be a day of vibrant mass action in Chicago powered by the
independent grassroots
anti-war movement and by working people from all communities.
In
the next three weeks there is a lot we can do to get as
many people as possible out for the March 19 demonstration. Every
person reading this e-mail can contribute in a very real way. Volunteer,
donate,
download or get leaflets and pass them out/drop them off places, forward this
e-mail, come to volunteer
meetings. Post March 19 on your blog, facebook,
myspace and all over the internet. Tell everyone you know that taking to the streets on March
19 will send a direct message to the well paid politicians in Washington
DC that the people of this country will not stop organizing opposition to
the war until all foreign occupation troops are out of Iraq.
For more info
or to get involved call 773-463-0311
March 19 in Chicago is endorsed by 8th
Day Center for Justice; Albany Park, North Park, Mayfair Neighbors for
Peace and Justice; American Friends Service Committee / Truth in
Military Recruitment; American Muslims For Palestine; ANSWER Chicago;
Arab American Action Network; Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War;
Chicago Area CodePINK; Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism; Chicago
Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights; Chicago Democratic Socialists of
America; Chicago Labor Against the War; Chicago Media Action; Chicago No
War On Iran Coalition; Chicago Progressive Alliance; Chicago Socialist
Party; Chicago World Cant Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime!; Chicagoland
Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights; Chicagoans Against Apartheid
in Palestine; Chicagoans Against War & Injustice; Christian
Peacemaker Teams - Chicago; Coalition of Pakistani Organizations -
Chicago, IL; Cook County Green Party; DeKalb Interfaith Network for
Peace and Justice; DuPage Against War Now (DAWN); Fox Valley Citizens
for Peace and Justice; Freedom Road Socialist Organization; Gay
Liberation Network; HammerHard MediaWorks; Illinois School of the
Americas Watch; International Socialist Organization; International
Solidarity Movement - Chicago; Iraq Veterans Against the War; Labor
Beat; Labor Express; Labor's Militant Voice; Muslim American Society
Freedom Foundation; National Lawyers Guild - Chicago Chapter; Near West
Citizens for Peace & Justice; Neighbors for Peace; Nicaragua
Solidarity Network; North Shore Coalition for Peace and Justice; North
Suburban Peace Initiative; Northwest Peace & Education Project;
Northwest Suburban NOW; Oak Park Coalition for Truth and Justice; Oak
Park Friends Meeting; Palestine Solidarity Group; Party for Socialism
and Liberation; Pax Christie - St. Gertrude's; Peace Pledge Chicago;
Sangat; South Siders for Peace; St. Harold's Community; UIC Students for
a Democratic Society; Voices for Creative Non-Violence; Wellington
Avenue United Church of Christ
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Please
read this important appeal for
urgently needed donations
On the night of March 19th
there will be a very important protest against the Iraq war in Chicago. It is
coordinated with worldwide protests on the 5th Anniversary.
Dozens of anti-war, social justice and community groups are actively building for the
action.
We are urging all ANSWER
supporters and friends to do whatever they can to help make March 19 as big and
as successful as possible.
This year will mark the 5th
anniversary of a brutal war and occupation that should have never started. The
Iraq war is the second longest war in U.S. history. The
occupation of Iraq will end, but only as a result of the direct intervention of
the people. The politicians in both parties have proved time and time again
with their actions over the last seven years that they are fully committed to
the phony “war on terror” that is destroying millions of lives in the name
of domination and greed.
This year - while the war will
kill tens of thousands of Iraqis and hundreds of U.S. troops - the politicians
will be concerned solely with securing millions in campaign contributions to get
elected and not on fulfilling the will of the people to end the war. A war that will
cost over $200 billion this year alone!
The economy is in ruins
and millions of working people, especially from poor and disenfranchised
communities, are suffering as a direct result of the war spending and the
criminal slashing of badly needed social services and safety nets. What
people need now is help through tough economic times. They need jobs, food,
healthcare, housing and so much more - not what the leading presidential
candidates of both parties are promising: decades of military spending for an
occupation that virtually all Iraqis oppose.
Staying in the streets and
building an independent people’s movement is more important than ever. In
order to keep building this movement ANSWER Chicago needs your help now.
If you are
committed to ending the war, we
are counting on you to make the largest donation you possibly can at this time.
We need to cover
substantial costs related to permits, insurance, sound, stage and many other
necessary expenses for the day of the demonstration. Whether you can
donate $5 or $50, $1 or $1,000 we need your donations now! Every
single dollar will be a great aid in making March 19 a big success.
