March 17th Anti War Rally : lvimc

The Las Vegas Peace Coalition is planning another anti war rally at the Lloyd George Federal Courthouse on Saturday March 17th.

The time of the rally have not been finalized yet.

The Las Vegas Peace Coalition is a broad coalition of groups in opposition to the war and occupation in Iraq and consists of MoveOn, Democracy for America, Nevada Workers Against the War, Nevada Desert Experience, Food Not Bombs, members of many different unions and progressive political parties.

The last rally held on Jan 27th had about 160 - 200 participants. We want to see these demonstrations grow to send a clear message to Washington that the will of the people cannot be ignored.

Ending this war must be a priority, the elected officials must do more than non binding resolutions, they must cut off funding and demand this occupation be ended immediately. Not one more death or one more dollar for Bush's war of aggression.

END THE OCCUPATION NOW

(Please Center)

To some, this may seem redundant, and those people I would say this: The price of liberty is ETERNAL vigilance. Believe it or not, we ARE saving lives. This is what could happen if we doN'T do our jobs as activists (courtesy of commondreams.org) ...

For those who think a US strike on Iran will be a cakewalk like the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003, it's important to know that there are grave differences. Here are some likely outcomes of attacking Iran:

Everyone in Iraq -- including the Shiite government and army we've been supporting -- attacks our forces there, aided by a well-armed Iranian army of 650,000;

Iran uses its Chinese and Russian missiles to hit our troops in Iraq, our ships in the Gulf, and Israel;

Syria, linked by a mutual-defense treaty to Iran, joins the war with large stocks of chemical and biological weapons;

The US and Israel use nuclear weapons to prevent our forces in Iraq from being annihilated;

Huge numbers, possibly millions, are sickened and die as radiation is blown by prevailing winds into Pakistan and/or India;

The Pakistani government is overthrown by its Islamic generals, who start using their nuclear missiles on US forces and Israel;

Oil supplies from the Middle East are sharply curtailed, pushing American gas prices up above $10 a gallon;

Worldwide outrage results in global boycotts of American products, plunging the US economy into chaos;

The US government declares martial law and uses anti-terrorist laws and military force against those who protest;

The US Congress and press effectively do nothing.

PEACE NOW.

"If you want to get someone to do something...scare them."

I do not advocate this tactic. I merely perceive it.

Superman didn't approve of Batman's scare tactics either--but then again, not everyone has bulletproof SKIN ...

http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2004/02/04/scorched_earth/fear_no_evil/fearnoevil.txt

Whites need to learn once and for all that there are people who are truly suffering in this world ...

http://watch.windsofchange.net/pics/I5628-2004May05.JPG

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gallery1.5/albums/Abu_Ghraib_prison_abuses/AA208186_D89B_4A41_B5C3_7681074F3E8B_pobj_MINI_1.jpg
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40174000/jpg/_40174323_harman_ap300.jpg

http://files.myopera.com/salventura/albums/37669/thumbs/abughraib9.jpg_thumb.jpg
http://www.thewe.cc/thewei/&/&/images5/2006_war_photos_march/on_floor_after_dog_bite.jpe

... and if polite subtlety was THE answer, we'd be living in a utopia by now, 'cause that's all that's EVER been prescribed! Then again, if you've got T-Vo, video games, a widescreen TV, an SUV and a house in the suburbs, you're ALREADY living in utopia, so is it any wonder subtlety is all you ever hear from a certain, particular, societal demographic ...

The suffering of the poor/oppressed MUST be avenged, and since I'm too wimpy/cowardly to actually follow in the footsteps of Che and the Panthers, I'm going to scare the spoiled; I'm going to offend the elite. I'm not saying my way is THE answer either, but it's MY WAY, so stay the fuck out of it ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Punisher

Castle has also stated he does not want others to follow his path, on the grounds that his personal war against criminals is his alone ...

... in conclusion, I guarantee you one thing: There's NO WAY IN HELL history is going to record that the left-wing was two inches away from victory but lost because Saab Lofton refused to tip toe around the fragile egos of a bunch of spoiled-ass white folks (who'd just as soon glide through life on a cloud of vapor and never deal with anything), so doN'T get it twisted ...

http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/faq/tone.html

http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2003/02/19/export274.txt

of the "spoiled ass white folks" I interact with seem to be working their asses off.

