LOS ANGELES
'No empire in our name'
By Sako Sefiani
Los Angeles
Thousands joined a June 5 march and rally
organized by the ANSWER coalition in Los Angeles. They marched
through downtown to protest the occupations of Iraq, Palestine,
Haiti and other countries.
The protest, one of several throughout the United States,
was held at a time when the multimillionaires, billionaires and
corporate owners who pushed for the war in Iraq hoping to
profit from it are losing patience with the way the occupation
has been conducted.
On the day of the demonstration, for example, the Los
Angeles Times published a photo showing U.S. troops lying dead
near their smoking vehicle. Not long ago a photo like this
would not have been published. For a major corporate-media
organ to publish photos like this one, as well as pictures of
the tortured prisoners in Abu Ghraib, exposes the frustration
of part of the ruling class.
"We're here to say there will be no empire in our name,"
actor/activist Danny Glover told the protesters. He added that
they were sending a powerful message to both President George
W. Bush and Demo cratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry.
Glover denounced Bush for the occupations of Iraq, Palestine,
Haiti and elsewhere.
Responding to news of former Presi dent Ronald Reagan's
death, Glover said, "The groundwork for the move steadily to
the right happened with the Reagan administration."
John Parker of the International Action Center and Workers
World Party said the "escalation of U.S. atrocities in Iraq,
Pales tine, Haiti, Colombia, the Philip pines and other
countries demands urgent solidarity from working-class and
progressive people in the U.S." Parker is WWP's candidate for
U.S. president.
Parker also spoke of "the quiet occupation of U.S. youths,
especially those of oppres sed nationalities, who languish in
U.S. jails, often suffering treatment similar to those in the
infamous Abu Ghraib prison."
He urged the anti-war movement to expose the link between
imperialist wars of aggression and domestic policies. He gave
as an example the bosses' attack on health and retirement
benefits in the recent California grocery workers'
struggle.
Famous Vietnam veteran turned anti-war activist Ron Kovic
spoke. So did a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War and the brother of
a soldier killed in Iraq.
Other speakers included Muna Coobtee of the Free Palestine
Alliance and representatives of the American-Arab Anti-Discri
mination Committee, Committee on American Islamic Relations,
International Socialist Organization, National Lawyers Guild,
Coalition for World Peace, Pacifica Radio, Bayan International,
Mindullae Korean-American Organization for Peace and
Reunification, Global Women's Strike and others. Preston Wood
of ANSWER chaired the rally.
Several speakers pointed out that the U.S. handpicked
"transition government" in Iraq is illegitimate. A close CIA
ally, Ayad Allawi, has been installed as prime minister to be
at the beck and call of his bosses in Washington.
Giving an "Iraqi face" to the occupation will not work with
the Iraqi people. They know what this occupation is really
about: domination over the Middle East, protecting the
apartheid state of Israel that acts as the attack dog for U.S.
imperialism, securing oil for the United States and its allies,
and making big profits for the transnational corporations.
Reprinted from the June 17, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
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