[Marxism] Donate to IVAW!

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Friends,

This is an appeal from Stan Goff on behalf of Iraq Veterans Against the
War.  It is an appeal for money, so let me get that right out front.

I am asking you to go to www.ivaw.net, to click on "Donate Online", and to
become a "recurring" supporter, by providing an automatic monthly deduction
transfered to IVAW of as much as you can afford -- $10, $100, $500... as
much as you can afford.

No group of women and men has more credibility with the public in its
opposition to the war than the people who participated in it, and who are
now speaking out against it.  IVAW's membership includes hundreds of
highly-motivated, talented young people, who have shown a special
character.  They are now students, workers, musicians, philosophers,
geographers, playwrights, public speakers, writers, film-makers, and
several have spent time in prison for their beliefs.  People like Camilo
Mejia, Stephen Funk, Kevin Benderman, Charlie Anderson, Mike Hoffman, Kelly
Dougherty, Pablo Paredes, Tim Goodrich, Pat Resta, Jimmy Massey, Jose
Vasquez, Ivan Medina, Tina Garnanez, Alex Ryabov, Garret Reppenhagen, and
many others.  These are the people whose voices are amplified by
contributions to IVAW.

IVAW has never had a lot, but after the expenses incurred to support Cindy
Sheehan, the Crawford to DC Bus Tour, and the September 24 antiwar
demonstration, there is not enough money in the bank right now to even make
payroll for the part-time staff that keeps the organization afloat.

The organization needs around $10,000 a month cash flow to support its
recent expansion in membership and the next year's organizational
development and objectives.  Those objectives include organizer training
for members, chapter concentration to develop local self-sustaining nuclei,
Katrina survivor self-determination support work, and counter-recruitment
initiatives.  These are the IVAW priorities for the next year, in addition
to the primary mission -- to stop the war against Iraq.

IVAW is the only organization of its kind, with its membership drawn from
armed services veterans who were on duty after September 11, 2001, the day
of the event upoon which the Bush administration built it's so-called
Global War on Terror.  IVAW could seek a lot of foundation money if it were
to change one thing in its mission statement, and that is the demand for
immediate and unilateral withdrawal of all American forces from
Iraq.  Calls for indefinite plans of "phased" withdrawal are much more
popular with foundations who are reluctant to endanger quietly favored
elected officials who have been less than sterling on the war by
confronting them with their complicity in letting the Bush administration
have its way.  IVAW could change that mission and have access to more
money.  But it will not.

IVAW will not take money that  has these kinds of unstated strings
attached.  So it needs the support of independent antiwar activists who
share IVAW's core beliefs that the occupation must leave as a moral
imperative and that the Iraqis will be better off without the occupation --
that the occupation itself is the catalyst for most of the violence there,
including attacks by Iraqis against other Iraqis.

The way this movement becomes independent and stays independent is through
the support of people who share its core mission and values.

Please, please help us build a sustaining financial floor under this
extremely important organization.  They need to be focused on their work,
not on finances.

Thanks so much for your support of my work, and for whatever you can commit
to IVAW.

Yours very sincerely,

Stan Goff
http://stangoff.com


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