A Brief Update on the U.S. Anti-War Movement
Virginia T. Rodino, Left Turn



WASHINGTON, DC. Demonstrating their vehement opposition to the war, U.S. protesters continue to amass in strong and steady numbers, week after week, from coast to coast. Organizers themselves are surprised by the turnout and effectiveness of their events. For example, U.S. anti-war coalition Win Without War’s virtual march on Washington, February 26, led to one million citizens jamming phone and fax lines and flooding e-mailboxes of their Capitol Hill representatives, protesting the Bush Administration’s warmongering.



For International Women’s Day on March 8, Code Pink, Women for Peace, organized a festive rally, drawing many women, children, and men from around the country to the nation’s capital. The women-led and organized event represented the strong gender divide in support for the war, and thus the key role women play in protesting.

I spoke with women who worked on fishing boats in a tiny Texas town who were living hand to mouth. They reported the environmental degradation of their rivers by corporate chemical giants, and the depression of their local economy. I also spoke with university students from North Carolina, women who were tired of cuts in funding for education and social programs. In addition, women who worked at NGOs in San Francisco spoke to me about the necessity to link global economic crises with the immediate threat of war on Iraq.



Three weeks after the enormous historical demonstrations in New York and on the west coast, these and thousands of other protesters -- bathed in various shades of fuschia, rose, and salmon – marched from Malcolm X Park, helped to create an enormous human ring to encircle the White House, and supported high profile activists including Medea Benjamin, Alice Walker, and Amy Goodman as they were arrested for holding hands and singing on a police-barricaded sidewalk in front of the White House.

Only a week later, a police estimate of 45,000 protesters -- organizers estimate 100,000 -- again gathered at the Mall in Washington. Eighty thousand marched in San Francisco. One hundred and seventy-five protesters, shoppers, and bystanders were arrested in aggressive sweeps of the streets of San Francisco.

In Washington, DC, a Palestinian feeder march was strongly visible, as was a black bloc “percussion, pirate” feeder march that spawned a break-away group. Between 25 to 30 anarchists stormed the World Bank, ran through the building, spraypainted slogans and knocked over statues. Most escaped through the back door, 6 people were arrested, including two juveniles.

These feeder marches and their targets exemplify the anti-war movement’s burgeoning ability to link fundamental issues such as U.S. support of oppressive regimes in nations like Israel, as well as U.S.-led global economic exploitation.

The recent rallies, direct actions, and ensuing arrests follow the initiative of the San Francisco model of protest. Over the past couple of months, anti-war activists in San Francisco have been mass mobilizing in a highly organized fashion, leading the call for civil disobedience by structured affinity groups the day after an escalated war on Iraq begins. On March 14, 80 protesters were arrested in San Francisco for shutting down the Stock Exchange in the city.

Following this model, a national anti-war coalition, United for Peace and Justice, has endorsed a week of civil disobedience aimed at Congress. High school students walking out of their classes are serving as admirable leaders in this next stage of the movement.

Ratcheting up resistance from virtual marches and non-confrontational convergences in major cities, the U.S. anti-war movement, in cities large and small, has extensive plans to interrupt business as usual the day war is officially declared: When the War Starts, America Stops.

(photos by Rami El-Amine, dc indymedia, san francisco indymedia)

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What follows is the call to action by “Bush is Taking the Shirts Off Our Backs to Pay for This War” – an anti-war coalition based in Washington, DC.

AS YOU READ THIS THOUSANDS OF BOMBS ARE RAINING DOWN ON INNOCENT IRAQIS, NEARLY HALF OF THEM CHILDREN...

As you commute to work this morning...

War on Iraq, has begun - again. At an average rate of one bomb every minute, missiles are relentlessly raining down on Iraq, killing people and knocking out water supplies, electricity, communications, government services, roads, bridges and other essential infrastructure.

As your children go to school this morning...

Children in Iraq are dying. 43% of Iraq's population is below the age of 14. That means that half the casualties are going to be children. The ones who survive will live without adequate food, water, healthcare and education. The fact is the war isn't just getting started now, it's been going on since the first war on Iraq 12 years ago. That war and UN Sanctions that followed have killed over 1 million Iraqis, 500,000 of them children. Now with the escalation of war on Iraq, only more will die and suffer needlessly.

As you sit in traffic this morning...

Mumbling, grumbling about traffic congestion and your delay in getting to work...in Iraq, a far greater inconvenience is occurring. The Pentagon intends to devastate the country with more missiles in one day than were used throughout the 40-day Gulf War: as many as 3,000 bombs in the first two days. The World Health Organization and the UN is warning that up to half a million Iraqis will be killed or maimed.

What can you do about it? Take Action!

Pentagon officials have declared that the saturation bombing today and tomorrow, referred to as "shock and awe", will exceed anything previously seen in history. "The sheer size of this has never been seen before, never been contemplated before", a Pentagon official told CBS. "There will not be a safe place in Baghdad".

As people living within the borders of the United States we will not allow the US government to wage war on Iraq without paying a price. If there will be "no safe place in Baghdad" then there will be no safe place in the United States for makers of this war! The point of this action, is to interrupt their day, slow down their business, and disrupt the Capital of capitalism.

Today many actions are happening all over DC and the world in opposition to the start of this new war on Iraq. Right now, a march of resistance is weaving it's way through the city and a critical mass bike ride is passing oil companies, corporate media outlets, government agencies - all complicit in this murderous war against the Iraqi people. We have no choice but to raise our voices and our fists against a system that promotes death instead of life, that promotes profit over people and that chooses war over peace. People all over the world have marched in the millions against US aggression on the Iraqi people. Bush and company have refused to listen - now we have no choice but to take direct action for peace, for life, for people and the earth.

But we're not just opposing this war…

We're opposing the whole system of competition and greed that gives rise to war, poverty, and oppression. We live in a society that promotes power, violence, and domination over self-determination, cooperation and life. This is precisely the reason why the world despises the US government, a government that supports and funds Israel's occupation and oppression of the Palestinians, backs corrupt dictators and regimes throughout the world, and has troops in Afghanistan, Colombia and the Philippines supporting oppressive governments.

It doesn't have to be this way...

People are resisting and rising up all over the world and are creating ways of living based on mutualaid, cooperation, equality and respect. Right here in DC people are working on this vision as well. WE NEED YOUR HELP TO BUILD A BETTER WORLD! You can reach us at visibleresistance-AT-mutualaid.org or 866 860 9311.

Websites for more information on the war on Iraq:
www.infoshop.org, and dc.indymedia.org, www.unitedforpeaceandjustice.org, www.electroniciraq.net, www.leb.net/iac, and www.zmag.org/antiwarres.htm