I'm in Syracuse, N.Y. Something's happening here. Someone should let Rush Limbaugh know that real soldiers (as opposed to those phony soldiers from his liars' fable) will march, rally, and discuss pressing issues alongside real Gold Star families (whose real sons and daughters have died while serving our country) and hundreds of real citizens who support them but do not support the current U.S. policy in Iraq. It will all happen tomorrow afternoon here in Syracuse, N.Y.
See the information below the fold.
"Soldiers and Civilians Speak Out in Syracuse, New York"
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
New York State Regional Anti-War March & Rally
Saturday, September 29, 2007
1pm Rally – (2:30pm March to Syracuse University – 3:30pm Rally at Walnut Park)
Everson Museum Plaza, 401 Harrison Street, Syracuse, New York
Not since Viet Nam, has such a broad-based, grassroots coalition been formed in New York State to oppose war. Over 59 organizations state-wide have endorsed this action which was initiated by (IVAW) Iraq Veterans Against the War, NY and will be hosted by the Syracuse Peace Council (SPC), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) -1199 and Syracuse University’s Student Peace Action Network (SPAN).
As the Bush Administration seeks to extend the war indefinitely and appease citizen opposition with meaningless troop withdrawals, people from throughout Upstate New York—veterans and retirees, workers and students, people from all walks of life—will converge on Syracuse for a mass demonstration against the war," notes one of the demonstration organizers, Rose Viviano, of the Syracuse Peace Council.
The participants, coming from New York City to Buffalo and all points in between, are united by four demands:
° Bring the troops home now (including private contractors)
° Full health benefits for returning veterans
° Money for jobs, education and healthcare - not occupation
° Reparations to the Iraqi people
Veteran and active-duty members of IVAW will be voicing public opposition to the war by leading the march and offering support to their brothers and sisters who are questioning their role in Iraq.
"We’re the soldiers, and we’re speaking for all the prisoners of conscience who are being held by the military in an illegal occupation of Iraq," says Phil Aliff, a speaker at the rally and president of the Fort Drum IVAW chapter. "We want to give active-duty soldiers a voice and let them tell their stories about what’s happening in Iraq, and show the world what’s going on. We need to make sure that outside of supporting GI resistance, we’re building a grassroots movement--a broad movement of antiwar activists that’s able to tie all these things together into one cohesive message: For them, and for the Iraqi people, we say, ‘Bring us home now.’"
Lowville resident, Derek Davey, himself a Marine Corps veteran and father of Seamus Davey who was killed in Iraq in 2005, will speak on September 29th as a representative from Gold Star Families Speak Out.
"We are at the six-month point of President Bush's "surge." Are conditions in Iraq any better? Or is it now time to realize that we have expended enough treasure, in both lives and dollars?" asks Davey. "I say enough. I want no more families in America to suffer as mine has. I want America to take care of our own - heal our returning veterans physically and mentally, educate them, give them the employment that they deserve. And, I want America to return to sanity."
Other speakers at the demonstration will include representatives from Veterans For Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Campus Anti-war Network, Albany Muslim Solidarity Committee, SPAN, Green Party, Syracuse Citizen Action, International Socialist Organization, and a coalition speaker representing Labor.
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"The Peoples’ Response to the Petreaus Report"
Panel Discussion to be held Saturday, September 29, 2007, 7:30 pm
at Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University Campus, Syracuse, New York
The panelists will be Scott Ritter, Dr. Dahlia Wafsi, and Jimmy Massey The moderator will be Rev. Dr. Tom Wolfe.
It should come as no surprise that the Bush administration’s newest military-man-of-substance-turned- political lapdog, General Petraeus, maintains that the situation in Iraq is not only salvageable, but actually improving, due to the "surge" of U.S. combat troops into Iraq over the past year." states Scott Ritter, chief United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998. "All the president and his collection of GI Joe hand-puppets ask for is more time, more money and more troops.
To date nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq, with another estimated 28,000 wounded.
"Why do Americans keep dying?" Mr. Ritter, one of the September 29th panelists, asks. "[The answer is] simple: Because we are in Iraq. We don’t belong there. Our presence is derived from our own violation of law, not someone else’s, and as such any effort to sustain our presence is tainted by this same foundation of illegitimacy. In short, Americans will keep dying in Iraq as long as we remain in Iraq.