They seem to be majorly subject (slaves) to the casino industry.

The vapor I sometimes notice is their various levels of intoxication on the "weekends".

I'm not making the argument: "get a job"

I am relaying how I have experienced the VAST majority of "white folks" here in the present.

Hell, I'll even speak for Whitey:

I am working really hard, and things aren't getting better.

Do I want our troops out of Iraq?
Hell yes.

Will it make things better?
I have no clue.

Our "president" has already fucked the area up pretty good. Wiggling that stick around hornets.

Now look at what you've done. They had to add a "More on March 17th" spiel since your fear of obligation derailed this piece's original train of thought. "I do not advocate this tactic," indeed ...

And I know why you don't. By pointing out what could happen if that inbred is allowed to invade Iran, I made it all the harder to engage in the kind of vapid escapism white suburban America is notorious for--hence the "fear of obligation" line.

Kind of hard to play video games when you KNOW you COULD be doing SOMETHING to prevent World War III. Why don't y'all cut them damn games off and be a hero FOR REAL ..? You don't need (or deserve) escapism that damn bad, no matter WHAT kind of day you thought you had at work ...

All whites seem to want is to be let off the hook in one form or another, and if Dubya can trigger WW III (and he CAN), then that means white leftists can no longer treat activism like a hobby. For the first time, you'll actually have to take something (other than Ann Nicole Smith/American Idol) seriously.

Am I unfairly generalizing whites? What difference does it make? If you're more worried about whether someone is sympathizing with how hard whites are working (as if whites are the hardest working folks in history) than you are with whether THE WORLD will survive this asshole THAT WHITES PUT IN POWER IN THE FIRST PLACE, then that just goes to show which side you're really on ...

Turning people off? No. Like a farmer, I'm separating the wheat from the chaff ...

http://www.answers.com/topic/chaff

Trivial or worthless matter: ignored the picky, unimportant criticisms that were just a lot of chaff.

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0203-21.htm

Published on Saturday, February 3, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
The Edge of the Abyss
by Eric Herter

In spite of strong public opposition to our course in the Middle East, there’s rapidly-mounting evidence that Bush intends to attack Iran.

Some may argue that his aggressive moves and rhetoric are a bluff to induce Ahmadinejad to back down. Not likely -- Iran’s President, like ours, is aggressive and stubborn. Also, even if Ahmadinejad unexpectedly renounces his nuclear project, new US “findings” of Iranian complicity in the Iraq insurgency will give the administration justification for the war they want. We saw it happen in the lead-up to Iraq, and it’s happening again.

A friend wrote yesterday, “Latest news indicates that Bush is setting up new bases in Bulgaria and Romania that would host Pentagon war planes that would be used in a first-strike attack on Iran. […]

“But this is crazy, I hear you saying. The U.S. can't afford another war! The troops are stretched too thin, the country can't pay for another front in this blitzkrieg.

“Well, the answer is that like Hitler, Bush must continue to roll the dice. He is so far out on a limb now that he must go for it all or he loses everything. He and the big corporations, who are driving this empire, have got to make their move now, or it all comes crashing down around them. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. If the U.S. controls all the Middle East oil then they control China, India, Europe and the rest of the world. Insanity you say? Of course it is.” [Bruce Gagnon’s complete letter is at http://space4peace.blogspot.com]

He’s right. With unsolvable problems in Iraq, growing Congressional opposition, a possible Cheney implication in the felony trial of Scooter Libby, and pressure growing for impeachment investigations, the time to move is now. Bush is moving. Stories about the dangers presented by Iran are pouring out of administration and Pentagon souces. A US military official in the Gulf yesterday compared the current hair-trigger US-Iran situation with Europe in 1914, on the brink of World War One.

