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Anti-war activists pursue Bush back to D.C.

Published Aug 30, 2005 11:28 AM

As George W. Bush heads back to Washington, D.C., ending a five-week vacation at his Crawford estate, he will be pursued by busloads of activists and haun ted by an anti-war movement that has gained new energy and enthusiasm from the efforts of Cindy Sheehan and thousands of organizers across the country.

Cindy Sheehan’s encampment outside Bush’s ranch began on Aug. 6, when she was joined by veterans and military families supporting her demand to speak to the president about the death of her son, Casey Sheehan, in Iraq.

Since then, thousands have made the trip to Crawford, camping out in tents or cars along a narrow road. Many were veterans or military families; some had never been to an anti-war event before.

Other visitors included the Rev. Al Sharp ton, who joined hundreds near Bush’s ranch for an interfaith service Sunday. He said, “I feel that it is our moral obligation to stand and to be courageous with these families, and particularly Cindy, that have become the conscience of this nation.”

American Indian Movement co-foun der Dennis Banks presented Cindy a cloak on behalf of her fallen son.

‘Phenomenal acoustics’

“We had no idea the ditch in Crawford had such phenomenal acoustics,” said Nancy Lessin of Military Families Speak Out. “There’s a momentum building across the country ...”

This momentum has inspired vigils, solidarity rallies and speakouts across the country. Many local activists set up “Camp Caseys” in their own towns. In New York’s Union Square, organizers have maintained a continued presence at Camp Casey NYC since Aug. 15, despite police harassment and arrests.

This momentum will not end when the president returns to Washington. On Aug. 31, the last day of the encampment at Camp Casey, the Bring Them Home Now Tour will launch three buses from Craw ford, Texas. Each bus will carry military family members, Gold Star families and veterans.

They will follow three different routes across the U.S. for three weeks, stopping at meetings and rallies against the war. The buses will all converge on Wash ing ton, D.C., for the massive march on Sept. 24.

The example of Cindy Sheehan and of the thousands who have joined her demonstrate that it is the people, not the politicians, who will stop this war.

‘Shut down the war!’

Organizers with the Troops Out Now Coalition are mobilizing to maximize the energy and inspiration coming out of this new phase of the struggle against the war. Noting that opposition to the war is growing, military recruiting is at an all-time low, and the movement is gearing up for a season of renewed mobilization, organizers say that now is the time to turn up the heat.

This spring, the Troops Out Now Coa li tion issued a call for a united demonstration in Washington, D.C., saying, “No thing is more important at this moment than for all to walk together on the high road to unity. We believe that what we all do will be decisive. We must and we can stop the war and get every U.S. soldier out of Iraq. It is up to all of us to do whatever is necessary for our movement to rise to this challenge.”

TONC is organizing hundreds of buses, cars and vans to travel to Washington from more than 50 organizing centers. TONC is also looking beyond September to contin ue the struggle against the war and occu pation. The Millions More Move ment events of Oct. 14-16 will be a massive and historic mobilization in Wash ington on the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March.

On Dec. 1-3, TONC, along with other national anti-war, labor, and community organizations, will organize a series of national and local “Shut Down the War” events. This will be the 50th anniversary of the day that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. This act of defiance launched the modern Civil Rights struggle as a mass movement in the streets.

This anniversary is an appropriate occasion to take direct action to shut down the war; not just the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the war against working people and people of color here at home. TONC is calling on activists across the country to organize student walkouts, sickouts, boycotts and other direct action to say “Bring the troops home now, or we’ll shut it down!”

Sept. 10 strategy meeting

To launch this busy season of activity and protest, the Troops Out Now Coalition will be holding a Strategy Meeting in New York City at the Lang Center at New School University in Manhattan on Sept. 10, from 1:30 to 6:00 p.m.

Labor organizers, anti-war activists, vet erans, clergy, military families and com munity leaders will be coming from all over the country to plan and coordinate activities on a national level geared towards shutting the war down.

Sessions will include: updates and planning for Sept. 24-26, counter-recruiting and beyond Sept. 24: shutting down the war.

This national meeting of grassroots activists will be an important opportunity to assess the next steps to organize nationally to bring the troops home now.

Langley is a national organizer of the Troops Out Now Coalition.