third anniversary of Irak’invasion ; This Year - Keep the Heat in the Street! March 18 & 19, 2006

March 18 & 19, 2006 will mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The Troops Out Now Coalition calls on the entire antiwar community at the local and national level to rise above anything that would hinder the unity that the world and history demands of us. Together we must grasp the opportunity to help transform the turning tide against the war into a human tidal wave of antiwar resistance in the streets.

On the weekend of March 18 & 19, TONC joins with all who are calling for coordinated mass actions coast to coast and around the world. TONC proposes that the movement jointly target military recruiting stations all across the country on this weekend with coordinated protests, especially neighborhood recruiting stations in poor communities and communities of color. We can shut the war down, and the way to start is by shutting down military recruiting.

In the New York City region we call on activists to protest in the morning at neighborhood recruiting offices.

Donate to help mobilize for March 18 & 19

In the afternoon we urge everyone to converge on Times Square at 1 PM for a rally to demand the immediate, unconditional, complete withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq, followed by a march on the UN to demand "US/UN hands off Iran! Investigate Bush’s human rights violations in the Gulf Coast!"

TONC offers the following points reflecting our perspective as we open the new year of struggle against the war:

* If we learned anything from the 2004 presidential elections, it is that we must not demobilize and retreat from the streets in order to pour all of our energy into the congressional elections next fall. The antiwar movement must never again allow itself to be misled into becoming an appendage of either corporate political party. Our growth, our independence, our visibility, our effectiveness, power and very existence depend on the antiwar movement making the streets the central battlefield in the struggle to stop the war.

* We urge the entire movement to demand an end to colonial occupations, not only in Iraq, but in Afghanistan, Palestine, and Haiti, and in every part of the world where people are resisting occupation, intervention, colonialism and neo colonialism. The strength of the resistance in Iraq, the results of the recent Palestinian elections, and the virtual regionwide rebellion against U.S. imperialism in Latin America and the Caribbean, are only the latest reminder that every front in the struggle against colonial occupation and empire are interconnected. The growing threat of economic and military attacks on Iran are another reminder. The more that the antiwar movement here solidarizes itself with these fronts, the more our movement will be viewed as independent, vital and a relevant part of a larger world struggle against war and imperialism.

* On the home front, our challenge as a movement is to fully embrace the struggle of poor and working people, and the struggle against racism in particular. No sector of the population is more antiwar than the Katrina evacuees, or immigrant workers, or transit workers, etc. The best way to facilitate the active participation of working and poor people is for us to find meaningful ways of solidarizing the anti-war movement with their daily struggles.
http://troopsoutnow.org/