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State of the Union national antiwar mobilization       printable version

12 Dec 2015: posted by the editor - Events, United States

January 12, 2016, the day of President Obama's State of the Union address to Congress, has been selected by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance as a day of national protest against current US military action of all kinds, including drone warfare.

Organisers say it is the first and only national anti-war event to be planned since the intensification of bombing in Syria and Iraq, the spreading of drone war across many countries and the increase in US special forces units going into Iraq and Syria, units that can be expected to engage in kidnapping and assassination.

Organisers released the following statement of declaration:

Guided by conscience, reason, and deeply held convictions, the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance calls upon all people of good will to come to Washington, DC on Tuesday January 12, 2016 to actively participate in a witness of nonviolent civil resistance, challenging President Barack Obama and the United States Congress to address the real state of the union, to immediately stop all U.S. acts of war, and to make significant changes that will put the people of the United States on the path to acting cooperatively with all in the world so that we can all live together in a world of peace, sharing our resources fairly.

The president will deliver his State of the Union speech to the U.S. Congress on that day and tragically for the world, without a doubt, his presentation will once again be a threadbare act of political theatre with no relevance to the masses of people here in the United States or around the world. The escalating violence and tyranny of an expanding American empire abroad is destabilizing the world. The US Congress is bought and paid for by corporations and a wealthy minority who believe that assertion of global military control is the only way to ensure their corporate success. Congress willingly rubber stamps empire's ongoing wars, with U.S. citizens footing the bill, paying the trillions of dollars in military costs benefiting only the 1 percent while causing crippling injuries, deaths, extreme hardship and suffering for so much of the world. Congress is nothing more than a bipartisan betrayer of the people. The ongoing wars for empire must end if humanity is to survive.

To be more specific, the perpetual wars waged by the U.S. are illegal, immoral, and enriching the wealthy financial corporate elites as millions within the U.S. lack basic needs, and billions around the world live in extreme poverty. We see how the wars and occupations abroad, fueled by fear and profit, have literally and figuratively turned inwards against the American people, impoverishing and imprisoning us. The US drone wars are directed at the poorest and least powerful in places like Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries around the world. The people of Syria are now experiencing the US neocon strategy to "redraw the map of the Middle East", greatly exacerbating the international refugee crisis. The region is further threatened by the continued oppression and persecution of the Palestinians with US consent and complicity. The ultimate weapon in the U.S. arsenal still poses a serious danger to all on this planet and all these weapons must be eliminated by all countries which control them.

Furthermore, the racist nature of empire with its structures of violence and oppression are directed at all of us. Islamophobia, racism, police violence, and the growing security surveillance state must be resisted to protect the liberty of all. From schools to the prison industrial complex with mass incarceration and solitary confinement at home, to Guantanamo and other sites of indefinite detention and torture abroad, we are all caught up in the empire's systemic violence threatening the freedom of all. Undocumented people, victims of US economic trade deals and support of oppressive governments, are rounded up, held in for-profit jails for extended periods of time before deportation. The empire's short-sighted thirst for profit, strategic domination, control of fossil fuels and other natural resources are leading us to more war and destruction of earth's habitat and climate. We must actively resist and oppose the racism and violence of empire! We must save Mother Earth! Our resources must be directed away from the war machine and used for peaceful purposes, placing people over profit, with the goal as nothing less than saving of all life on our planet.

We urge those who are not able to be in Washington on January 12 to organize actions locally. We especially encourage those who are already speaking out against drones across the country to consider a simultaneous action. We support our friends in California who are already working on an action there. For information on the actions at Creech and Beale, contact mailto:smallworldradio@outlook.com

Join us in the streets of Washington, D.C., on January 12, 2016 as we all present ourmessage on the real State of the Union to President Obama and the Congress.

Teach - Ins Now
The mobilization offers an extremely important teaching opportunity, and you may want to organize a teach-in for January 12, given the fear and confusion that abounds. There is a desperate need for people to understand drone war within the larger context of the use of military force to dominate political/economic life in the Middle East, Afghanistan and northern Africa. In considering a teach-in, I recommend you listen to the interview with Michel Chossudovsky entitled "State Terrorism: Franco American Style-#334" (and #334-bonus) that was presented on the Guns and Butter radio show.

https://soundcloud.com/guns-and-butter-1

Why We Fight - To Stop Drone War
During WW II, the US government commissioned a series of documentary films called "Why We Fight" to, as Wikipedia says, "persuade" the US public to support US involvement in that war.   Mauro Oliveira has created a powerful 25 - minute video that would be excellent for teach-ins, providing persuasive testimony by Americans on why the US should not fight drone war.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=enRbp51pVSI

"Bugsplat" Powerpoint
Also with respect to planning teach-ins, you may want to review a Powerpoint presentation created by Mathias Quackenbush. While some of the data needs to be brought up to date, the Powerpoint discusses basic issues with respect to war for resources, drone war and the connection between current wars and climate change.

http://www.knowdrones.com/drone%20powerpoint%202.pptx

Black Agenda Report

Finally, for insightful commentary I highly recommend that you monitor, if you are not already doing so, the Black Agenda Report.   http://www.blackagendareport.com/

Tags: anti-war, State of the Union Address

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