[Peace-discuss] Remarks for Thursday protest, noon on campus

[Robert Naiman]

I would be happy to yield my 2.5 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Champaign.

I had offered to talk about why bombing Iran would be an extremely bad
idea and what we could do to stop it. I can do this in 2.5 minutes -
or less. Or someone else can talk about it. I have no ego investment
in being a speaker at this demo.

I did not advertise myself as a representative of AWARE - just so you
know. I just responded to an email from Karen asking, "who would be
willing to speak?" I wrote back that I would be happy to talk about
not bombing Iran, if there were a place for that not yet filled.


On 3/14/07, C. G. Estabrook <galliher at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> [Apparently Bob Naiman and I are to divide AWARE's five minutes at
> tomorrow's demo.  Here's my 2.5 minutes (delivered at the usual rate of
> the news notes at the meeting).  Suggestions welcome.  --CGE]
>
>
> [1] AWARE is a local anti-war group formed just after the 9-11 attacks,
> by people around here who realized that the "Global War on Terrorism"
> was a fraud -- a cover for American imperialism.  The name stands for
> "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort," and it includes people from
> Champaign-Urbana from their mid-teens to their mid-eighties, university
> and non-university.
>
> [2] Among other things, AWARE holds monthly demonstrations against the
> administration's wars -- past, present and future; we also arranged for
> the local referendums in last fall's elections, when people in
> Champaign-Urbana voted FOR withdrawal from Iraq and FOR the impeachment
> of Bush and Chaney.
>
> [3] Across the country Americans voted against the war last fall, so
> some politicians, particularly Democrats, had to begin to say that they
> were against the war.  But we should realize that there are two ways to
> be anti-war now, one real and one fake.
>
> [4] The first way is to recognize that the US government has
> consistently misrepresented the situation in the Middle East -- from the
> 9/11 attacks through the Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction" to the
> attack on Lebanon -- to justify murderous and criminal policies, up to
> and including launching aggressive war -- which the Nuremberg Trials
> called "the supreme international crime" (that is, worse than
> terrorism).  The US should therefore withdraw completely from Iraq (and
> Afghanistan), as a large majority of Iraqis wish; pay reparations; and
> hold accountable those guilty of prosecuting this war, beginning with
> impeachment.
>
> [5] But the second way to call yourself anti-war is to call for a
> "re-deployment" of US forces in the Middle East, so that the central
> point of the long-term US policy in the region -- control of the
> region's energy resources, a decisive advantage for the US over Europe
> and Asia -- can be maintained, while the US washes its hands of any
> responsibility for the countries it has invaded and devastated.  That is
> the way of most of our anti-war Democrats, including Mr. Obama, and it
> is a cynical pretense.
>
> [6] AWARE wants to help build a real anti-war movement.  We meet every
> Sunday night at 5pm at the Old Post Office in Urbana.  Come join us.  We
> have a war to end.
>
>         ###
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