[pjw] REPORT BACK: 20 (or 32) long years in Iraq: Friday rally #156 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Supporters of peace in Iraq and around the world

Perhaps reflecting the raised awareness around the anniversary of the war 
on Iraq (tomorrow, March 19), we had fifteen people at last night's 
specially themed Friday Rally for Peace and Justice. This included two new 
people, one who attended for their second time after showing up months ago 
for a one-off, and two members of the peace community we hadn't seen for a 
while. (For those doing the math at home, that leaves ten "regulars.") 
Technically there were fourteen at the rally, then one person left and 
another joined at the exact same point of the march, then another person 
left the march so we ended with 13 people. Still, the pandemic numbers for 
this annual event were six in 2020 and 2021, and nine in 2022, so a record 
high over the course of the four events.

We handed out over 50 fact sheets, the substance of which is reflected 
in the report back below, but which can be found on our website here:

https://pjw.info/iraq20ylfacts.pdf

I expect to send out the full text tomorrow. I've also posted a photo on 
the event page which shows how we double-sided two existing "IRAQ-US OUT" 
signs to have the message "NO F35 FIGHTER JETS" on the back.

https://pjw.info/iraq20yl.html#photo

In addition to all the people who took our literature, we had lots of 
honks and other signs of support.

I started the rally with a summary of the last 32 years in Iraq and then 
addressed some recent headlines:

--In 1990, Kuwait was slant drilling for oil under Iraq's soil; the US 
ambassador told Iraq the US had "no opinion on your Arab-Arab dispute" 
which was taken as a green light for Iraq to invade.

--The US then imposed one of the strictest sancions regime in history, and 
started a war the day after MLK's birthday in 1991, known as the "Gulf 
War."

--The war and sanctions killed hundreds of thousands of people, with 
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright shrugging off the deaths of half a 
million children saying "the price is worth it."

--In 2001, after the attacks of 9/11, the US began to make a false case 
that Iraq was somehoe involved. In late 2002 congress passed a use of 
force authorization citing Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction."

--In early 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell lied to the United 
Nations about those alleged weapons, and about a month later the US 
and its allies attacked and invaded Iraq, killing thousands more.

--The US occupied the country, buildilng the world's largest embassy. 2500 
troops remain there today despite claims of "withdrawal."

--The good news (as I wrote earlier this week): The Senate is on the brink 
of voting to repeal the authorizations for both the 1991 and 2003 wars, 
though the 2001 AUMF which led to the "war on terror" will remain.

--As noted last week, the US won't present evidence about alleged Russian 
war crimes in Ukraine for fear of prosecution. Those who live in violent 
houses shouldn't throw around war crimes accusations, I guess.

--On that note, Russia has pointed to the US invasions/wars on Yugoslavia, 
Afthanistan, Iraq and Libya to show America's hypocrisy.

---Don't forget, March 19 is also the 12 year anniversary of the US war on 
Libya, which like Iraq has been in shambles since the US intervention with 
no stable government at this time.

--The US continues to pressure Iran not to build nuclear weapons even 
though the CIA has found that country isn't trying to build any, while 
turning a blind eye to Israel's undeclared but surely existing nuclear 
arms.

---Israel also continues to occupy the West Bank and Gaza after 56 years 
despite dozens of UN Security Council resolutions declaring the occupation 
illegal.

--And in solidarity with Code Pink and many of the 200 other organizations 
who signed a letter last fall to end the F-35 fighter jet program, we 
included the facts that these planes will cost $1.7 trillion, they 
frequently don't work properly, they pollute the environment, disrupt the 
communities where they are test-flown, and, oh yeah, they are meant to 
kill people.

On to other news:

--This week a US drone went down in the Black Sea after a Russian plane 
apparently dumped fuel on it and (maybe accidentally) clipped its 
propellor. Seems similar in many ways to the US downing that Chinese 
balloon last month... why is the US flying dones over the Black Sea 
anyway?

  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/15/russian-us-drone-jet-recovery

---As if there needs to be more escalation of the war, Poland and 
Slovakia are going to provide fighter jets to Ukraine.

  https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-poland-russia-war-jets-migs-6d843ccbd50fef5f96091a5bff8f3e01?taid=641310a337b03e00014cf23a
  https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/slovak-government-send-mig-29-fighter-jets-ukraine-pm-2023-03-17/

--Here in the US, a Democrat and Republican have teamed up to write a 
resolution requiring a review of Saudi Arabia's human rights record before 
engaging in trade or other relations with them (presumably including 
shuttnig down any support for the war in Yemen).

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-saudi-arms-sales-senators-propose-resolution-derail-exports

--A rocket attack on a US base in a Syrian oil field didn't kill anyone, 
but raises the question again of WHY DOES THE US HAVE MILITARY BASES IN 
SYRIA?

  https://thecradle.co/article-view/22501/rockets-hit-us-occupied-oilfield-in-northeast-syria

In local news, the Portland Police Bureau wants to join in the wartime fun 
by getting $80,000 worth of drones. They say it is for traffic accident 
scenes and "critical incidents" like hostage situations. But we know 
they'll use them to spy on activists and communities of color.

  https://www.portland.gov/council/documents/ordinance/ppb-uas-ordinance

Along the march route, I relayed a news story I read about 250+ businesses 
who are threatening to boycott Israel if it passes the law allowing the 
government to overturn judicial decisions. Again, there's so much existing 
injustice, but it's good they're drawing the line somewhere.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-business-leaders-boycott-israel-judicial-reforms

And as we headed back toward the square, I takled about how Biden's $886 
billion Pentagon budget, which provides for more missiles, bombers and 
warships, is described as the largest "peacetime" defense spending. Can 
someone tell me when we entered into "peacetime"? (Is it like Daylight 
Savings?)

  https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2023/03/heres-everything-we-know-about-pentagons-2024-budget-proposal/383892/

The Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign stayed on this week until we got 
around the corner from the Gucci store but across from the Apple store. 
One of our regulars (who first joined at the 18 year Iraq anniversary 
event!) usually carries a large cardboard sign. For a short while it 
seemed that was blocking the jammimng signals?? Who knows. It went out, 
but popped back on a few minutes after we finished the march.

We're continuing to encourage folks to mask up and stay distanced, but we 
always welcome you to join us any week at 5 PM on a Friday night at 
Pioneer Courthouse Square's SW corner.

thanks
--dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group