Please try to attend this Berkeley meeting Saturday

What can we do now to end the war?

A strategy discussion for anti-war activists.

Saturday, October 18, from noon to 4 pm.
Noon to 1 – light potluck
1-4 – Discussion.

1744 University Avenue, between Grant and McGee.
About a ten-minute walk from downtown Berkeley BART. Street parking available.

Speakers:
David Raymond, Iraq Initiatives Project.
Helena Cobban, author of Re-Engage! America and the World After Bush.

Our challenge and our opportunity for peace.
Less than one month from now, Barack Obama will probably win the presidential election. Yet this will not by itself end the war in Iraq. Obama plans to withdraw only half the troops (combat troops) within 16 months. There are powerful forces that will fight withdrawal from Iraq. The U.S. military will not allow itself to be "defeated," and oil companies finally see a chance to profit from the invasion.

Yet we now have a better chance than ever before to end the war in Iraq quickly and completely.
The Obama campaign is, in Tom Hayden’s words, the largest political movement since the 1960s. Thousands of new activists, experienced at winning, can be mobilized next year to help end the war.
The American people are angry about the economic crisis. People will not tolerate another $200 billion spent on the war in Iraq next year when that money is desperately needed here at home.
In Iraq, major political parties and religious leaders (Ayatollah Sistani) have finally had enough and have called for a national referendum on the U.S. occupation.
Around the world, people are angry about the economic crisis that began in the U.S. and literally threatens many people’s lives. Ending the Iraq War is a litmus test for whether they can trust the new Obama administration to support their interests.

HOW CAN WE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THESE20NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO BUILD A MOVEMENT THAT CAN FINALLY BRING AN END TO THE IRAQ WAR?

PLEASE JOIN US.

For more information and to RSVP, email: draymond@sfsu.edu.

David Raymond is the co- founder of the Iraq Initiatives Project, which calls for a democratic, international solution to the Iraq War. He has been an activist for peace and justice for thirty years. Helena Cobban is a Quaker activist and an expert on the Middle East. She writes the Just World News blog

Sponsored by the Ecumenical Peace Institute/Clergy and Laity Concerned, and the Iraq Initiatives Project.


From a statement that Alameda Peace Network member Susan Toth will read to the Alameda City Council on Tuesday night. She alone gathered 500 signatures on the petition to place an anti-war initiative on the Alameda ballot.

"The majority of Alameda residents I approached eagerly signed the petition. [They were particularly concerned about the terrible impact of the war on the economy and on funding for schools and health care and other services.] Lots of people said just give me the petition and I’ll sign it.
I met a couple whose son is fighting in Iraq. The parents told me about the constant fear and anxiety they experience every time the telephone of the doorbell rings or when they get their mail. The father asked, "Why is this war going on? What did the Iraqi people do to us? Why do we have to bomb and kill them?"

"I talked to the sister of a sergeant who said that her brother is still alive, but last time he came home he was no longer himself. He was traumatized and sick. He constantly talked about his buddies being maimed, blinded, or killed. He talked about dead bodies, car bombs, being baked in blood, heat, sweat and sand. She broke down and cried and said, "Is this happening for the sake of oil? What are we doing in Iraq?"

I also met two soldiers who came home for a few weeks. One of them was newly married and his wife was pregnant. They said that the morale of the soldiers is very bad and they do not want to return to fight this war. In the beginning of the war they believed that the aim was to bring democracy and freedom to Iraq and do away with Saddam. However, instead of peace, stability and democracy there is endless war and the Iraqi people do not want the U.S. occupation to continue. The two soldiers said Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld lied to us. "This war is about expansion and greed."