Fw: [ANSWER]: JAN. 18: Scenario & Politics

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg at tin.it>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A.N.S.W.E.R." <answer.general at action-mail.org>
To: <answer.general at action-mail.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2002 7:18 AM
Subject: [ANSWER]: JAN. 18: Scenario & Politics


> MASS MARCH ON JANUARY 18 TO DEMAND:
> -NO WAR AGAINST IRAQ
> -ELIMINATE U.S. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
> 
> Please read the following email for important updates 
> about the scenario for the January 18 National March in 
> Washington DC to say "No War on Iraq" and for an alert on 
> Bush's moves toward first strike nuclear war.
> 
> **********
> 
> The world is being menaced by Weapons of Mass Destruction 
> by a government that is openly threatening and planning to 
> use nuclear weapons in preemptive wars of aggression 
> against others, including non-nuclear countries. While all 
> eyes are focused on the purported threat coming from Iraq, 
> the Bush Administration has sharply reorganized U.S. 
> military doctrine and strategy as it prepares to actually 
> use Weapons of Mass Destruction in coming conflicts as a 
> matter of declared policy.
> 
> It is for this reason that on January 18, people across 
> the United States will converge at the West side of the 
> Capitol Building in Washington DC and march in a mass 
> demonstration to the Washington Navy Yard -- a massive 
> military installation located in a working class 
> neighborhood in Southeast Washington DC that parks 
> warships on the Anacostia River. We will demand the 
> immediate elimination of US weapons of mass destruction 
> and a people's inspection team will call for unfettered 
> access and a full declaration of U.S. non-conventional 
> weapons systems.
> 
> Bush seeks to have world attention focused on the 
> disarmament of Iraq as the preeminent threat to world 
> peace, while the real threat of nuclear war and the use of 
> Weapons of Mass Destruction arises within the U.S. 
> Administration. This is the politics of diversion and 
> should give pause to those who are thinking of joining in 
> Bush's sleight-of-hand anti-Iraq chorus believing it to be 
> a path to peace. The nuclear threat posed by the United 
> States is neither rhetoric nor speculation, it is the now 
> announced doctrine and strategy of the Bush White House. 
> It represents the ushering in of a new era of unrestrained 
> and unprovoked catastrophic violence.
> 
> "Preemptive Strikes are Part of US Strategic Doctrine," 
> reads the headline of the front page of the Washington 
> Post of December 11, 2002. A classified version of the new 
> Bush Doctrine "breaks with the fifty years of 
> counter-proliferation efforts" by planning for the use of 
> nuclear weapons against countries that not only have not 
> attacked the US but that do not themselves possess nuclear 
> capability.
> 
> A.N.S.W.E.R. believes that all Weapons of Mass Destruction 
> should be banished from the planet. But this is impossible 
> until the biggest arsenal of Weapons of Mass Destruction 
> -- the one at the disposal of trigger-happy George W. Bush 
> and Co. -- is eliminated. Any other call for disarmament 
> will not be viewed as legitimate by the rest of the world.
> 
> These war hawks are determined to breach the "taboo" 
> against the use of nuclear weapons that grew after the 
> world experienced the horror of the incineration of 
> Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
> 
> It would be cowardly and foolish to turn our attention 
> away from the open threats and plans to use Weapons of 
> Mass Destruction that are issuing from the White House, 
> not Iraq, and are embodied in the new Bush military 
> doctrine.
> 
> We must stop the Bush Administration from threatening and 
> killing the people of the world who are not our enemy.
> 
> *Perspective on the January 18 demonstration*
> 
> On October 26th hundreds of thousands of people 
> demonstrated in Washington, DC and San Francisco in 
> demonstrations called by A.N.S.W.E.R. 
> (http://www.InternationalANSWER.org) and in coinciding 
> actions in 220 cities around the world.  On December 10th 
> thousands took part in anti-war actions called by United 
> for Peace (http://www.unitedforpeace.org) in dozens of 
> cities around the country marking International Human 
> Rights Day.  On December 14, there will be an important 
> demonstration in New York City starting at 125th St. in 
> Harlem that will also oppose a war in Iraq called by 
> Uptown Youth for Peace and Justice 
> (http://www.uptownpj.org).  Every day, there are protests, 
> rallies and teach-ins called by local organizations in 
> cities and towns around the United States in opposition to 
> a new war against Iraq.
