Re: [Marxism] National Assembly call for March 21 is important positive step

[Bonnie Weinstein <giobon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The argument against the War on Afghanistan can be stated very  
simply--why should all the Afghani people be collectively punished  
for what a few are accused of doing? Or of what their government is  
accused of doing? Imperialist, Capitalist War is collective  
punishment of the innocent for the supposed crimes of the few!

What if an American went over and bombed some building in another  
country? (Ha!) Would the people living American feel that the other  
country would be justified in bombing the U.S. to pieces and killing  
every living American the world over? Suppose the persons who did the  
actual act of that bombing were Catholic, or Protestant, or Jewish?  
Would it make it OK to hunt and kill members of their religion  
worldwide as well?

That's exactly what Obama has promised--he'll hunt down and kill the  
Taliban and al-Qaeda wherever he can find them!

And isn't that the excuse given for the genocide against all the  
Palestinian people carried out by the U.S.-funded puppet government  
of Israel?

In solidarity,

Bonnie Weinstein, socialistviewpoint.org


On Dec 20, 2008, at 6:35 AM, Fred Feldman wrote:

> An excellent call! I like the bravery and wisdom of not mentioning  
> either the incoming president or the last one.  Foaming at Bush  
> became a legitimized form of protest, without however very many  
> achievements, either in terms of reaching out or in terms of  
> clarifying the political situation for the masses of people,  to  
> its credit.
>
> Foaming at Obama at this point would be satisfyingly suicidal. I  
> congratulate the organizers for having the cold nerve to order  
> temptation to get behind them. Some on the list think it takes  
> colossal courage to denounce Obama in unbridled terms today. But no  
> left critics of Obama are hanging from lampposts. None are being  
> outlawed or jailed or suppressed in any way. Obamaism is not the  
> new McCarthyism.
>
> This protest deserves strong support and realistic expectations. It  
> will not be a march of hundreds of thousands, and this is not  
> simply because of crazed Obama cultism in the masses or sections of  
> the vanguard. It will be more difficult if the US actually begins  
> to withdraw forces from Iraq.
>
> A big part of the problem is that it is impossible today to ignore  
> the centrality of Afghanistan in the situation. We have to start  
> from scratch in explaining this in my opinion. The wider US public  
> (including working people) has only begun to really notice it. It  
> is the "good war." The leaderships the US fights have absolutely  
> nothing in common with the historical goals of oppressed humanity.  
> It is hard to explain why people should oppose Afghanistan without  
> either explaining imperialism (which can be done without using the  
> word) or slipping toward isolationist myths of an "America" that  
> does not need to care about what happens in far-off countries.
>
> This was the "anti-neocon" philosophy which gained a lot of ground  
> on the left (conquering Counterpunch, for instance, and forming the  
> basis for the  far libertarian right-far left liberal coalition  
> that drives all of the magazine's core political positions.
>
> At any rate this is a great statement and the resulting  
> demonstration, if managed on this basis and not turned into simply  
> an excuse for crude anti-Obama exposes (and the leaders seem to  
> have the willpower to avoid this),
>
> This will be a propaganda action, and many such will be needed, I  
> think, before we come out on the other end of the tube we have been  
> passing through.
> Fred Feldman
>
> March on the Pentagon!
>
> March 21, 2009
>
> The National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and  
> Occupations is joining with other coalitions, organizations, and  
> networks to organize a united MARCH 21 NATIONAL COALITION to  
> mobilize people across the United States to take part in a March on  
> the Pentagon on Saturday, March 21, marking six years of war and  
> occupation of Iraq.
>
> Demonstrations will also be held on that date in San Francisco, Los  
> Angeles, and other cities across the U.S.
>
> These actions will remind the nation that all U.S. military forces  
> must be brought home from Afghanistan and Iraq, and that the U.S.  
> antiwar movement Ãââ marching behind a banner demanding à 
> âÅOut Now!Ãâ -- will intensify its struggle to make it happen.
>
> The actions are needed to assure the people of Iraq, Afghanistan,  
> and other countries threatened by WashingtonÃââs expansionist  
> policies that tens of millions of people in this country support  
> their right to settle their own destinies without U.S.  
> interventions, occupations and murderous wars. International law  
