Call for National Action for Peace in Afghanistan

Today, President Barack Obama announced his plans to send another 21,000 troops to Afghanistan: he is girding the nation for a long and costly military occupation there. While he also made some good statements on increasing diplomacy and economic aid to Afghanistan and Pakistan, the emphasis is clearly on military operations. Predictably, the Pakistan and Afghan factions of the Taliban are already uniting to oppose our escalation of troops. As the spring fighting season approaches, only one thing is certain -- more death, destruction, and misery in a desperately poor country that has had little respite from war for decades.

Here in the U.S., Obama's escalation in Afghanistan and the continuing occupation of Iraq threaten our nation's urgent economic and domestic agenda. Now is the time for more diplomacy, not more war!

United For Peace and Justice calls for immediate action for peace in Afghanistan. Here are three things you can do:

1) Call the White House today ? 202-456-1414

Make sure President Obama knows that you disagree with his plans to send more troops to Afghanistan. Call the White House comment line at 202-456-1414 between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM ET.

2) March with UFPJ on April 4!
www.unitedforpeace.org/april4
Building on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are marching on the anniversary of his historic speech against the war in Vietnam and the anniversary of his assassination. On Saturday, April 4, we are taking our message to Wall Street in NYC: addressing this country's economic crisis must include drastic cuts in military spending and that means ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last thing our country needs is a new quagmire in Afghanistan ? it is time to bring the troops home, not send more...

More than 10,000 march on Pentagon

Scenes from the "March on the Pentagon" Rally

More videos on the flip...

Well, here we are at the Old Capital in Tallytown. All five of us. It's a beautiful evening to protest the sixth anniversary of the Iraq War and Occupation.

YOU shoulda been here, we are... Oh well, we'll light a candle for you anyway.

Our Troops and Iraqis are Still Dying

An Open Letter to the Peace/Anti-War Movement from Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace

After six years of war and the historic election of a new President, we as veterans, military and Gold Star families felt an urgent need to reach out to the larger peace/anti-war movements to make our position on Iraq clear during this time of political and economic uncertainty. Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out and Veterans For Peace continue to stand together in our demand to Bring the Troops Home Now! We ask all those who have stood with us in the past to stay faithful to the cause.

President Obama has announced a plan to gradually reduce troop levels in Iraq. Many in the peace/anti-war movements are breathing a sigh of relief, and suggesting that it is time for us to scale back our efforts to bring an end to the occupation of Iraq. But for our troops on the ground, their families and the Iraqi people, the nightmare continues. They need all of us to stay in the struggle. IVAW, MFSO and VFP have been long united in our call for an immediate and complete end to the occupation of Iraq and will not shift our stance under any circumstances...

Peace Grannies Arrested in Times Square Wednesday, March 18th by Joan Wile

Relax, everyone! The New York City police are really on the job these days. With rapists, murderers, bank robbers and dope peddlers, not to mention corporate thieves, rampant throughout the City, they made a significant dent in the crime statistics yesterday, March 18, when they arrested seven grandmothers aged 67 to 90 in Times Square.

The grannies, all members of the Granny Peace Brigade, were sent to jail while protesting at the Times Square recruiting station. Their arrest occurred during what is believed to be the first antiwar protest of the Obama Administration, in an attempt to urge the President to reconsider his decision to retain 50,000 troops in Iraq after the official withdrawal scheduled to be completed in the next 18 months and his order for 17,000 more troops sent to Afghanistan. The women feel strongly that these measures will only result in increased death and destruction for Americans, Iraqis and Afghanis and further solidify anti-American feeling throughout the world.

Said 94-year-old Brigadier Marie Runyon, "Peace can only be achieved through diplomacy and humanitarian aid." The Granny Peace Brigade women are mostly strong supporters of Barack Obama but were responding to his request that his constituency pressure him to do the right thing when they feel he is on the wrong path...

CONGRESSMAN ALLEN BOYD: Will He Stand Up to Special Interests on Budget Vote

Representative Allen Boyd
Phone: 202-225-5235

District Offices:
Panama City: 850-785-0812
Tallahassee: 850-561-3979

Dog The (Blue) Dogs

President Obama’s budget proposes bold reforms that will pave the way for quality, affordable health care for all, and a clean energy economy. Republicans in Congress have already vowed to say “no” to these plans. But some Democrats—in the House, they call themselves “Blue Dogs”—are indicating that they want to nuzzle up to the conservative obstructionists to block Obama’s proposals, regardless of the mandate the voters gave Obama to move forward.

