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Dave, this is a great statement from the Fox Valley people!<br>
<br>
Let's remember - today, Feb. 15, 2015 is the twelfth anniversary of
the greatest anti-war demonstrations the world has yet seen, on Feb
15, 2003. <br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/15/15 12:13 PM, David Johnson via
Peace-discuss wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:24.0pt;line-height:115%"> Oppose the
so-called war on ISIS! <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:24.0pt;line-height:115%"> Join the
fight for justice here!<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">The government
says it’s fighting to stop ISIS’ terrorism. If that’s the
reason, we’d bomb Saudi Arabia! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">In fact, US
bombings started right after ISIS captured oil-rich areas of
Iraq. Before then, the US did nothing for over a year while
ISIS imprisoned, tortured and murdered Syrians fighting
against the dictator Assad. This is another war over
corporate oil profits and defending corrupt “allies” , not ‘
fighting terrorism” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">What impact does
US coalition bombing ISIS have in Syria and Iraq? </span></b><u><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">It makes ISIS
stronger.</span></u><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%"> It makes ISIS <u>look
like</u> the defender of Sunni Muslims against 3
widely-hated “evils”: western imperialist countries (US,
Britain, France); Iran and Iraq; and regional tyrants
(Saudi Arabia, Gulf oil monarchies). As a result, they’ve
recruited 10,000 new fighters since the bombings began 2
months ago. Good for ISIS and war profiteers; bad for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">What should be
done about ISIS? </span></b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">Support those
fighting repression, poverty and corrupt regimes in Syria (
Kurdistan Workers Party ) and Saudi Arabia. Their victory
will end ISIS’ appeal. All these governments suppressed the
Arab Spring uprisings of 2011. They all use religious and
national differences to divide and rule. All these US allies
enrich their 1% and make life worse for most people there,
just like here. That’s why the US coalition cannot possibly
bring the reforms needed to end support for ISIS. They can
only make things worse, just like the US invasion,
occupation and massive destruction did in Iraq.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">If the US and
allies’ war is not the answer, what is? </span></b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">Popular
revolutions there will use the vast oil wealth for education
and provide useful work for all. They will have to develop
unity against their 1% to do that. Only that can overcome
the religious divisions perpetuated by their elites <u>and</u>
by ISIS. People here also need to take control over our vast
resources for a decent life and our future. Just like there,
our 1% holds most wealth and power. (Fact: the richest 400
Americans own more wealth than 100,000,000 of us.) We need
America’s great wealth to better our lives while our
government promotes the 1% here, just like there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">Can we change
this?</span></b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%"> We think so, but
this will require a massive popular movement against the
power of the 1%- there and here. We will have to create
unity for our common aspirations. We have done this in
limited ways. For example, the Civil Rights, anti-war,
women’s and gay rights, and workers’ struggles of the
50s-70s created unity and won things we benefit from today.
They had to fight the big powers too. Yes, money is power,
but so is people power. After all, together, we do the work
that makes all the products and all that wealth; our
combined work makes everything run, and we are the huge
majority. We <u>can</u> shape our future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">What can we do?
</span></b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%"> Get
an organization you’re part of to <b>take a stand against
this war and actively support fights for justice </b>like
living wages, taxing the super-rich, , improving public
education, ending corporate welfare, cutting greenhouse
emissions, fighting for equal rights for all, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">Give
people-to-people support to real allies</span></b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">, like the Syrians
fighting for justice against Syrian dictator Assad <u>and</u>
ISIS. Syrian American Medical Society (<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.sams.org">www.sams.org</a>)
provides medical help to that popular revolution. Get more
info at <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://syriafreedomforever.blog">http://syriafreedomforever.blog</a>
; google “Syrian popular revolution” for other sources.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">Yes, ISIS is
vicious and should be defeated</span></b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">, but can the US
and its allies, like Saudi Arabia, defeat ISIS? Can they
counter the support ISIS gets from Sunni Muslims? We don’t
think so. The US invasion of Iraq opened the door for a
regime there that makes war on many Sunnis who now back
ISIS. The US and its allies generate support for ISIS. How
can the cause of the problem be the solution? These regimes,
like the US superpower, cannot end the very system of
exploitation, repression and power they all defend, can
they? We think it’s more likely that popular uprisings
against these regimes can reclaim their vast oil resources
and use it to provide themselves a better life. <b> That
change will end ISIS’s appeal. Not bombings by the US and
its allies. <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">We urge you to
oppose this new war. It’s part of a larger war by rich
corporate owners against most of us, here and overseas.
For example, </span></b><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">the US Senate
voted $28 Billion for these attacks. To pay the bill, they
cut foodstamps for 800,000 U.S. families an average of
$90/month. The US spends trillions of our money to finance
over 600 military bases overseas to promote corporate
profits while our wages are frozen, prices go up, public
schools are underfunded and overcrowded, discrimination
continues, and most new jobs don’t pay a living wage and
have no benefits. This is imperialism-where powerful
countries like the US do dirty deals with local rulers to
take the wealth for the 1%. This hurts most of us here and
overseas. We need to join hands in this common effort and
fight for a better future here and there<i>. Muslims are not
our enemy. Our problems come from elite rule, not ordinary
people.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%"> <b>Fox Valley
Citizens for Peace and Justice <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.fvc4pnj.org">www.fvc4pnj.org</a></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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