[Marxism] ANSWER Coalition: Why We're Marching on the Pentagon

[Eli Stephens <elishastephens@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Friday, January 30, 2009

Statement from the ANSWER Coalition

We are organizing a Mass March on the Pentagon on Saturday, March 21, and it is 
important that you and your family, friends, co-workers and fellow students put 
on your marching shoes that day. People are coming from all over the country.

Why are we still marching even after the war criminal George W. Bush has left 
office? Because the people must speak out for what is right. More than 1 
million Iraqis have died and tens of thousands of U.S. troops have been wounded 
or killed.

The Iraq and Afghanistan war will drag on for years unless we act now. The cost 
in lives and resources is criminal regardless of whether the Democrats or 
Republicans are in charge of the government.

We must also act to end U.S. support for Israel’s ongoing war against the 
Palestinian people. The Bush Administration gave the green light and provided 
the weapons and the money for Israel’s recent war against the Palestinian 
people in Gaza. More than 5,000 Palestinians were killed or wounded; the 
majority of casualties were civilians, including hundreds of children, in this 
high-tech massacre. “We the People” pay the bill as the U.S. provides $2.5 
billion a year for Israel’s massive military machine.

Why We Say: Bring All the Troops Home Now Not Later!

If Bush’s war and occupation of Iraq was an illegal action of aggression—and it 
was—how can the new government say that it can only gradually end the war over 
a number of years? The Iraqis don’t want foreign military forces running their 
country. No one would!
 
The Pentagon has employed 200,000 foreign contractors (mercenaries) and 150,000 
U.S. troops to maintain the occupation of Iraq. They have no right to be there. 
A few thousand are being brought out of Iraq only to be redeployed to occupy 
Afghanistan, and the fools in the media proclaim “the war is winding down.” 
That is not true.

President Obama decided to keep the Pentagon just as it was under Bush. He even 
selected Bush appointee Robert Gates to keep his position as chief of the 
Pentagon. Gates announced that the new administration would double the number 
of troops sent to Afghanistan. That is certainly not the “change” most people 
thought was coming following the end of Bush’s tenure.

These are wars for domination in the Middle East and Central Asia.

The people of the United States want change. We are sick and tired of wars of 
aggression waged abroad under false slogans of “national security.” These are 
wars that reap massive profits for corporate weapons-makers with the promise of 
winning control over the vast oil and natural gas reserves in the Middle East 
and Central Asia.

Working people may have another definition for “national security.” What really 
makes the people “insecure?” Ask the 2.3 million families who are losing their 
homes because they are being foreclosed when they can’t pay their steep debts 
to the banks. Ironically, when these same parasitic bankers couldn’t pay their 
debts, the federal government rushed in with a $2.5 trillion bailout using our 
tax dollars.

Or ask working-class students who are being laid off from their jobs just as 
tuition costs soar out of reach. What defines “security” for millions of young 
people whose future is at stake? Do they want tax dollars spent to kill poor 
people abroad or to finance education?

We will march on Saturday, March 21, the sixth anniversary of the start of the 
Iraq invasion, to demand that taxpayer dollars be used to meet people’s 
needs—here and everywhere. This year’s real Pentagon war budget will top $1 
trillion.

This amount could create 10 million jobs, provide healthcare and education for 
all, rebuild New Orleans, and repair much of the damage done in Iraq, 
Afghanistan and Palestine. We need money for jobs, housing, health care and 
education, not for wars of aggression.

The occupation of Iraq alone costs $12 billion each month. This amounts to $400 
million each day, $16.7 million per hour and $278,000 per minute.

The Pentagon war machine does not act in our interests. Its wars benefit the 
biggest corporations and banks that seek to control the markets and riches of 
the Middle East. The people of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine are not our 
enemies. They want to live free from colonial-type domination. Only a people’s 
movement demanding an end to U.S. wars and militarism can win justice for 
people here and abroad.

Go to PentagonMarch.org for details about transportation, meetings and to get 
involved. Buses will be traveling to Washington, D.C. from across the country.

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