For those who think a US strike on Iran will be a cakewalk like the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003, it’s important to know that there are grave differences. Here are some likely outcomes of attacking Iran:

Everyone in Iraq -- including the Shiite government and army we’ve been supporting -- attacks our forces there, aided by a well-armed Iranian army of 650,000;

Iran uses its Chinese and Russian missiles to hit our troops in Iraq, our ships in the Gulf, and Israel;

Syria, linked by a mutual-defense treaty to Iran, joins the war with large stocks of chemical and biological weapons;

The US and Israel use nuclear weapons to prevent our forces in Iraq from being annihilated;

Huge numbers, possibly millions, are sickened and die as radiation is blown by prevailing winds into Pakistan and/or India;

The Pakistani government is overthrown by its Islamic generals, who start using their nuclear missiles on US forces and Israel;

Oil supplies from the Middle East are sharply curtailed, pushing American gas prices up above $10 a gallon;

Worldwide outrage results in global boycotts of American products, plunging the US economy into chaos;

The US government declares martial law and uses anti-terrorist laws and military force against those who protest;

The US Congress and press effectively do nothing.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a worst-case scenario -- all of the above are entirely possible and predictable consequences of attacking Iran. And this war is not urgently necessary; there are still many untried routes to a resolution of our impasse with Iran’s nuclear program, other then the pre-emptive war that’s long been on the wish-list of the neo-cons.

In short, Iran itself is not an immanent threat. But war with Iran is

Do we accept this movement towards war when it brings the possibilities outlined above? Is this a world we want? We’re at the edge of the abyss. If ever there was a time to stop being “good Germans,” to stop passively resigning ourselves to our government’s dangerous policies, that time is now.

Here are some effective things we can do, but we must act now:

(1) Flood the press, radio talk shows, the Internet with calls, letters and articles pointing to the administration’s intentions, and the madness of the impending war. Talk with everyone we know, at home and at work, about what’s going on.

(2) Push Congress to immediately enact legislation prohibiting US funding for a American or Israeli attack on Iran until congressional hearings on the threats presented by Iran have been held. A precedent for this would be the Boland Amendment which cut US funds for the Contras in the 1980s. (See Scott Ritter’s article, “Stop the War with Iran Before it Begins,” http://www.commondreams.org, 1/25/07)

(3) Join peace groups wherever we can find them, and join with others in engaging in “direct action” – non-violent civil disobedience. If large enough numbers of get arrested for publicizing and opposing the impending disaster, Congress may find its courage to act effectively -- cutting off funds, publicly examining the Iran situation, and investigating the impeachment of those who are leading us into a nightmare future we just voted against.

We, the people of America, are the only ones who can stop this. The need is urgent, and the time is now.

Eric Herter was the Vietnam producer for Associated Press Television in the 1990s, and is grandson of Eisenhower Administration US Secretary of State, Christian Herter. He lives and works in Brunswick, Maine.

Thanks Saab,

Let's hope we can get mass demonstrations going in Las Vegas and any new efforts don't come to the same fate as Peace Now did. I just want to see as many people out on Mar 17th because numbers are something that Washington understands (sometimes). Every drop of blood shed in this war is personal to me, the blood of the Iraqis who suffered under Saddam and are suffering even more since the U.S. invasion and occupation started a civil war. The American G.I.'s most of whom are recruited from working class and minority neighborhoods with the promise of a free education, free health care, and job security and a chance to escape a life of wage slavery to some corporate robber baron without any indications that they will be used for a personnal agenda of a wacked out president on Carl Rove's puppet strings.

If the grassroots democrats are just strarting to see the light so be it, as long as they put their "boots on the ground" and show up. That is called movement building. It is going to take coalitions to generate the masses needed to make Washington wake up to the will of the people. I hold the democrats accountable for their caving into to populist preasure at the beginning of the war and to their cowardily refusal to cut of funding for the war. But the people coming to this demonstration are not the politicians but the people and this is a way to show the politicians we hold them accountable.

For those who don't know me, I am white and middle aged. I understand where Saab is coming from. I've know Saab about 3 years now and I find him to be honest in the statements of his beliefs and insightful as to the current social and economic conditions in this country. I miss his voice on City Life.
But Saab is right in America a white leftist does not have the risk that a person of color has in just walking down a street in a wealthy neighborhood. I don't get pulled over for driving around at 3 am like a black man would.

I've seen peace groups fall apart in this town because of the people involved lost track of the point, to get a result not to promote one leftist political philosophy over another. I get pissed at moderate liberals at times too, but I have work with them when they will help achieve the results I am working for - ending the occupation.

I've never had to risk my life for my beliefs yet, but I work on actions every day to further my goals of ending the occupation in Iraq, stopping expansion of this aggression to Iran, and making America a fairer place for all working class people. I don't give up, if one group falls apart I find another and in the mean time I work through my union to help working people on a day by day basis. I commit alot of my time to doing these things because I believe it is necessary for the welfare of the people.

