community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
3,000 Too Many Protest
by pog
Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006 at 6:16 PM
pog@mutualaid.org
WHAT: Emergency Anti-War Protest/Counter-Recruitment Picket and March WHEN: 6:00pm on the day AFTER icasualties.org reports the 3,000th U.S. death in Iraq. We will announce it on our website www.organizepittsburgh.org or check http://icasualties.org/oif/ WHERE: The Military Recruiting station in Oakland.
WHAT: Emergency Anti-War Protest/Counter-Recruitment Picket and March
WHEN: 6:00pm on the day AFTER icasualties.org reports the 3,000th U.S. death in Iraq. We will announce it on our website www.organizepittsburgh.org or check http://icasualties.org/oif/
WHERE: The Military Recruiting station in Oakland.
The day is fast approaching when the 3,000th U.S. soldier will have died participating in the war in Iraq. The day after the milestone is reached local anti-war activists will gather for a picket and march outside the Oakland military recruitment station, a location intimately tied to the war machine.
The numbers tell us that:In addition to looking at the financial costs of the war, we must also consider the people who suffer for want of the basic necessities of a decent life and those who cannot pursue their dreams for lack of the resources to do so. In this capitalist society one needs money to live and to have the freedom to pursue one's own desires. It is a measure of how perverted our media and political processes are that mainstream political consensus exists to further increase the global military and political hegemony of this government: a bigger army, more marines, larger military budgets, increased military recruitment and advanced weapons systems, all mixed with constant drumbeats of patriotism and nationalism. The Democrats and Republicans both support a system guaranteed to produce further wars and aggression to protect the interests of the powerful. It doesn't have to be this way.
The money spent on the Iraq war could have funded 17 million full college scholarships, built three million units of public housing or provided health insurance for every child in America for the duration of this war so far.
In one sense, milestones such as the 3,000 mark are meaningless, for one life lost is no more important than those before or after it. And yet, these occasions can be important and take on tangible meaning if they provide a chance for personal reflection or spur people to take action that alters the future. They can mean a difference if, instead of focusing solely on the cost in U.S. military lives, we acknowledge the far greater toll this war has taken on the people of Iraq. If we show the determination of Pittsburghers to participate in a global movement for peace and social justice that is about more than whether something is wrong simply because it has now cost *us* too much.
That is why we will show up the day after the 3,000th U.S. death. We will mourn ALL those whose lives have been lost because of the militarism and nationalism infecting our society. We will also continue to target the military recruitment apparatus allowing the war to continue.
In solidarity and rage,| TITLE | AUTHOR | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Never break the law | free advice | Friday, Feb. 02, 2007 at 7:50 PM |
| I broke 'em | I work for the police | Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007 at 11:55 PM |
| Uh-Oh, we may agree. | C. | Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007 at 7:07 PM |
| What C said | Dr. Anarchist | Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007 at 6:08 PM |
| Terrorism | Cleanin' Windows | Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 at 7:41 PM |
| "terrorism" | the guy who has watched friends die for war | Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 at 5:45 PM |
| Job Security | C. | Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 at 12:14 PM |
| Terrorism | the guy whole replaces windows | Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007 at 8:49 PM |
| Yes | anti-militarist | Tuesday, Jan. 02, 2007 at 4:15 AM |
| Because | Dr. Anarchist | Tuesday, Jan. 02, 2007 at 3:04 AM |
![[masthead]](/images/masthead_140.png)