Upcoming Events:
Saturday, March 17, 11 a.m. Walnut Creek, Starve War/Feed Peace march. From Walnut Creek BART parking lot march to Civic Park (Civic Drive and Broadway) for a rally at noon. Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center http://www.mtdpc.org
Saturday, March 17th, 11:30a.m. San José, Rally at 11:30 am Santana Park (Tisch & Monroe St), march to Stevens Creek and Winchester Blvd South Bay Mobilization (408) 998-8504, www.sbm4peace.org
Sunday, March 18, noon, San Francisco, Justin Herman Plaza, march starts at 1:00 proceeds up Market to Civic Center. Most speakers at end of rally. A Multi-faith prayer tent will be set up at the rally site. The faith community will have some representation on the platform of this ANSWER-organized event.
Monday, March 19, noon, Die-In downtown San Francisco http://www.DieInMarch19.org/
Good Friday, April 6, 2007
6:45 a.m.: Gather for worship and witness at
Vasco Road and Patterson Pass Road, Livermore
~Click here for a map:Dismantling Empire
Creating a Culture of PeacePreacher: Rev. Michael Yoshii
Buena Vista United Methodist Church, Alameda
and Ehren Watada Support CommitteeClick here for more info in: MS Word or HTML format
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~Ongoing Vigils~
Weekly Vigils:Sundays, 3:00 p.m. peace walk around Lake Merritt.
Tuesdays, Noon - 1:00 p.m. Oakland Federal Building, 1301 Clay Street, oppose the continued war on Iraq.
Wednesdays, 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Castro Valley Peace & Justice Vigils, Castro Valley Blvd. & Redwood Rd.
Thursdays, Noon - 1:00 p.m. San Francisco Federal Building.
Thursdays, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., Jackson, Mission, Foothill triangle, Hayward.
Thursday 4:30 — 5:30 p.m. in front of Boalt Hall on Bancroft Ave. on UC Berkeley campus. Teach-In and Vigil on American Torture and the Dictatorial Presidency.
Fridays, Noon - 1:00 p.m. Women in Black Vigil, UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph.
Fridays, 5:30 - 7 p.m., corner of Mowry & Fremont, Fremont.
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The Ecumenical Peace Institute
sponsors a Vigil from Noon to 1:00 p.m.
Each Tuesday at the Oakland Federal Building · 1301 Clay
(two blocks from the Oakland 12th Street BART Station)
Cosponsored by: Berkeley Women in Black * Women for Peace *Mustardseed Affinity Group * East Bay Coalition to Support Self-Rule for Iraqis *The only legal justification for one country to attack another is to prevent an attack so immediate that the United Nations Security Council cannot be called upon to act.
Some Historical Background:
Post WWI Iraq was ruled by a British-selected monarchy until 1958. In 1968, the Ba'ath party came to power with CIA assistance. Saddam Hussein was supported by both the U.S. and Britain until 1990, throughout the Iran-Iraq war.
In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. Possibilities to negotiate a withdrawal were impeded by two false stories put out by the U.S.
- Allegations that Iraq was poised to invade Saudi Arabia
- The Incubator Fraud: "Nayirah" claimed that Iraqi soldiers had taken Kuwaiti babies from incubators and thrown them on the floor to die. Later it was discovered that "Nayirah" was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the U.S.
As the U.S. moved into Iraq in 1991, Shi'ites and Kurds were encouraged to rise against the Hussein government. When they did, the U.S. military stood aside and allowed the revolt to be suppressed by the Iraqi government. United Nations sanctions, imposed in 1990 to bring about Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, were continued to bring about Iraq's disarmament with respect to weapons of mass destruction. On May 20, 1991, Secretary of State James Baker stated, "We are not interested in seeing a relaxation of sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power." This remained the position of the U.S. through two subsequent administrations.
In January 1991, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency reported on the widespread epidemic conditions caused by destruction of the water system under the sanctions in place since August of 1990. This analysis proved all too correct in the ensuing years as 5000 children died each month from water borne diseases. (UN figures)In December 1998 the UN inspectors were withdrawn by Richard Butler in anticipation of the U.S. bombing of Iraq. They were not "thrown out". Hussein did not allow the UNSCOM inspectors to return without a plan to complete inspections and end sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency was allowed to continue inspections regarding nuclear weapons.
The road to Gulf War II
- After the attack on the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001, the Bush administration attempted to find a connection between the Islamic fundamentalists and the secular Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein. None was ever found.
- None of the allegations of current Iraqi possession of weapons of mass destruction has been accompanied with supporting data that holds up under examination. Aluminum tubes, African uranium experts and eyewitnesses have debunked all the stories. UNSCOM inspectors found nothing to indicate a current weapons program. Independent observations of alleged sites have turned up nothing.
End the Occupation Stop the War
Stop Killing Iraqi People
Bring Our Soldiers Home AliveAll Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state ...
United Nations Charter
Article 2, Paragraph 4