In short I just hope people will stand together for the common cause of ending the occupation on March 17th and any other future demonstrations planned by the Las Vegas Peace Coalition (a name I coined just as a reference point, it is just a loose knit coalition of different groups who want an end to the war)

Here are some of the groups participating:
MoveOn (giving credit were credit is do, they started this series of demonstrations)
Democracy For America (DFA)
Nevada Workers Against the War
Nevada Democratic Veterans & Military Families Corps Caucus
Nevada Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
Southern Nevada NOW
Nevada Desert Experience
Food Not Bombs
Nevada Hispanic Democratic Caucus
Catholic Workers
Drinking Liberally
various individual members of many labor unions

For those who think their are too many ties to the democratic party, all I can say is why hasn't anyone else been organizing anti war efforts for the past year and a half in Las Vegas. I haven't either so I have been just as guilty of what Saab said being a safe white leftist not taking the risk. But now I am working to strengthen an anti war movement in Las Vegas.

Solidarity with all who oppose the war

Some corrections on the upcoming March 17th anti war rally:

The member groups of what I was calling the Las Vegas Peace Coalition have decided on a name:

The Las Vegas Out of Iraq Coalition

The March 17th event will now start at 2:00 pm
in front of the Lloyd George Federal Courthouse
333 Las Vegas Blvd South (on the corner of Las Vegas Blvd and Bridger)

Let's make a strong statement about the occupation to Washington.

Las Vegas Out of Iraq Coalition

Rally to End the Occupation

Saturday March 17, 2007

2:00 – 4:00 PM

Lloyd George U.S. Court House
333 Las Vegas Blvd South

Bring the Troops HOME NOW
Not Next Year
No Funding for the Occupation

The Las Vegas Out of Iraq Coalition invites you to a patriotic protest against the continued occupation of Iraq on the fourth anniversary of the invasion. We demand that Congress end the occupation and fully fund medical care for all injured veterans.

On Saturday, March 17 we will meet on the plaza in front of the Federal building, 333 S. Las Vegas Blvd., at 2 PM.

This demonstration, in solidarity with gatherings across the nation and a March on the Pentagon, will be the largest yet in Las Vegas.

Bring American and Nevadan flags, make a sign or hold one of ours, and invite your friends. We will have tabling to sign petitions and write letters to our elected officials and provide information about Las Vegas's many progressive organizations.

On Monday, March 19 at 7 PM Vicenta Montoya and Democracy for America will host a Candlelight Interfaith Vigil at the same location to remember and mourn the deceased, the injured and the displaced and to demand a withdrawal from Iraq. Bring your signs, candles and flags. Poets, musicians and artists are especially invited to perform their anti war statement.

What: Peace Rally, 2 PM Saturday March 17th and Candlelight Vigil 7 PM March 19th

Why: Take a stand and send a message to Congress. Enjoy camaraderie with like minded souls.

Bring: Signs, flags, snacks water, a chair if you want, and a candle for the Monday vigil.

"a patriotic protest ... Bring American and Nevadan flags ..."

Who are y'all trying to appeal to?

Trying to outpatriot the patriots? That's the Democratic Party's way--and look at where that's gotten us ..!

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0216-32.htm

Published on Friday, February 16, 2007 by the Brown Daily Herald / Rhode Island
Protestors, Don't be Afraid to Show Your Anger
By Amy Littlefield

Even if the people in front of the Capitol appeared crazy to those who chose to stay at home and watch the march on TV, their energy and willingness to act demonstrate a passionate dedication to stopping the war that is difficult for the government and the public to ignore.

http://www.alternet.org/story/49269/

It's Time to March on the Pentagon
by Sunsara Taylor, CounterPunch. Posted March 17, 2007.

"Officials said Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of the leadership had decided to strip from a major military spending bill a requirement for Bush to gain approval from Congress before moving against Iran...The measure provides nearly $100 billion to pay for fighting in two wars, and includes more money than the president requested for operations in Afghanistan and what Democrats called training and equipment shortages." -- AP, March 13, 2007

"For all the criticism on the left, Democratic strategists say they are counting on most of the antiwar lawmakers to realize that this current spending bill is the best they can get." -- The New York Times, March 14

You could close your eyes and pretend it isn't happening.

Pretend that the new Democratic Congress -- after four years of torture, mass murder and war crimes against the people of Iraq -- didn't just promise the War-Criminal-In-Chief that they would do nothing to stop a new and even more dangerous war against Iran.

