santacruz coalition

As the winter deepens, the United States moves closer and closer to war. As the January 27 report from UN weapons inspectors approaches, the Defense Department is positioning troops in the Middle East for an immediate military campaign. Pentagon sources state that there will be possibily as many as 250,000 troops fighting in Iraq.

The protests were called to coincide with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, invoking his legacy to mobilize people from all walks of life to take action. People are planning to turn out to march in across the world on January 18.

Massive demonstrations and walkouts are planned for the day the bombs “officially” start falling. Human shield missions for peace are also getting underway, with dozens of Westerners going to civilian locations throughout Iraq. All across the US, from coast to coast, from churches to campuses to union halls, a movement is uniting in action against war on Iraq. Moreover, opposition to Bush’s war on the poor in this country, as well as on the rest of the globe, is growing, connecting the links between poverty and war enunciated by Dr. King.

In Washington DC, hundreds of thousands of marchers are expected on Saturday, January 18 in the largest US anti-war demonstration since the Vietnam War. A concurrent protest in San Francisco the same day is expected to draw crowds not seen in the city in a generation.

Further coverage is available from a SF IMC webcast on Saturday, and a documentary from Paper Tiger TV.

Two Iraqi labor leaders are featured speakers at a program offering local residents the chance to hear from workers who are struggling to end the occupation, sectarian violence, and the repression of women and working people in Iraq. Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, the first woman to head a national Iraqi labor union, is President of the Electrical Utility Workers Union, and Faleh Abood Umara is General Secretary of the Southern Oil Company Union.
They will explain why unions oppose the proposed privatization law favored by the Bush administration and oil corporations. They will also address the role of unions in rebuilding Iraq, and the prospects for a stable, democratic, non-sectarian future.
The event is part of a national tour sponsored by U.S. Labor Against the War, United for Peace and Justice, and the American Friends Service Committee. Local sponsors include Central Coast Workers Against War, Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, Resource Center for Nonviolence, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Santa Cruz Peace Coalition, Families Against War, UC-AFT 2199, UPTE CWA-9119, and the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers. The event is endorsed by the Santa Cruz Green Party.
A sliding scale donation is requested—no one turned away.

SALINAS, Calif. – On Wednesday night, key leaders in our Central Coast community will be having a public meeting, discussing how to the stop the violence and keep peace on the streets of Salinas.

They’re all a part of CASP. It stands for the Community Alliance for Safety and Peace. The coalition is made up of 50 leaders have been meeting every other Wednesday to talk about the ongoing gang problem.

Member Scott Faust says, they formed it, so they could coordinate their efforts and in turn, get more funding.

“These are people and players, stakeholders who are heavy weights who can attract state, federal funding and help plan for the use of that funding, so it’s the most effective possible,” says Faust.

Recently, they helped put together a summer youth sports festival for families. They also helped provide library cards to Salinas kids and the alliance helped provide new jobs for teens.

But, Faust stresses, it’s not just what they can do, but what the community can do together.

“This is a deep-seated problem,” says Faust. “It didn’t emerge overnight. It’s not going to go away overnight. It’s going to require multiple prong strategies, but I think if the community can come and join CASP and join the people who are there, share their views, put their own involvement out there, we can make a difference together.”

For the future, Faust says, this alliance is planning to try and outreach to influential gang members and give them the reality that either they stop the violence or they’ll be continuously targeted by law enforcement.

If you’d like to attend, hear what they have to say or get involved, the meeting is at  6 p.m. at the St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Salinas.

Dear Progressive Caucus Member:

The undersigned organizations and concerned individuals have worked closely with the Progressive Caucus to prevent and to end the Iraq War. We appreciate your leadership on this issue and your continued efforts to ensure the removal of all U.S. troops from the country. We are also grateful for all that the Caucus, collectively and individually, has already done to speak out against the widening war in Afghanistan, which contradicts both our national security and our national values.

At this critical moment, your continued leadership to help reverse the downward spiral of the security situation in Afghanistan is urgently required. We urge you to oppose the expansion of the war in Afghanistan; require the Obama administration to present and implement an exit strategy; and to press for a greater investment in Afghan-led development efforts and regional diplomacy to stabilize the country.

We also urge you to press for an immediate end to U.S. air raids that continue to kill and maim Afghan civilians and destroy Afghan property. What is euphemistically termed ‘collateral damage’ not only takes civilian lives but also inflames Afghans’ hostility to the U.S. and wins new supporters for the Taliban. According to the UN Assistance Mission, U.S. strikes produced 64% of all civilian deaths caused by the U.S., NATO, and Afghan forces in 2008. Just this week, ‘collateral damage’ from U.S. air strikes took another 100 innocent lives, according to Afghan officials.

Secretary of Defense Gates, Secretary of State Clinton, National Security Advisor Jones, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mullen, and even President Obama himself, have each acknowledged that the internal conflict in Afghanistan cannot finally be won by military means. They have publicly agreed that it will have to be won — if it can — by dramatic improvements in the economy, the political system, government services, and the courts.

The President’s FY 2009 supplemental funding request would clearly widen the war in Afghanistan. We urge Congress to restructure the package to focus funding on the expanded diplomacy, development assistance, and international cooperation that are key to ending these conflicts and promoting a stable peace in the wider region. To defeat the Taliban and stabilize the country, the U.S. must enable the Afghan people to develop public services and an effective justice system essential to create political stability and support for the government; to develop agricultural alternatives to drug crops; and to root out corruption.

Given these objectives, the ratio of military to non-military funding in the Administration’s $83.4 billion supplemental budget makes little sense. More than 90% of the funds allocated for Afghanistan in the supplemental is for an escalation of war-fighting by U.S. military units. It would widen — not wind down — the war there. That contradicts the Administration’s own admission about how the ‘war’ will be won or lost.

President Obama has agreed that the U.S. must convince Afghans we have “no interest or aspiration to be there over the long term.” Yet our troop escalation, increased operational tempo, and expansion of large bases suggests just the opposite.

In light of these concerns, we believe that the Congress should restructure the supplemental spending in several critical ways:

Require the administration to set a date certain for withdrawal.
Prohibit any further Predator and other missile strikes and aerial bombing likely to result in civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Approve the $7.1 billion in funding for the international affairs budget, including: $3.7 billion for humanitarian aid, development initiatives, and diplomatic support in Afghanistan.
Oppose all new funding for combat in Afghanistan and, at a minimum, dramatically change the proportion of funds for war-fighting compared to those for development, stabilization, and diplomatic cooperation.
Now is the time to reverse direction in Afghanistan so that the U.S., as President Obama envisioned, “forge a hard-earned peace” there.

Signed (as of 6:00PM ET, May 11, 2009):

United For Peace and Justice