Click
here to make a donation now! Call ANSWER
Chicago at 773-463-0311 to donate over the phone or mail a check to
Chicago ANSWER at 3334 W. Lawrence #202, Chicago, IL 60625.
We also need your help to
promote the March protest. ANSWER volunteers plan to distribute at least 50,000
leaflets.
If you cannot help us leaflet, then please
consider making a donation to help with the production of leaflets, stickers and
posters. To
find out more about getting leaflets, volunteering and helping to build March 19
click here.
Click
here to make a much needed donation now!
We’ll see you on the streets
on March 19! Together, we will end the
war!
John Beacham
Coordinator – ANSWER Chicago
http://www.chicagoanswer.net
773-463-0311
Let's march on the 5th Anniversary of the Iraq War
Act Now! Vote with your
feet on March 19!
March 19 is the 5th
Anniversary of the criminal U.S. War on Iraq. In direct opposition
to the will of the people, the White House and Congress
continue to escalate the brutal occupation of Iraq. Just a week ago, Washington unleashed the largest
bombing campaign of the war—terrorizing a Baghdad suburb.
Millions of Iraqis have been killed and made
refugees by the war. 4,000
U.S. soldiers from mostly poor families have died. According to the
Veterans Administration over 100,000 soldiers have been wounded or
disabled as a
result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush Administration and
Congress have spent $500 billion on the war. Everyone in power - and
every front running candidate for President - is
talking about continuing the occupation and keeping U.S. troops in Iraq
for years and decades to come.
There are more U.S. troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan now than at anytime since 2003. There are currently 150,000
U.S. troops in Iraq and 28,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. There are
over 25,000 private security mercenaries assisting the occupation of
Iraq. The U.S. has built its
largest embassy ever in Baghdad. Heavily fortified, it stretches for
five square miles. 6,000 employees work in the U.S. embassy in Iraq.
There are 14 permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.
The Pentagon and the U.S.
corporate establishment have no intention of leaving Iraq or the region.
They must be driven out. For over eighty years now,
the Democratic Party and the Republican Party have been completely united on dominating the Middle
East. The twin parties of war are also completely united on attacking Iran and backing Israel's criminal blockade of Gaza.
The Iraq War is the
second longest in U.S. history.
Considering these grim facts
about the callous U.S. aggression against the
people of Iraq and the Middle East, what will it take to win the
struggle to end the war?
What will stop the growing racism, oppression, poverty and injustice at
home which is directly related to the war? These
are very important questions five years into our worldwide campaign to
bring the troops home and to build solidarity with the people of Iraq, Palestine,
Afghanistan, Iran, Korea, the Philippines, Cuba, Venezuela and
all who are under attack from the U.S. corporate war machine.
Global resistance to U.S.
imperialism is growing.
All over the world people are fighting back. For the people of the U.S. to play
their part in a victorious struggle against the war, we must take it upon
ourselves to build new centers of independent power based on
energetic mass organizing and
militant protest activity in the streets. We are confident that the people of the U.S., especially the most
oppressed, will build this kind of movement. It is becoming more
necessary with every passing day.
We are calling on
everyone who is opposed to the war to join us in the streets on
the 5th Anniversary.
Around the country there will be hundreds of
actions on the week of the anniversary, including a march and rally on March 19
in Chicago. No business as usual actions have been called for March 19
by the ANSWER Coalition and many other anti-war organizations. On that
day there will be many actions including walkouts, teach-ins and
civil disobedience. Mass marches have been called for the 5th
Anniversary in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and many other
cities.
Let's Support all 5th
Anniversary actions to End the War. Let's do all we can to make March 19 in Chicago as
big as possible!
-
Bring the Troops Home
Now!
-
End Colonial
Occupation: Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine!
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Money for Jobs,
Housing, Healthcare, Schools, Not War!
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Stop Threats against
Iran, Cuba, Venezuela ... !
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No to Racism &
Immigrant Bashing!
Initial Chicago
Endorsers of March 19 are Albany Park, North Park, Mayfair Neighbors
for Peace and Justice, ANSWER Chicago, Chicago Area CodePINK,
Chicago Coalition Against War & Racism, Chicago Labor Against
the War, Chicago Progressive Alliance, Chicago Socialist Party,
Chicagoans Against Apartheid in Palestine, Freedom Road Socialist
Organization, Gay Liberation Network, HammerHard MediaWorks,
International Solidarity Movement – Chicago, Labor Beat, Near West
Citizens for Peace & Justice, Neighbors for Peace, Northwest
Suburban NOW, Palestine Solidarity Group, Party for Socialism and
Liberation and Peace Pledge Chicago.
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