SPRING & SUMMER OF PROTEST & RESISTANCE TO THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ

A.N.S.W.E.R. Response to Bush press conference:

SPRING & SUMMER OF PROTEST & RESISTANCE TO THE OCCUPATION
OF IRAQ

Although he rejected the analogy between Iraq and Vietnam,
George W. Bush is closely following the script of Johnson
and Nixon during the Vietnam War. While predicting that
the U.S. would be ultimately victorious, the
administration is in fact desperately preparing for an
escalation, including the sending of more troops to
suppress the rebellion in Iraq. In fact, Bush announced
tonight (April 13) that he is ready to send thousands more
U.S. troops to Iraq. He denied that the rebellion in Iraq
was based on a popular insurgency. He also admitted that
the original rationale provided for the war - the
elimination of Iraq’s purported weapons of mass
destruction - was no longer the stated reason for the U.S.
invasion. A.N.S.W.E.R. has always argued that the
elimination of Iraq’s so-called weapons arsenal was simply
a pretext for an imperial foreign policy objective.

This is altogether reminiscent of the conduct of the
Johnson and Nixon administrations during Vietnam. They
lied to the people about the purpose of the war, the
conduct of the war, endlessly tried to assuage public
opinion by promising that there was a light at the end of
the tunnel, and as the adventure encountered the stiff
resistance of the Vietnamese people, they were compelled
to regularly increase the number of troops sent to the
conflict.

Bush’s speech tonight espoused the worst kind of national
chauvinism and racism. He asserted that the ongoing
assault against the Iraqi people is part of the struggle
by the "civilized world" against the Iraqi insurgents.

Bush is trying to convince the people of the United States
that U.S. military operations in Iraq are directed against
a small number of "fanatics" and "terrorists." He said
that the war, which has taken tens of thousands of lives,
was justified even though he admitted that no weapons of
mass destruction had been found. The new rationale for
this war of aggression, according to Bush, was that "we’re
changing the world."

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is initiating intensified
actions at the local, regional and national level in the
coming weeks and months to widen the popular movement that
demands "Bring the troops home now, End the occupation of
Iraq." A list of these activities can be found below. The
popular mass movement that is sweeping Iraq in opposition
to occupation, along with the worldwide anti-war movement,
will grow in the weeks and months ahead. It is noteworthy
that the Bush administration has, in tonight’s speech,
adopted at least in part the political program proposed by
John Kerry. Kerry and now Bush are calling for an expanded
role for NATO military forces in order to subdue the
resistance inside Iraq.

Only the people’s movement can create an effective
challenge to the plans to impose U.S. empire in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Palestine, Haiti, the Philippines, Korea,
Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Colombia and among all those in
the world who desire to be independent and sovereign.

The people of the United States are disgusted that the
government spends hundreds of billions of dollars to kill
people in the Third World, occupy their land, and use U.S.
soldiers as cannon fodder in the enterprise. At the same
time, the administration slashes funds for education,
healthcare, housing, jobs and other vitally-needed social
programs.

The Spring and Summer of Protest and Resistance began last
weekend with a nationwide outpouring in more than 60 U.S.
cities (between April 9 and 12) in response to an
emergency call to action initiated by the A.N.S.W.E.R.
Coalition. The A.N.S.W.E.R.-initiated call to action drew
tens of thousands of people into the streets on short
notice and received widespread media coverage. See
www.internationalanswer.org/news/update/041104a10press.html
for a report and press coverage. These demonstrations
illustrate the commitment of thousands of activists across
the country and around the world to continue to build the
movement against the occupation of Iraq, as well as the
rising tide of public opinion to bring the troops home
now. In response to the emergency call for protests, many
groups will be continuing to carry out emergency anti-war
actions in the coming days and weeks.