Nearly 4 1/2 years following President Bush’s ill-fated (and illegal) decision to invade and occupy Iraq", continues Ritter, "few people in a position to influence policy formulation and implementation in America have actually grasped the horrible truth about what has transpired, and what is transpiring, in Mesopotamia today. In a way, Iraq is a manifestation of all that ails America today. A complete breakdown of fundamental societal checks and balances brought on by greed and hubris."
Mr. Ritter is setting the tone for Saturday’s panel discussion when he says,
"From General Petraeus who gave it, to the mindless corporate-owned minions who populate much of Congress who received it, to the entertainment-as-news media which reported on it, and to the American people who consumed it with no foundation upon which to evaluate it, the "Petraeus Report" has little relevance to what is really going on in Iraq."
This evening panel discussion comes on the heels of an Upstate New York Antiwar March & Rally beginning at 1pm, also on 9/29, at the Everson Museum and ending at Walnut Park, just outside of Hendricks Chapel on the Syracuse University campus. Organizers of the action echo the sentiments of Adam Kokesh, co-Chairman elect of Iraq Veterans Against the War. While addressing thousands of demonstrators on September 15, 2007 in Washington, D.C., he said,
"[In his report] General Petreaus spoke as a political appointee, not a soldier. I’m not as mad at being lied to as I am knowing that I can’t trust my government any longer. When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty."
Panelists Bios:
Scott Ritter is noted for his role as a chief United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998, and later for his criticism of United States foreign policy in the Middle East. Prior to the US invasion of Iraq in March, 2003, Ritter publicly argued that Iraq possessed no significant weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). He became a popular anti-war figure and talk show commentator as a result of his stance.
Dr. Dahlia Wasfi was born of a Jewish mother and Iraqi father. She spent her early childhood in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, until she returned with her family to the United States in 1977. In 2004 and 2006 Wasfi visited Iraq to see her family in Basrah and Baghdad. Based on her experiences, she is speaking out against the negative impact of the U.S. invasion on the Iraqi people and the need to end the occupation.
Jimmy Massey is a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the Marines during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After witnessing the brutality of the US military’s retaliation against the growing resistance of the Iraqi people and participating in the unlawful shooting of unarmed protestors he became one of the first non-commissioned officers to report widespread human rights abuses in Iraq. He is a leading pro-soldier, anti-war activist and one of the founding members of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
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9-29 March & Rally Endorsers:
Military Families Speak Out-Upstate NY, International Socialist Organization, Interfaith Peace Network of Western NY, WNY Peace Center, Rochester Against War, Catholic Worker, Peace Action and Education Task Force of Metro Justice, The Storefront Antiwar Crisis Center on Monroe, Rochester Declaration of Peace, Syracuse Citizen Action, Utica Citizen Action, Campus Antiwar Network, Schenectady Neighbors for Peace, Guilderland Neighbors for Peace, The Solidarity Committee of the Capital District, NYS Green Party, Women Against War, Grannies for Peace, Muslim Solidarity Committee, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace, Upper Hudson Peace Action, Troy Area Labor Council, Citizens Environmental Coalition, 8th Step Coffee House, Saratoga Peace Alliance, Tom Paine Chapter of Veterans for Peace, Pax Christi of WNY, Vets for Peace, The Social Justice Center of Albany, Syracuse Cultural Workers, The Cortland Community for Peace, Southern Rensselaer Neighbors for Peace, Peacemakers of Schoharie County, Troy Neighbors for Peace, Northeast Peace and Justice Action Coalition, UU Peace Advocate of Rochester, Student Peace Action Network (SU), Peace Action of CNY, Mohawk Valley Peace Coalition, Lewis County Citizens for Peace in Iraq, Chatham Peace Initiative, Berkshire Citizens for Peace, CNY Caribbean/Latin America Coalition, CNY School of Americas Abolitionists, School of Americas Watch - NYS Region, Witness for Peace – Mid-Atlantic Region, No Bombs No Bosses 315, Dr. Dhafir Support Committee, Upper NYS Area Office of the American Friends Service Committee, The Social Action Council of the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, Voorheesville Neighbors for Peace, Alfred Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends), Partnership for Onondaga Creek, Syracuse Animal Rights Organization, Food Not Bombs Syracuse, Syracuse Solidarity Network, Pax Christi - Syracuse, Different Drummer GI Internet Cafe, Veterans for Peace Chapter 51, Iraq Veterans Against the War-NY, Syracuse Peace Council, SEIU- 1199