Pretend that these same Democrats -- who have sold you out so many times and at the cost of so many lives -- didn't just promise to give the president more money than he even asked for to fight his current wars!

Pretend that somehow history -- and the people of the Middle East -- will forgive you for meeting this news with passivity, silence or at best "protest as usual."

I REPEAT

Pretend that somehow history -- and the people of the Middle East -- will forgive you for meeting this news with passivity, silence or at best "protest as usual."

I REPEAT AGAIN

Pretend that somehow history -- and the people of the Middle East -- will forgive you for meeting this news with passivity, silence or at best "protest as usual."

Or you could open your eyes and confront the nightmares engulfing millions of people in the Middle East and endangering people around the world that only people living in this country can bring to a halt.

You can get on a bus, hop on a train, purchase an airline ticket, or pile into a van and get your butt to Washington DC on March 17t to march across the bridge and encircle the Pentagon, on March 17th before the eyes of the world!

Forty years ago, a generation who refused to accept an unjust and murderous war on Vietnam descended on the Pentagon. They looked out at the villages being razed, the children burning alive by napalm, and the blood that would be on their hands if they didn't bring this to a halt and they declared it was time to go "from protest to resistance."

Now, at a time when the Bush regime, with the silence and complicity of the Democrats, are escalating their assault on Iraq and aggressively preparing a new war against Iran, it is wrong not to be at the Pentagon.

It is wrong to hide behind the lie and excuse that "protest doesn't make a difference." It is wrong to despair because "they're not listening to us." And it is wrong to dismiss the real danger of a new war against Iran simply because Bush is having so much trouble in Iraq.

The problem has never been that "protest doesn't work." The problem is that there haven't been nearly enough protests and they haven't been nearly demanding enough.

The campuses across the country have not yet been shut down in massive student strikes demanding an immediate end to the war. The Oscars weren't filled with movie stars and directors giving heart to millions around the world by demanding impeachment right now.

The anti-war vets -- while way ahead of most of the movement and of where the Vietnam vets were at this far into the war then -- haven't yet staged their equivalent of the Winter Soldiers testimonials about the war crimes they witnessed or Dewey Canyon protest where the Vietnam Vets threw back their medals. We haven't yet seen this war's Daniel Ellsberg -- someone willing to risk 150 years in prison or more to disclose and disrupt the administration's ability to lie their way into more war. Hundreds of thousands haven't yet, in the words of Cindy Sheehan, "turn[ed] off your TV and carri[ied] a sign or a banner and descend[ed] on the White House as oppressed peasants descending on the castle of the lord of the realm with pitchforks and torches?"

These are things I know we are more than capable of! The problem is not that millions don't hate the Bush program, the problem is that that anger has not been transformed into active, ongoing, determined resistance --not to merely express our unhappiness -- but to bring all this to a halt. That has to begin to change on March 17.

In a time of legalized torture, of expanding war, of war crimes and of crimes against humanity -- all of us are accountable!

Lets just be honest: none of us can claim in good conscience we've done all that we can and none of us should sleep soundly at night until we do.

Protest and resistance and refusal to go along are needed MOST when those in power "aren't listening."

Too many people are in denail about the growing likelihood of a us attack on Iran as detailed by Seymour Hersh and others. As Larry Everest, has recently written, "The U.S.'s quagmire in Iraq has weakened the U.S. influence, fueled the spread of Islamist trends, and bolstered Iran's regional influence. All this has made the situation in the Middle East even more unacceptable to the U.S. imperialists, and the Bush regime has resolved on a course to become even more aggressive in reversing all this -- with the escalation of the war in Iraq and now the serious threats against Iran. And meanwhile the Democrats have proved incapable and unwilling to stop Bush's troop 'surge' to Iraq and have mounted no significant opposition at all -- and in some cases significant support -- to the real threats to launch a U.S. attack against Iran."

Right now, it is more clear now than ever that there "will be no savior from the Democratic Party."

It is more clear than ever that the war on Iraq is not going to stop until we act in ways that make it stop. It is more clear than ever that a war in Iran will not be prevented unless we act in ways that prevent it. And it is more clear than ever that Bush won't stop unless we drive him out.

It is time to march on the Pentagon. It is time for us to go from protest to society-wide resistance.