[Peace-discuss] Flyer for today's demo, 2-4pm downtown Champaign

[C. G. Estabrook]

*_The Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort of Champaign-Urbana_ (AWARE)*


*~ CALLS ON THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION*

*TO REVERSE ITS POLICIES ON WAR & THE ECONOMY:*


*(1.) bring all U.S. troops home (including mercenaries and the CIA)*

*(2.) cut military expenditures - only for defense, not for intervention *

*(3.) for the richest 1%: no bailouts for banks and corporations*

*(4.) for the 99%: jobs (like the WPA) and an end to foreclosures*


*~ AND CALLS ON STATE & FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS*


*TO STOP ATTACKS ON UNIONS*


*The Obama administration launched a new war this week*- or rather opened a new 
front in the war that it continued from earlier administrations. American and 
European military forces (under the name of NATO) attacked Libya and intervened 
in a civil war, supposedly to enforce a United Nations Security Council 
Resolution. That resolution was supported at home and abroad because it was said 
to protect civilians. But the US and its allies (subordinates, really, in 
international war-making) quickly went beyond its terms in an attempt to remove 
the Qaddafi government - one more exercise in "regime change." There was no 
effort to limit action to instituting a no-fly zone; instead the US attacked 
with cruise missiles and gunships - contrary to the explicit requirements of the 
US War Powers Resolution of 1973. Members of both parties said that President 
Obama was liable to impeachment as a result.


*Ever since the Second World War*, American leaders have considered the Middle 
East - including North Africa - the "most strategically important region of the 
world": their primary concern was and remains its incomparable energy reserves. 
Control of these would yield "substantial control of the world," as American 
planners have asserted for two generations. In oil-rich countries, reliable 
dictators are given virtual free rein by US administrations. In recent weeks, 
for example, there was no reaction when the Saudi dictatorship used massive 
force to prevent any sign of protest; also in Kuwait, when small demonstrations 
were instantly crushed; and in Bahrain, when Saudi-led forces intervened to 
protect the minority Sunni monarch from calls for reform on the part of the 
repressed Shiite population.


*Libya is rich in oil*, and though the US and UK have often given quite 
remarkable support to its cruel dictator, right to the present, he is not 
reliable. The US government would much prefer a more obedient client. 
Furthermore, the vast territory of Libya is mostly unexplored, and oil 
specialists believe it may have rich untapped resources, which a more dependable 
government might open to Western exploitation. US and British internal documents 
stress that "the virus of nationalism" is their greatest fear, not just in the 
Middle East but everywhere. Nationalist regimes might not follow orders from 
Washington; they might seek to direct resources to the needs of their own 
people, rather than to the profits of American corporations.


*A majority of Americans are opposed to the ongoing wars *in the Mideast and 
North Africa; about the same percentage as opposed the war in Vietnam in the 
late 1960s. Americans are outragedthat in the worst recession since the 1930s, 
the federal government has no trouble finding money for these extremely 
expensive wars, which benefit the rich, but will not provide jobs for Americans 
or keep them in their homes - except by giving ever more money to rich 
corporations and individuals, in hopes that they might hire more people!

*We said it to Nixon 40 years ago...*

*--to Reagan 25 years ago... *

*--to Clinton 12 years ago...*

*--to Bush Jr. 8 years ago...*

*--and now to Obama today:*


*YOUR FOREIGN WARS ARE ILLEGAL AND UNJUST! *

*BRING ALL U.S. TROOPS HOME NOW!*


*Nixon's wars in Southeast Asia* ended because of the brave resistance of an 
invaded people, the revolt of the US conscript army in Vietnam (so now there is 
no more draft), and the growing conviction of the American people (70% by 1969) 
that the Vietnam War was "fundamentally wrong and immoral," not "a mistake."


*Reagan's wars in Central America* ended because of the brave resistance of an 
invaded people, a largely religious-based anti-war movement in the US, and 
eventual cutting off of funds for a clandestine war by Congress.


*But Clinton, Bush Jr., and Obama*///_were able to kill millions of people in 
undeclared and unlawful presidential wars_///because of the connivance of 
Congress and the lack of an effective popular movement in the US. The largest 
anti-war demonstrations in history occurred around the world before Bush and 
Blair launched the invasion of Iraq in 2003. But the decline of the 
effectiveness of American popular opinion continued. Clinton, Bush and Obama 
were able to make war as they wished despite polls that showed that a majority 
of Americans were against it.


*A high percentage of Americans*, more than 80%, tell pollsters that the US 
government serves "the few and the special interests," not "the people." In 
recent presidential elections, polls showed that about 75% saw it as mostly a 
farce having nothing to do with them, a game played by rich contributors, party 
bosses, and the public relations industry, which trained candidates to say 
mostly meaningless things that might pick up some votes.


*In 2006 the Democrats were given control of Congress* to end the Mideast war: 
they spent the next two years saying that they'd like to - but continuing to 
vote money for it. In 2008 Obama was elected as the anti-war candidate, in 
opposition to the belligerent McCain - and then immediately expanded Bush's 
Mideast war and made it even more brutal, notably by drone attacks on Pakistan, 
a large and powerful country (with more nuclear weapons than the UK), with which 
we are not at war. Now he has intervened - in violation of the Constitution - in 
a civil war in Libya, as another front in the generations-long American war to 
dominate the energy-producing region of the world


*If you object to the Obama administration's* conducting an unjustified war in 
the Middle East - and misrepresenting the reason for it - while doing nothing 
about the economy except aiding the rich, tell your representatives in Congress. 
Representative Tim Johnson, and Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk, can be 
reached through the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. /*Your protest makes a 
difference: local congressman Tim Johnson, who voted for the invasions of 
Afghanistan and Pakistan, decided that he was wrong to do so and refuses to vote 
for any more money for war in the Middle East. He has kept his promise, while 
our senators continue to vote for war. Now Rep. Johnson has joined other members 
of the House to initiate legislation calling for an end to the Libyan 
intervention unless Congress approves it. You can call him and thank him for his 
stance against the war at 217-403-4690. */


*AWARE, the */*Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort of Champaign-Urbana*/*,* meets every 
Sunday at 5pm in the McKinley Foundation, 5th and Daniel Streets in Champaign, 
near the UIUC campus. We discuss the war and what can be done against it. 
Visitors are welcome - and see our Facebook page. We also present /AWARE on the 
Air /each Tuesday 10-11pm on Urbana Public Television, channel 6. Each week we 
bring you comments by members and friends of AWARE about the war and the 
opposition to it, locally and nationally, by Americans who oppose our 
government's betrayal of our democratic principles. *###*

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