JOIN THE SPRING & SUMMER OF PROTEST & RESISTANCE! See
below for a calendar detailing actions against the
occupation of Iraq taking place over the next five months:

APRIL 25:
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition supports the April 25 mass
mobilization in Washington DC to defend women’s rights and
reproductive freedom. The Bush administration and the
ultra-right are working to overturn the gains the women’s
movement has made over the last thirty-five years. Women
have the right to control their own bodies and their
lives. A.N.S.W.E.R. is organizing an anti-war contingent
in the March for Women’s Lives. The main assembly for the
demonstration will be on the National Mall (between 3rd
and 14th Sts.) at 10 am, with a march beginning at 12
noon. The anti-war contingent will have two meeting
locations before assembling on the Mall: (1) 7th St.
between Madison Dr. and Constitution Ave. NW and (2) 7th
St. between Jefferson Dr. and Independence Ave. SW. You
can also meet up with the contingent at our banner in the
main assembly area on the Mall on the southeast corner of
7th St. and Madison Dr. NW.

MAY 1:
Nationally-coordinated demonstrations, rallies, teach-ins,
and forums on the anniversary of George W. Bush’s
declaration of the end of major combat operations in Iraq.
May 1 was the date that George Bush dressed up like a
soldier, flew onto the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham
Lincoln, and posed for that disgusting photo op where he
could claim credit for the conquering of Iraq. Far from
having ended major military combat, the war in Iraq only
intensified. More U.S. soldiers have been killed or
wounded since May 1 than during the invasion phase of the
war. Nearly 10,000 soldiers have been evacuated from Iraq
for wounds and other injuries. Tens of thousands of Iraqis
have been killed, and in the last week the Bush
administration executed a bloodbath as a form of
collective punishment for the people of Fallujah and
elsewhere throughout Iraq. The May 1 anniversary will be
marked by nationally-coordinated activities -
demonstrations, rallies, teach-ins, and forums exposing
the lies of the Bush administration. To list your May 1
event on the A.N.S.W.E.R. website, fill out the form at
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/m1/event.html
. See below for information about another calendar on
which you can post your event.

JUNE 30:
Nationally-coordinated demonstrations on the day of the
so-called "turnover of sovereignty" in Iraq. Demonstrate
to say NO to fake "Sovereignty" for Iraq and to End the
Occupation and Bring the Troops Home Now! To list your
June 30 event on the A.N.S.W.E.R. website, fill out the
form at
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/j30/event.html
. See below for information about another calendar on
which you can post your event.

JULY 25:
Protest the Democratic National Convention in Boston. The
July 25 Mass March will kick off a week of protests
against the DNC.

AUGUST 29:
Protest the Republican National Convention in New York
City. The August 29 Mass March will kick off a week of
protests against the RNC.

For more information on these and other upcoming events -
including how you can get involved - go to
http://www.internationalanswer.org. Please make sure
you’re on our alert list - you can join by filling out the
form at http://internationalanswer.org/subscribelist.html

*NEW CALENDAR AVAILABLE TO POST ACTIONS*

We are announcing the new VoteNoWar National and Local
Event Calendar to help build and strengthen the growing
anti-war and social justice movement. This new calendar -
at www.VoteNoWar.org/events.htm - has been designed to
support the efforts of grassroots and national event
organizers.

Event organizers can reach the hundreds of thousands of
people who visit the VoteNoWar web site every month, and
activists can find out about progressive events of
interest to them. It’s easy to use, just select your state
from the graphic map of the U.S., and you’ll be taken to
this month’s calendar. Organizers of events of national or
regional interest can post their event to a single
calendar, and it will automatically appear on every
affected state/local calendar.

Special features include the ability for users to sign up
to be automatically notified if the location, date, time
or specifics of an event that is of interest to them
changes. Because e-mail privacy is so important, e-mails
are not disseminated even to event organizers. The system
automatically dispatches an update when a change to that
event is posted. You can be assured that you’ll know of
important changes to an event that interests you without
having to be added to a new e-mail list.

For organizers, this provides a mechanism to update people
who are interested in your event, should changes occur,
even reaching people who may not be on your email list.

The calendar has just been added to the VoteNoWar web
site, so events are now just about to be posted. For event
organizers, now is the time to visit the VoteNoWar
National and Local Event Calendar. For event attendees,
come back regularly to see the new events that may be of
interest to you.