It is time for progressives to “dog the dogs” — to call conservative Democrats in the House and Senate and tell them to not be lapdogs for the “Dr. No’s” on the right who want to obstruct the administration’s common-sense agenda.

The members listed on this page are self-identified “Blue Dog” or right-leaning Democrats who will make the difference between a budget that moves us toward health care for all and a clean energy economy and a budget that mires us in an unsustainable status quo. Many of the House members have already voted against the economic recovery bill or against mortgage relief. More recently, seven Democratic senators joined with conservative obstructionists in an attempt to block the president’s clean energy strategy, which would limit carbon pollution, make private companies pay for polluting public sky, and put the proceeds into consumers’ pockets and into clean energy investments.

Pick one of more Blue Dogs and say, “Don’t let the right-wing Dr. No’s in Congress pull your leash. I support President Obama’s budget proposals and so should you.”

Take action! http://www.ourfuture.org/node/36490

Lake Ella War Commemoration March 19th

A group of Tallahassee citizens advocating an end to U.S. involvement in Iraq, are inviting the community to come to Lake Ella at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, 2009, to commemorate the start of the nation’s 7th year in Iraq.

[This is not to mourn the start of our nation’s 7th year of laying waste to Iraq and its people. Tom]

We ask that each person come to the lake with a candle or flashlight. At 8:00 p.m. the candles and flashlights will be illuminated; fifteen minutes later “Taps” will be played.

Meredith McMackin, who lost her son, Marine Cpl. Julian M. Woodall in Iraq in May 2007, hopes that the community will participate in these events in recognition of the on-going war and its effects.

FMI
Meredith McMackin at mlmcmackin(at)aim.com or 544-0506.

Operation Iraq Liberation 6th Anniversary Candle Light Vigil - March 20, 2009
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

American Friends Service Committee, Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, National Organization for Women, Military Families Speak Out, Pax Christi, Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace, Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War members and friends will join again to mourn the tortured, the hundreds of thousands of war dead, the destruction of Iraq society and humankind's historical legacy.
Candles will be provided.
Donations accepted.

East of the Florida's Old Capitol's steps.
Apalachee Parkway and South Monroe
Tallahassee, FL
Park behind the flag off Calhoun. :
850-322-1509

“Cut and Glue Party” for 2nd annual ”Peace in the Park" March 22nd

“Cut and Glue Party” to make flags to honor those US soldiers, sailors, marines and airman who have died or were wounded in the Iraq War. We will be displaying them at Railroad Square for the “Peace in the Park” event which is April 19th.in Railroad Square Art Park. We are going to install 4,300 purple flags-each flag representing one American life lost in Iraq or Afghanistan as well as 10 wounded Americans [Each flag could also represent 50 murdered Iraqis and 100 Iraqi children that suffer from ACUTE MALNUTRITION over and above the rate under Saddam because of our destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure since 2003], but they don’t] .

“Cut and Glue” Party will be at Anne Allen’s home
Sunday, March 22nd, 2:00 PM
FMI
Jeannie Lancaster at lancaster996(at)gmail.com

A Progressive Response to MoveOn - From the Maryland Green Party

News that the Obama Administration will enlist its massive campaign "army" of grassroots activists to push the budget through Congress has raised the stakes in this already high stakes battle, and reactions to President Obama's program are hitting the extremes. Republicans raise the specter of socialism while Democrats expect a new FDR, rescuing us from all the problems that have festered for the last thirty years.

While few in the public are buying the reactionary hysteria of Republicans, though, too many progressive organizations are uncritically accepting the hype surrounding President Obama's plans - a recent MoveOn email message, b10 things you should know about Obama's plan (but probably don't)," is a typical example.

We give President Obama credit for the scope of his proposals, and acknowledge that many of his policies are dramatically better than President Bush's. At the same time, his policies are often less ambitious than the rhetoric would suggest, and fall short of what is needed. At other times, his solutions to problems are constrained by corporate interests that will render them ineffective. And while truly prodigious amounts of money are being spent in the effort - money that must be repaid by us and our children, let us not forget b what is often required is not more money, but deeper systemic changes.

Simply being better than Bush is not a sufficient standard to meet the immense challenges we face today. If we are to solve these problems, we will need to face them critically. Mere cheerleading will not be enough; an honest look at the Obama proposals is required.

