A.N.S.W.E.R. ACTION PLAN

The anti-war and progressive movement that is fighting against imperialist war and occupation abroad and the assault against people’s rights at home has reached a critical juncture. The progressive movement has grown at a dynamic rate all around the world in the last two years primarily in response to the Bush administration’s global assault on people’s rights. This movement has shown powerful collective action on a global scale as all of us have stood together across the U.S. and around the world demonstrating that the power is in the people. This people’s movement represents the only real possibility for change and the only real challenge to militarism and global corporate conquest and exploitation.

The progressive movement in the United States is now confronted with a critical choice. The election campaign is in full swing. Some want to take the anti-war movement and fasten it as a tail to the Democratic Party kite. We believe that this would be a tragic squandering of the historic potential of the movement to create real change. The Democratic and Republican Parties represent the same banking and corporate elites and are both committed to a strategy of global domination. The recent vote in the Senate for the new Pentagon war budget of $416 billion was 98 to 0.

Both Bush and Kerry support and will extend the occupation of Iraq. Both support Israel’s relentless war against the Palestinian people and oppose the right of return. Both parties have supported the criminal blockade of Cuba that has endured for 44 years. Both stand for the overthrow of the elected government in Venezuela. Both represent U.S. oil interests in the attempted redivision of Africa. Both stand for U.S. intervention in Haiti. And there are literally a hundred other instances where the two parties share a near uniformity on issues.

The next phase in the anti-war movement must include an Action Plan and specific tactics that help the movement grow as a strong and powerful force independent of the two parties of the corporate war machine.

Anti-war activists who have been fighting to end the war and occupation of Iraq are pledging their commitment to redouble their efforts and to turn up the heat - no matter who is elected. On the first day that the next president takes the oath of office - January 20, 2005 - there will be thousands of people all along the inaugural route in Washington DC demanding "End the occupation of Iraq - Bring the troops home now." Whether it is Bush or Kerry riding in the limousine, they and the world will hear this message loud and clear from the people of the U.S. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition has obtained permits for the Counter-Inaugural demonstration. Click here to pledge support and endorse the demonstration.

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Action Plan includes key major national actions taking place over the next seven months. Some of the actions and activities are initiated by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, others are events that A.N.S.W.E.R. supports that are initiated by other groups and coalitions.

Thousands of activists around the country and around the world are committed to continuing to build the movement against the occupation of Iraq as well as the rising tide of public opinion to bring the troops home now. There will be additional educational events and rallies in support of Haiti, Palestine, Cuba and other important actions, as well as mobilizations on an emergency basis depending on political developments, so be sure to check the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition website and subscribe to the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition listserve for future action alerts.

Following are details about these key major national actions:
1) Sunday, July 25: Mass March at the Democratic National Convention in Boston to kick off a week of protests
2) Sunday, August 29: Mass March at the Republican National Convention in August to kick off a week of protests
3) Saturday, October 16 & Sunday, October 17: Marches for immigrant and labor rights in Los Angeles and Washington DC
4) January 20, 2005: Counter-Inaugural Protest in Washington DC demanding from the first day of office, regardless of who is elected: End the Occupation of Iraq and Bring the Troops Home Now!

Call to Action:
PROTEST THE TWIN PARTIES
OF THE WAR MACHINE

MASS MARCH & RALLY

at the Democratic National Convention
on July 25 in Boston: Gather at 12 noon at Boston Common

at the Republican National Convention
on August 29 in New York City: Gather at 10 am outside Madison Square Garden (the site of the RNC)
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition applied for permits for demonstrations in each of these cities more than a year in advance, and thousands of A.N.S.W.E.R. organizers and supporting groups are mobilizing across the country for these protests. We believe that there should be unity between all progressive coalitions and organizations for these actions. In New York, there will also be an Independent International Tribunal on Iraq, held on August 26 (more details will be available soon).

Click here to endorse the Call to Action for Mass Marches and Rallies at the Democratic National Convention in Boston and the Republican National Convention in New York City.
If you are organizing transportation to Boston for protests at the DNC, fill out the Event Form on the A.N.S.W.E.R. website.

Additional logistical information for the Boston and New York City demonstrations will be available soon

Below are excerpts from a
STATEMENT FROM THE A.N.S.W.E.R. COALITION
calling for demonstrations at the DNC and RNC

This is a critical time for all progressives and targeted communities to take a clear stand against the political framework that is championed by the Republican and Democratic parties alike. The Bush administration has engaged in a lawless war of aggression and occupation against the people of Iraq. It is attempting to abrogate civil rights and liberties of all while simultaneously falsely positioning Arab-Americans and Muslims as "enemies within." It has been engaged in multiple projects to destabilize nations and rob people of their sovereignty and freedom. From imprisoning the Palestinian people within an Apartheid Wall, to occupying Haiti through death-squad proxies and the deployment of U.S. troops, to turning Afghanistan and Central Asia into a U.S. sphere of influence, the U.S. government is using its military power to carry out the corporate looting of the world’s natural and human resources.

We know that what has not stopped the Bush administration is the Democratic Party, because that Party is an expression of the same corporate establishment and Military-Industrial Complex in whose interest the Bush administration functions. Although the Democratic Party leadership opposes some of the most right-wing elements of the Bush agenda, its record proves time and time again that it willingly capitulates to the Bush program and turns its back on the communities it claims to represent.

When Bush and the Republicans gather in New York City, hundreds of thousands of people will protest their crimes at home and abroad. The Democratic Party is expecting that it can cynically rely on our outrage over the Bush Administration’s crimes such that the people will rubber stamp its agenda - an agenda that largely supports the same violent and repressive policies and programs of corporate exploitation as Bush. They expect our anger at Bush will manifest into automatic support for the coronation of John Kerry. They expect that they need not do anything to address real human needs and demands for global justice; that being a false "alternative" is sufficient to take the reigns of government power and become the current beneficiaries and advocates of the corporate agenda in the U.S. We cannot afford to be silent. We cannot stand by. We must take action.

The real hope for change, not cosmetic alterations but the urgently needed profound social change in the United States, will come about from an enlarged and politically conscious mass movement of the people. This movement is in an embryonic state, its potential dynamic evolution is the real source of optimism in global politics but its potential will rapidly evaporate if it settles for the meager role of tail to the kite of the Democratic Party establishment. As the ruling political and economic establishment has moved dramatically to the right since the end of the Vietnam War, with the objective of eviscerating all the social achievements of the 1960’s and 70’s, the Democratic Party has dutifully followed suit. The progressive movement must go in another direction - it must develop its own independent program, its own independent strategy and it must compete against both Republican and Democratic leaderships’ for the hearts and minds of the people.

Read More >>>

WEEKEND OF ACTION FOR IMMIGRANT AND LABOR RIGHTS
Saturday, October 16 & Sunday, October 17
Saturday, October 16

Los Angeles

Regional March and Rally for immigrant rights, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the anti-Prop 187 mobilization, the largest mass protest in history for immigrant rights

Initiated by Latino Movement USA
Sunday, October 17

Washington DC

Million Worker March

According to the Million Worker March Committee, "This mobilization is being proposed in response to the attacks upon working families in America and the millions of jobs lost during the Bush administration and with the complicity of Congress." The march is also calling to Bring the Troops Home Now.

Initiated by The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 10 and endorsed by many labor, community and activist organizations
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is supporting both of these demonstrations.

MASS DEMONSTRATION ON THE FIRST DAY
OF THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION
January 20, 2005
Washington DC
On the first day that the next president takes the oath of office - January 20, 2005 - there will be thousands of people all along the inaugural route in Washington DC demanding "End the occupation of Iraq - Bring the troops home now." Whether it is Bush or Kerry riding in the limousine, they and the world will hear this message loud and clear from the people of the U.S.

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition has obtained permits for the Counter-Inaugural demonstration.

Count me in! Click here to pledge to take action to keep the pressure on to Bring the Troops Home Now:
I will support the demonstration on the first day of the next administration - January 20, 2005 - in Washington DC either by attending or doing what I can to help.

Donate to support the anti-war movement
Please make a generous donation today to help continue the work of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition and the anti-war movement. We are grateful to the many people who have donated in the past and we urge you to consider making another vital contribution today. If you are one of those who have never donated, please consider making a financial contribution now. Click here to make an online contribution over our secure server, where you can also find information about how to write checks.

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
www.ANSWERcoalition.org
info@internationalanswer.org
Washington 202-544-3389
New York 212-633-6646
Los Angeles 323-464-1636
San Francisco 415-821-6545