No rest for anti-war movement

The U.S. Congress is preparing to recess. The White House moves to Texas. The puppet Iraqi Congress is set to take the month of August off. But the occupation, the war, the murder of Iraqis and the dying of U.S. troops goes on, and more money goes to the U.S. military-industrial complex.

Grannies for Peace and Pakistani activist Shaeed Comrade. WW photos: John Catalinotto

All the more reason that the anti-war movement in the U.S. must keep active throughout the summer in preparation for the confrontations in the early fall, especially the Sept. 22-28 encampment and Sept. 29 mass marches in Washington and Los Angeles organized by the Troops Out Now Coalition (TONC). That’s when the U.S. Congress will reopen its limited debate on funding the war and mass anti-war opinion in the U.S. will again have an opportunity to intervene.

A month before that, on Aug. 25, another important local anti-war action—with a unique character—is planned for Newark, N.J. The Peace and Justice Coalition, an alliance of 120 peace and justice organizations, mainly organizations representing people of color, will march. According to a press meeting held July 31 at the Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, “The People’s March for Peace, Equality, Jobs and Justice will draw connections between the funds and resources being used to conduct a war abroad and the problems in our communities here at home.”

Vinie Burrows

Lawrence Hamm, chair of the People’s Organization for Progress (POP), a member of the Peace and Justice Coalition, said, “Everyone who wants peace in Iraq and social and economic justice at home should participate in this march on August 25 in Newark.” (See peaceandjustice.org or call: 801-457-4998)

In New York City, organizers campaigning against the war on Iraq and for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney held a series of rallies from July 26 to July 29, including an afternoon rush-hour rally at the south end of Union Square that drew hundreds of anti-war activists and attracted the attention of sympathetic passersby. Speakers included actor Vinie Burrows, TONC leader Larry Holmes, Cindy Sheehan and others from the World Can’t Wait organization, which called the action.

Dustin Langley, a TONC spokesperson staffing a table at the Union Square rally, told Workers World that “There has been a momentum developing around the Sept. 29 action and lots of interest in the encampment scheduled for the preceding week. People want a big march, but they want to do something more. There is so much anger throughout the population at the Bush gang for refusing to leave Iraq and so much frustration that the Democratic Party leaders are doing nothing to stop Bush.”

Larry Holmes, TONC.

Langley said that there were over 40 organizing centers for the September actions listed on the TONC website and that these organizers had already scheduled more than 60 buses to go to Washington. “Of course that is just the beginning,” said Langley, “and we are holding a planning meeting on Aug. 11 at 3 p.m. at the Solidarity Center here in New York—that’s at 55 West 17th Street in Manhattan. This meeting will help connect with some of the hundreds of people who have volunteered with us since May, when we started organizing for the actions, and find a way for them to fit into the effort.

“In addition to the more than 1,600 organizations and individuals who have endorsed, including World Can’t Wait, Cindy Sheehan, Not In Our Name, Fernando Suarez del Solar, Cynthia McKinney and Code Pink,” Langley said, “one of the most promising fronts has come from our attempt to link the fight against the war to the struggle for adequate and affordable medical care. When Michael Moore’s film, “SiCKO,” hit the theaters, one of our organizers who is a nurse, Sharon Black, came up with a leaflet linking the struggles. It’s a natural, first because people are as mad about the health care situation as they are about the war, and second because it is obvious that the money wasted killing people in Iraq could more than pay for adequate health care at home.”

For more information, see troopsoutnow.org or call 212-633-6646.