Mass Nonviolent Resistance Confronts Lawmakers at U.S. Capitol

Invitation to join nonviolent direct action on the morning of Tuesday, September 26th

Join the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (NCNR) iraqpledge.org/ in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, September 26. We will gather at 10 A.M. in Upper Senate Park. At 11:30 A.M. we will march to the Capitol for a peaceful, nonviolent direct action to help end the war and occupation of Iraq.

This historic event at the Capitol on September 26th is one of the action plans of the Declaration of Peace, a nationwide campaign to establish a concrete and rapid plan for peace in Iraq. The Declaration of Peace www.declarationofpeace.org/ calls on Congress to agree on a timetable for withdrawal of troops, a closure of bases, and the establishment of a peace process for security, reconstruction, and reconciliation.

If members of Congress do not endorse a peace plan by September 21, the International Day of Peace, several thousand declaration signers, working through 180 antiwar, peace and justice organizations across the U.S., are committed to engaging in nonviolent action in Washington, D.C. and in communities throughout the nation.

The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance has a strong and lengthy record of organizing civil resistance actions, including the memorable Dover to DC Procession in March of 2004; a demonstration in October of that same year that featured more than a thousand shrouded coffins at the White House; and National Stand Down Day, last November, an event that featured demonstrations and civil resistance at more then 20 military recruiting stations across the country. Last September, NCNR brought hundreds to the White House where 371 were arrested. In March of this year, NCNR targeted the Pentagon with a message of peace and compassion and several dozen were taken into police custody.

We encourage you to register for the nonviolent civil resistance at the U.S. Capitol on September 26, 2006: www.iraqpledge.org/sept26_rsvp.cgi

Contact Max Obuszewski, mobuszewski-AT-afsc.org
410-323-7200, ext. 31

Post script:

Mahatma Gandhi said, "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." Most of us are a mile off of that mark. I know I am. I offer an inverted theorem that makes me tick: "Misery is when what we think and what we say don't match what we do."

People of conscience are compelled to act in the face of outrageous injustice. It's always been like that. Some of us are born that way; some of us have acquired the passion and resolve to reconcile our thoughts and words with our actions. Some of us must act to keep from being miserable.

The United States military has killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq using methods ranging from cluster bombs to carpet bombs. Human flesh torn and charred. Revelations of atrocities in Haditha and Mahmudiyah illustrate the horror inflicted by U.S. forces in this war of choice. Whole families are slaughtered by U.S. forces and the atrocities are mentioned in passing on the back pages of major U.S. dailies. Entire cities like Fallujah, with 300,000 people, have been destroyed as an act of brutal and indiscriminate punishment. Toxic depleted uranium munitions are still being used, leaving areas uninhabitable for tens of thousands of years. We have earned the collective scorn of most of the world's population for unspeakable war crimes. The United States thumbs its nose at the UN Charter and the Nuremberg principles. Government sources warn of a pre-emptive strike on Iran, even threatening the use of nuclear weapons. Conservative pundits warn the public to brace for World War III. Where will it end?

What are you doing about it? Do you feel responsible for it? I do, and that's why I'll be in Washington at the Capitol on the morning of Tuesday, September 26.

- Pat Elder
National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance