International Action Center Statement on Afghanistan

Tell the 1%: 

Not one more atrocity –

U.S. OUT of Afghanistan!

Money for jobs, not war and occupation!

The blood-curdling action of a U.S. sergeant who stormed into the homes of Afghan civilians and blew away 16 people, including children, is not an isolated one as the Pentagon war makers are projecting. Even President Barack Obama’s “apology” cannot hide the fact that maintaining U.S. troops in Afghanistan is the broader crime.

This heinous act is the culmination of 10 years of U.S. war atrocities against the Afghan people. It’s not that slaughtering unarmed civilians including children up close is more criminal than bombing them from a helicopter or a drone. But this recent massacre has exposed the true nature of the crime of occupation before the world – even before the people of the United States.

So many horrible acts by U.S. troops have been blamed by the Pentagon brass on the individual soldier’s state of mind. But they all fit a tragic pattern rooted in colonial occupations. Soldiers urinating on the bodies of captured Afghans showed the utmost contempt for the people the White House claims to be helping. Burning the Quran showed contempt for their beliefs. And now, breaking into their homes and murdering children breaks down all boundaries to unspeakable horror.

Editorials in the big business press express the trepidation that the people of the U.S. are fed up with this war, and will demand it stop especially in the midst of no jobs; massive foreclosures; closings of schools, health care facilities and more – all caused by a global capitalist economic crisis that only benefits the bankers and bosses – the 1%.

The top generals and politicians are making a desperate attempt to buy more time in Afghanistan by talking about executing the soldier charged with this heinous slaughter.

The generals may try to scapegoat the sergeant, but the higher the rank, the more true responsibility exists for the crime. These soldiers have been trained to become professional killers with the help of racist indoctrination from their superiors against the Afghan people.  It is no wonder that the Afghan people feel such deep hatred and disgust for their occupiers.U.S. soldiers have a moral and political obligation to refuse criminal orders to oppress the Afghan people – and mutiny.  U.S. soldiers need to be brought home NOW and provided with mental and physical health care, good paying jobs and full benefits like all workers need and deserve.

Mobilize in the streets to end occupation abroad & at home

From Palestine to Afghanistan, racist violence is the lifeblood of any occupation. This truth also holds in the police-occupied neighborhoods in the U.S. – in the Bronx, the south side of Chicago, Miami, D.C., etc. The 99% here are natural allies with the 99% in Afghanistan and all over the world, and we all have the same enemy, whose headquarters are located just south of Zuccotti Park.

The time is now to get out to the people and mobilize them to demand that U.S. and NATO troops leave Afghanistan now.

On March 23-25, organizers will attend the United National Antiwar Coalition’s national conference in Stamford, Conn., to plan the next steps against this war.
On May 20, anti-war forces will gather in Chicago to confront the top meeting of NATO. U.S. and other NATO generals and leaders  those who give the orders to kill  will be there in one place.
Join the International Action Center and its allies to tell them: U.S.- NATO troops get out!

Washington, pay reparations to the Afghan people!

Statement issued by International Action Center

iacenter.org

212-633-6646

###

Voces de la Frontera Statement on Ruling in League of Women Voters Photo ID Lawsuit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARCH 12, 2012

CONTACT: JOE SHANSKY (414) 218-3331

Voces de la Frontera and the Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP are pleased that the League of Women Voters has prevailed in its challenge to the voter photo ID law and that Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess has granted the motion for summary judgment in that case.  

Judge Niess’ ruling, combined with Judge Flanagan’s temporary injunction of last week, send a powerful message that Act 23 has significant and substantial constitutional infirmities, which violate the spirit of voter access and citizen participation in the electoral process in Wisconsin.

At the state capitol in Madison March 10, 2012.

###

March 13, Milwaukee: Emergency Demonstration, U.S. Out of Afghanistan NOW!

From Peace Action WI:

DEMAND US/NATO OUT OF AFGHANISTAN NOW!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/254322627991004/

At least 16 innocent Afghans (9 children) were slaughtered by a U.S. soldier in a shooting spree in Southern Afghanistan last Sunday. The massacre has fueled calls for a rapid withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan.

However horrific, this was not an isolated incident! This is a continuation of atrocities that the Afghan people have suffered over the last decade of occupation from US and NATO troops. This war has killed tens of thousands of Afghans, cost over $500 billion, and resulted in the deaths of over 3,000 foreign troops, including 1,900 Americans.

MARCH FROM CHASE BANK TO US FEDERAL BUILDING

Join us this Tuesday, March 13, at 5:00pm outside Chase Bank on Water St. and Wisconsin Ave. where we’ll be briefly joining an Occupy Milwaukee protest about corporate greed before we embark on a march to the Big Blue Federal Building on 3rd St. and Wisconsin Ave. to demand: US/NATO Out of Afghanistan Now! and Money for Human Needs, Not War!

Democracy Now! Reports…

“Afghan Massacre: Peace Groups Call for U.S. Withdrawal After Army Sergeant Kills 16 Afghan Civilians”

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/12/afghan_massacre_peace_groups_call_for

Sponsored by Peace Action, WI
info@peaceactionwi.org
414-964-5158

###

May 10, UW-Milwaukee: Women & Activism Action Day – Protests and Rallies: Putting the Act into Activism

Thursday, May 10, 2012, 1-3pm, On campus: UWM Bolton Hall 196

Info :

This culminating workshop will begin with a brief history of past protests and rallies for women’s rights, discussing past Milwaukee women who led protests. We critically analyze past strategies and identify the characteristics of effective protests/rallies. Participants will create an action plan of their own.
Sponsored by the UWM Women’s Resource Center. Free Event

For more information, contact the UWM Women’s Resource Center at 414-229-2852.

Women and male allies celebrating International Women's Day at UW-Milwaukee, March 8, 2012.

###