[pjw] EVENT REMINDER: "War of Lies: Why Are US Troops Still in Iraq?" Tues 3/19/19 4-5:30 PM

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hey IAG supporters
Just another reminder about Tuesday's event. FYI I do have someone to help 
string the tower with the proper banners, and someone to help bring the 
tower down to the rally site. It would be great to have one or two people 
who can meet us at the site (east end of the Burnside Bridge, next to the 
"dumbbell building") at 3:30 on Tuesday to help with the tower, please let 
me know if you can do that.

Meanwhile, I added some context around Yemen and Venezuela to the earlier 
announcement, and FYI there is now a quarter page version of the leaflet 
you can download at the event site (link below). Keep spreading the word!

--dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group

Peace and Justice Works
    Iraq Affinity Group
    PO Box 42456
    Portland, OR   97242
    (503) 236-3065  (Office)
    iraq at pjw.info
    http://www.pjw.info/Iraq.html

NEWS ITEM

For immediate release         March 15, 2019

                 "War of Lies: Why Are US Troops Still in Iraq?"
            Visibility action marking 16 years since the US Invasion
                            *Tuesday, March 19, 2019*
                                4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
                         East end of the Burnside Bridge
                   (Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd at Burnside)

On Tuesday, March 19 the Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group is
teaming up with the weekly Stand for Peace and Justice event for a
special visibility action marking 16 years since the US invaded Iraq in
2003. The action will be held from 4:00 until 5:30 PM* and will feature
the "Tower of Peace," a 12-foot-tall display which has been seen many
times around town since 2012. The recent Senate vote against US participation 
in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, and actions suggesting the US would like to 
conduct a similar war to access the vast oil reserves in Venezuela, make this 
action particularly timely.

The US invasion and occupation was based on the knowingly false
information presented by the George W Bush administration alleging that
Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. After the invasion, no such
weapons were found. Similar lies about the alleged attack on a US naval
destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin helped justify the Viet Nam war. The
current President is pushing a false narrative about migrants coming
across the Mexican border to try justifying spending some of the
military's $700 billion plus budget to build an unnecessary wall.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives both in the invasion
and the ensuing chaos, including under the Obama administration both
prior to most US troops being withdrawn in 2011 and in the war against
ISIS waged from 2014 until late last year. Airstrikes continue and the
US has indicated it will move some of the 2000 ground troops currently in Syria 
into Iraq, which would bring the total close to 7500 in a country the US 
supposedly left over seven years ago. Members of the Iraqi
parliament have asked the US to leave, particularly in the wake of
President Trump's surprise Christmas visit in which he did not meet
with any Iraqi officials.

This event is co-sponsored by Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group and 
Stand for Peace and Justice, with Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom-Portland, Portland Peaceful Response Coalition and
War Resisters League-Portland. More information including a flyer for the event 
can be found at http://www.pjw.info/iraq16yl.html .

For more information or to get involved contact the Peace and Justice
Works Iraq Affinity Group at 503-236-3065 (voice or text), or email
iraq at pjw.info .

*- note: Stand for Peace and Justice usually runs from 4:30 to 5:30 PM,
this will be a special extended action.