Camp Caseys, Nat’l Day of Outrage slam war in Iraq

The anguished cries of those who have lost relatives and friends in Iraq grew louder in early September as Camp Caseys continued to spring up across the country.

New York

Opposition to the reactionary Bush administration could also be seen in coordinated actions Sept. 12 in scores of cities and small towns as the Troops Out Now Coalition (TONC) and the International Action Center organized a National Day of Outrage around the slogan “Money for hurricane relief, not for war in Iraq!”

Here are some highlights:

NEW YORK CITY As pickets marched outside the Jacob Javits Federal Building in downtown Manhattan Sept. 12, City Council member Charles Barron, housing rights organizer Nellie Bailey, residents
of New Orleans and Larry Holmes of the Troops Out Now Coalition told the crowd that money now earmarked for the war on Iraq must be used instead to rebuild housing for the poor of the Gulf Coast, that the government’s response to Katrina exposed its racism and classism, and that the people of the region must participate in all decisions regarding how government funds are spent and the region is rebuilt.

New York

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. Motorists coming home from work on Sept. 12 slowed down at a main intersection to read a banner proclaiming “No war on the poor! Solidarity with the Katrina survivors,” then took TONC leaflets on the upcoming Sept. 24 united anti-war demonstration. Some spontaneously offered donations to help the hurricane victims. Five hundred copies of Workers World newspaper were also given out.

BUFFALO, N.Y. The National Day of Outrage drew hundreds of people and
was sponsored locally by the Interna tional Action Center. The all-day event also dove tailed with the arrival of the Cindy Sheehan Bring Them Home Now Bus Tour.

Rochester, N.Y.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. Many leaflets were handed out in downtown Roches ter on Sept. 7 by the International Action Center. Their banner saying “Money for hurricane relief, NOT war in Iraq” was seen on local television.

DETROIT: Two hundred people gathered on Sept. 10 in Grand Circus Park to greet military families from Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas. For 20 days around the clock Detroit anti-war activists have occupied the downtown site with their own Camp Casey. In the photo, Michi gan military parents join the touring families and speak out against the war. Second from the right is Apolonia Rosas holding a picture of her son, Ricardo Rosas, who was killed in the Iraq War. She is joined by Lila Lipscomb, whose son also was killed in Iraq. The women are comforted by the Rev. Edwin Rowe of Detroit’s Central United Methodist Church.

Detroit

OHIO: Half a dozen events in Cleve land, Akron and Oberlin brought hundreds to packed halls to greet the Camp Casey delegation as it passed through Ohio. Audiences were moved to tears by speakers, including an Ohio mother of a 19-year-old Marine serving in Iraq; Bill Mitchell of Gold Star Families for Peace, whose son died the same day as Cindy Sheehan’s son; recently returned veteran Hart Viges, who is now haunted by the atrocities U.S. troops were ordered to commit; and others who have lost loved ones or who have family members still in Iraq. Little over a month has passed since 22 Ohio Marines were killed within a space of two days. Rosemary Palmer, mother of one of them, welcomed the Camp Casey delegation.

John Catalinotto in New York, Bob McCubbin in San Diego, Ellie Dorritie
in Buffalo, Lydia Bayoneta in Rochester, David Sole in Detroit, Martha Grevatt in Cleveland and John Parker in Los Angeles contributed to this article.

—Deirdre Griswold