Below is a progressive response to the MoveOn email message of March 1st, one which we hope will stimulate a more serious discussion...

170 Organizations Request Special Prosecutor for Bush-Cheney

A movement is building around a simple statement at http://prosecutebushcheney.org

Organizations and individuals are signing on, and 170 organizations have already taken the lead.

Next week United for Peace and Justice will ask its 1,400 member groups to consider signing on.

Most of the 170 national and local groups signed onto this movement before the release of seven Justice Department memos from 2001-2002 in which top officials claimed the right to disregard the Fourth Amendment, Habeas Corpus, and Posse Comitatus:
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/40420

Most of these groups signed on before learning that the CIA had destroyed 92, not 2, "interrogation" tapes:
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/40360

Most of these groups signed on before the release of Emails in which we discover that British intelligence thought the Iraq weapons claims were laughably dishonest: http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/40684

Most signed on prior to the United Nations declaring rendition illegal:
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/40627

Would you or your organization like to be cutting edge?
You can sign on at http://prosecutebushcheney.org

JOIN FARMWORKERS AS THEY ASK GOV. CHARLIE CRIST TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST SLAVERY

Immokalee Workers to Stage Theater Re-enacting Slavery Case on Steps of Old Capitol, Deliver Petitions to Governor Crist

WHO: Farmworker members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers; religious, student, human rights, and community leaders from across the country.

WHAT: Members of the CIW will travel to Tallahassee this March 9th to stage a creative protest designed to bring the reality of 
human rights violations in Florida's fields to the governor's doorstep. 
The CIW and allies will re-enact the facts of a recently prosecuted brutal slavery operation in "popular theater"
 presentation "so Governor Crist can no longer turn his back on the crimes against human rights in this state's fields." The farmworker delegation will also deliver petition signatures gathered from the community of Immokalee and across the country to the governor's office calling on Governor Crist to take a stand against slavery and to meet with the CIW.

WHEN: Monday, March 9 at Noon

WHERE: Steps of the Old Capitol, 400 S. Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL.

For more information: www.ciw-online.org

Global GENERAL STRIKE NOW

http://www.votestrike.com

You can make a difference in building the March 21st March on the Pentagon without leaving your computer!::::::::

Help Spread the Word Online about the March 21st March on the Pentagon

You can make a difference in building the March 21st March on the Pentagon without leaving your computer!

We are asking everyone to spread the word about the new website http://www.PentagonMarch.org by posting a simple message about the demonstration with a link to the website all over the internet.

You can post the message and link on your own website or blog, or on your Facebook or Myspace page. You can also post the message on any blog where you think people would be interested, in online chat rooms and discussion groups, on message boards and listserves, and on the Facebook and Myspace profiles of your friends.

Basically, anywhere you can post a message and link on the internet, you should post about the March 21st March on the Pentagon and the new website http://www.PentagonMarch.org...

ProsecuteBushCheney.org
WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Federal:
Add your organization or individual name to joint statement requesting a Special Prosecutor. Ask organizations you're in touch with to sign on. The demand for prosecution has been supported by many members of Congress.


Sign a petition asking Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any and all government officials who have participated in war crimes. Sign now.


Collect signatures in the real world by printing out this PDF. Please enter the data you collect on the petition online and/or mail the completed (or partially completed) forms to JDS, 4407 Garrison Street NW, Washington DC 20016.


Phone and Email and fax the Office of the Attorney General at 202-514-2001 AskDOJ@usdoj.gov fax:202-307-6777 to request a Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any and all government officials who have participated in war crimes.


In June 2008, 56 Democratic Congress members, led by Congressman John Conyers, wrote to Attorney General Mukasey asking for a Special Prosecutor. Conyers and Congressman Jerrold Nadler wrote to Mukasey again in December 2008. Please ask them to re-send these letters to the new Attorney General, Eric Holder. Conyers 202-225-5126, Nadler 202-225-5635. Nadler says he's drafting a new letter.


Congressman John Conyers has proposed extending statutes of limitations on Bush-Cheney crimes. Help make this happen.


Contact the State Department's Office of War Crimes Issues and urge them to ask Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any and all government officials who have participated in war crimes.


Here are tips and info. on contacting Congress.


State and Local:
Bush and others can be indicted at the state or district level for murder. Please take these steps. They have also violated state laws against warrantless spying and various other crimes. Persuade or elect a decent prosecutor!