> recognizes and we demand that the U.S. respect the right to self- 
> determination. We reject any notion that the U.S. is the worldà 
> ââs self-appointed cop.
>
> The March 21 united mass actions are also needed at this time of  
> economic meltdown to demand jobs for all; a moratorium on  
> foreclosures; rebuilding the crumbling infrastructure; guaranteed  
> quality education and health care for all; an end to the U.S.  
> Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and deportations;  
> and funding for sorely needed social programs. So long as trillions  
> of dollars continue to be spent on wars, occupations, and bailouts  
> to the banks and corporate elite, the domestic needs of people in  
> the U.S. can never be met.
>
> The So-called Status of Forces Agreement
>
> As for Iraq, regardless of what is in the so-called ÃâÅStatus of  
> Forces Agreement,Ãâ the war makers in Washington plan to  
> continue the occupation indefinitely. Tens of thousands of U.S.  
> troops and mercenary soldiers will be maintained to carry out a  
> number of missions that are listed, but in reality their aim is to  
> carry out the one mission that is not mentioned: ensure the U.S.  
> subjugation of Iraq to exploit its oil resources and dominate the  
> Middle East.
>
> Any doubt about WashingtonÃââs intentions should be dispelled  
> by the statement by Gen. Raymond Odierno, who said on December 13,  
> 2008 that U.S. forces would remain indefinitely in dozens of bases  
> in Iraq cities, despite language in the Status of Forces Agreement  
> that appeared to require a withdrawal from urban areas by next  
> summer. (Wall Street Journal 12/15/08)
>
> As for Afghanistan, it is not the ÃâÅgood warÃâ claimed by  
> the Obama administration and the power structure, which plans to  
> increase the number of U.S. troops in that country by 20,000.  
> Afghanistan will prove to be another U.S. Vietnam. The U.S. war  
> will only result in a continuation of the slaughter that has been  
> the hallmark of all previous occupations by foreign powers.
>
> The daily U.S. bombing and killing of Afghanis attending weddings,  
> classes, funerals, or simply trying to survive shows how cruel and  
> deadly this war is. It is directed against the same forces that the  
> U.S. armed, financed, and helped bring to power.
>
> Why is the U.S. at war against Afghanistan? Its primary purpose is  
> to secure control of a pipeline across that country. (See the 1998  
> statement submitted to Congress by the Union Oil Company of  
> California, which later merged with Chevron, stressing the need to  
> build a natural gas pipeline across Afghanistan. And note Dick  
> CheneyÃââs 1998 statement made when he was chief executive of a  
> major oil services company: ÃâÅI cannot think of a time when we  
> have had a region emerge suddenly to become as strategically  
> significant as the Caspian,Ãâ which led the Guardian newspaper  
> to remark, ÃâÅBut the oil and gas there is worthless until it is  
> moved. The only route that would make both political and economic  
> sense is through Afghanistan.ÃâÂ)
>
> The March 21 demonstration will also denounce the expansion of the  
> war into Pakistan and the sanctions and threats of military action  
> against Iran. It will also call for the end to U.S. support for the  
> continued occupation of Palestine.
>
> The National Assembly
>
> From its inception, the National Assembly to End the Iraq and  
> Afghanistan Wars and Occupations has called for united antiwar  
> demonstrations this spring. We urge the entire movement to unite  
> now around the March 21 actions and we will do everything possible  
> to make this unity a reality. The civil rights, union, anti-Vietnam  
> War, womenÃââs liberation and gay rights movements would not  
> have achieved victories without having built truly massive  
> movements that were able to organize repeated and powerful  
> independent mobilizations in the streets.
>
> Why the demonstration in Washington? Because it is the seat of  
> power, where foreign and domestic policies are decided, where money  
> for war is allocated, and bailouts of the banking industry and  
> corporate rich are given away.
>
> Join us in mobilizing the largest possible outpouring of antiwar  
> opposition built by a united movement on March 21. LetÃââs  
> march and continue to march until all U.S. forces come home, U.S.  
> bases are dismantled, and the sovereign people of the world have  
> the right to control their own resources and determine their own  
> futures.
>
> To endorse the March 21 March on the Pentagon, please click here.
> To send a contribution to support the National AssemblyÃââs  
> work, please click here.
>
> For more information, please visit the National AssemblyÃââs  
> website at www.natassembly.org or write natassembly@xxxxxxx or call  
> 216-736-4704.
>
>
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