[pjw] REPORT BACK: 34 years in Iraq: Friday rally #252 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

IAG supporters

With only a modicum of snags (the "3" and "4" fell off my sign in the car 
before I got to the rally), I was able to present the "34 Years Too Long, 
US Out of Iraq" sign at last night's Friday Rally for Peace and Justice.

  https://pjw.info/images/gw34yl.jpg

Six of us rallied and five marched, getting a lot of thumbs-ups, honks and 
other words of support. I think a few dozen Guantanamo fact sheets went 
out. One person came back to say "thank you for handing these out!"

It was quite cold and dry, but somehow my clothes felt soaking wet when I 
got back from the Square?

With the anniversary of the "Gulf War" just a few days off from the day 
Guantanamo opened (Jan. 16 1991 vs Jan 11 2002), I gave another history 
recap before heading into the week's news.

I forgot until later to mention that in 1990, Iraq complained to the US 
that Kuwait was slant-drilling under the border and accessing Iraqi oil. 
The US responded that they would not get involved in an "Arab-Arab 
dispute." Which Iraq took as a "green light" to invade.

The US instituted devastating sanctions, and then, as I noted the other 
day, President George HW Bush used Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday 
(January 15) as a deadline for Iraq to get out of Kuwait or face military 
action. How kind, he waited until the next day, January 16, to unleash 
bombs. Hundreds of thousands were killed by the war and the sanctions.

In 2002, Congress gave authorization for George W Bush to attack Iraq (for 
Weapons of Mass Destruction that did not exist) and the US launched the 
Iraq War with massive bombing in March 2003. They invaded and occupied.

President Barack Obama withdrew many of the troops in 2011, but sent 
more back in ostensibly to fight the Islamic State in 2014. For years 
we've been told that 2500 troops remained there-- until the Assad regime 
fell in December and the Pentagon admitted that number is low, but won't 
say what the actual total is.

So, the US still occupies Iraq to this day-- thirty-four plus years later.

More recently:

--Yesterday, Israel's government approved the cease-fire with 
Hamas, something many thought would drag out past the end of Biden's term 
on Sunday. I must have misunderstood the news story I heard on the way to 
the rally-- they said "government" so I assumed the Parliament (Knesset) 
had voted but all the news stories say it was just the cabinet.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/17/israeli-cabinet-approves-gaza-ceasefire-deal

---But in typical Israeli fashion, after the ceasefire was originally 
announced earlier in the week they killed at least 87 Palestinians in 
Gaza.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/1/16/live-celebrations-in-gaza-as-israel-hamas-reach-ceasefire-deal?update=3446576

---By typical, I mean that, for instance, the Israelis again violated the 
ceasefire agreement with Lebanon by bombing houses on Monday.

  https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/-lebanon-reports-4-more-israeli-violations-of-cease-fire-deal/3448885

--Elsewhere, South Korean President Yoon was arrested for his 
anti-democratic declaration of martial law. Well, maybe there is hope for 
democracy on this planet?

  https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/south-korean-president-behind-bars-yoon-stays-silent-still-guarded-by-presidential-security-service

--The UN Human rights chief is urging lifting sanctions on Syria. It's 
really great because sanctions harm the people more than the government in 
nearly every instance. But it's interesting how Assad was the worst of the 
worst and the UN tagged Syria's new leader as a "terrorist." But again 
let's take the positive view here.

  https://thecradle.co/articles/un-human-rights-chief-urges-end-of-syria-sanctions-after-talks-with-hts-leader

--The outgoing CIA director has affirmed, ***as has been the case for the 
last 20+ years***, that Iran is in fact not pursuing a nuclear weapons 
program. Facts won't matter to our incoming administration though.


  https://thecradle.co/articles/outgoing-cia-director-says-no-sign-iran-developing-nuclear-weapons

--As a blip in history, President Biden agreed to lift Cuba's designation 
as a state sponsor of terrorism as they agreed to release over 550 
political prisoners. But again, don't book those flights to Havana just 
yet, Trump will likely overturn this decision too.

  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-lifting-cuba-state-sponsor-of-terrorism-designation/

In local news, the City Council hastily added an item to their Wednesday 
night agenda to set up Committees, which will do most of the work on 
specific "service areas" which fall to the City Administrator to manage on 
a day to day basis. (The old City Council members were legislators AND 
managers.) The former Police Accountability Commission convinced the City 
to put the new Oversight Board under the same umbrella as the Bureau of 
Human Resources so the same people wouldn't oversee both the Police and 
the Review Board. It's not clear whether the Committees are recognizing 
that conflict of interest. (Side note: To testify on this matter I had to 
wait until almost the end of the meeting Wednesday-- 11:13 PM).

  https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2025/01/16/47602254/city-council-solidifies-new-policy-committees

Along the march route, I wondered aloud how the Gaza ceasefire might 
affect the US-backed Israeli Defense Forces ongoing assaults in the West 
Bank. This week, for instance, an IDF airstrike on a home in the West 
Bank killed six people including a 15 year old.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-air-strike-home-kills-six-jenin

As we got near the end of the march I summarized President Biden's 
farewell address, where he warned about the "tech industrial complex." 
Clearly a callback to Eisenhower's warning about the Military Insdustrial 
Complex, that term ignores the insidious way that military contractors 
rely on state-sponsored murder to profit. He also warned against the rise 
of oligarchy, or the rich running everything. He's a little late on that 
mark, especially since Elon Musk is worth $400 Billion. Why does one man 
have that much money when there are people living on the streets????

  https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/15/biden-oligarchy-farewell-speech-00198565


I added back the messages about "US Out" and "Justice 4" on the Ann 
Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign. It's unclear whether saying "Gaza, Ceasefire 
Now" is meaningful with the impending possible reality of a ceasefire. But 
again not trusting the Israelis to keep their word it may be back soon. 
And... the sign turned itself off across from the Apple Store again.

I'm seeing a lot more people masking up, as not only COVID but multiple 
respiratory illnesses are on the rise.

  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14243897/doctors-warn-pandemic-four-viral-infection-rates-soar.html

So be careful out there, including if you decide to join us at the rally.

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