> 
> On January 18, there will be a massive protest in 
> Washington DC initiated by A.N.S.W.E.R. and endorsed by 
> thousands of organizations and individuals (for an 
> endorsers list, see 
> http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/j18/endorsers.html). 
>  This timely demonstration is gaining momentum everyday 
> with support coming from community, labor, student, 
> religious, women's, civil rights, LGBT, and peace groups 
> around the country. On January 20, Black Voices for Peace 
> will be organizing an important activity in Washington DC. 
> 
> We are marching in Washington DC on January 18 to embrace 
> the true legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King birthday. The 
> U.S. possesses 6,000 nuclear weapons. It has spent $7 
> trillion on their development in the last half-century. 
> Instead of spending $400 billion every year for weapons of 
> mass destruction and to promote militarism, we the people 
> of the United States will demand on January 18 that our 
> money be spent to provide free education, healthcare and 
> childcare, jobs and job training, expanded support for the 
> elderly and other things that human beings need.
> 
> The scenario for January 18th includes a brief rally on 
> the West side of the Capitol starting at 11 am followed by 
> a massive march to the Washington DC Navy Yard, a huge 
> military complex located in the heart of one of 
> Washington's working class communities, walking distance 
> from the Capitol.
> 
> On Saturday, January 18, tens of thousands will travel by 
> bus, van and car caravan from all over the East Coast, 
> South and Midwest to be in Washington DC for the National 
> March against war on Iraq. We encourage people to bring 
> banners and puppets, to dress as weapons inspectors, to 
> find as many creative methods to dramatize our demands in 
> opposition to a war of aggression and in support of a 
> reorganization of society's priorities that would put 
> people's needs ahead of the Pentagon and the war 
> profiteers in Corporate America.
> 
> Dr. Martin Luther King said that "The greatest purveyor of 
> violence on the planet is my own government." That 
> statement is as true today as it was during the Vietnam 
> War. We will honor Dr. King's legacy by marching against 
> the terror that these weapons of mass destruction wreak on 
> the world.
> 
> We also join with people all over the world who mourn the 
> loss of Phillip Berrigan who devoted his life to 
> courageous opposition to militarism and war. Phil Berrigan 
> put his body on the line in the struggle to call attention 
> to the inherently evil nature of weapons of mass 
> destruction produced by and for the US military industrial 
> complex. In addition to honoring Dr. King, we intend to 
> make the January 18 march a living tribute to Phil 
> Berrigan's life and legacy.
> 
> Given the feedback that we have received, we have decided 
> that there will be more effective organization and 
> participation in the People's Peace Congress if it takes 
> place after the January 18-19-20 weekend.  Many local 
> areas indicated that they wanted to participate in the 
> People&#8217;s Peace Congress, but reserving buses for the 
> entire weekend was logistically difficult and extremely 
> expensive.  Given the response from different communities 
> that are excited about participation in the People's Peace 
> Congress, we are suggesting the rescheduling of the 
> Congress in the spring.  The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is 
> consulting with different member organizations and 
> supporters, and will announce further plans for the 
> People's Peace Congress in the coming weeks. Everyone 
> agrees that the most important and urgent task -- given 
> the imminent war danger -- is for a massive street 
> mobilization on the Martin Luther King birthday weekend in 
> Washington DC.
> 
> If you're planning to stay in Washington DC, there will be 
> a lot to do, including student and youth gatherings 
> following the demonstration. Further details will be 
> announced soon.
> 
> HELP SPREAD THE WORD!
> 
> A new flyer is now available to help spread the word about 
> the upcoming actions. It can be downloaded at 
> http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/resources/index.html 
> . If you are unable to open or print the flyer, call us at 
> 202-544-3389and we can mail you an original copy or a 
> stack of flyers.
> 
> **********
> 
> FOR MORE INFORMATION:
> http://www.InternationalANSWER.org
> http://www.VoteNoWar.org
> dc at internationalanswer.org
> New York 212-633-6646
> Washington 202-332-5757
> Chicago 773-878-0166
> Los Angeles 213-487-2368
> San Francisco 415-821-6545
> 
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> 
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