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Mass Protest on the 6th Anniversary of the Iraq War This Saturday, 12 noon Hollywood & Vine, Los Angeles
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At March 21 Protest in Los Angeles
Gather Hollywood Blvd. &
Vine St., L.A. (between Vine & Ivar)
March to Hollywood & Highland
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March 21 is this Saturday and
momentum is building. Thousands of people will converge at 12 noon at Hollywood
and Vine for a major rally followed by a protest march. March 21 is the sixth
anniversary of the criminal Iraq war, and
Students, veterans, progressive activists, union members, working families and
so many others will be there in LA with a message directed to the Pentagon and
White House: "Stop the Wars, Fund People's Needs!"
People need jobs, health care, education, and housing right here at home; not
more money going to kill innocent people abroad; not more money going to bailout
and enrich wealthy bankers and CEOs on Wall Street.
This protest in Los Angeles will be different from others in years past. On
Saturday, the main rally will start at 12 noon at Hollywood and Vine.
There will be speakers, musicians, spoken word and more.
After the rally, there will be a march through the busy streets of
Hollywood. The march will be led by a contingent of mock coffins draped
with Iraqi, Afghani, Palestinian and U.S. flags to represent deaths caused by
U.S. wars and militarism.
When the march reaches Hollywood and Highland, there will be a symbolic "die-in"
led by veterans, students and young children. The "die-in" action
is something in which everyone can participate. We will sit down and lie
down at the busiest corner in L.A. It will be a symbolic action to visually
represent the mass destruction wrought by the Pentagon war machine abroad.
The "die-in" will be followed by a dramatic procession of
the mock coffins to the doorstep of the Armed Forces Recruitment Center in
Hollywood. The recruitment station's only function is to get young
people from our communities to be cannon fodder for the war machine. Iraq
and Afghanistan war veterans will lead this procession.
The dramatic actions will be followed by brief closing remarks
Bring everyone you know to March 21. This is a new beginning of resistance for
the anti-war/peace movement. March 21 will be a critical opportunity to let the
new administration in Washington hear the voice of the people demanding an
immediate end to wars and occupation, and demanding economic justice. All out
for March 21 in LA!
Why They Are Marching on March 21 in Los Angeles
“I’m marching against U.S. wars and the Pentagon war machine on March 21 in
Los Angeles because, regardless of the new administration, service men and women
are still dying in the streets of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan. They
are dying not to serve a noble cause; they are not dying for freedom or
democracy. They are dying to secure massive profits for U.S. corporations.
They are not dying because they want to kill and be killed in wars for the rich.
They are dying because they wanted access to a college education; they are dying
because they wanted a living wage, access to health care and a home for their
families. I’m marching on the Pentagon because all the hardships that push
working people to die for U.S. imperialism could disappear if the money used to
feed the war machine was used to meet the needs of people instead.
I’m marching on March 21 because not a day passes when innocent people are not
killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m marching on the Pentagon because I believe
in the right of all peoples to self-determination, and I oppose the murder of
the poor and oppressed for the super-profits of a few multi-billionaires."
—Michael Prysner
Mike left for basic training in June 2001, and spent six months training at the
U.S. Army Military Intelligence Academy, where he was taught to operate a radar
system used to call air strikes and artillery barrages on vehicle convoys. Mike
was assigned to he 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, N.Y., and in March 2003
his company was attached to the 173rd Airborne Brigade to take part in the
initial invasion of Iraq.
“I left this Army with a new understanding of the system under which we all
live, and the nature of U.S. foreign policy. But, I still had the same drive to
fight for freedom, justice and equality as I did when I joined, and I understood
that fighting for those things meant fighting against the U.S. government, not
on behalf of it.”
The murder of millions of innocent people is being waged by warmongers who sit
in the comfort of their plush homes while people like us do all their dirty
work. I have more in common with the peoples of Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan
than I do with the wealthy and privileged of this country.
The plundering and misery will not end by the kind hearts of the war-makers. We
the people from below have to build our own movement, in the interests of all
working-class people in the United States and abroad, to finally put an end to
criminal wars."
—John Acevedo
John served in the Army from 1999-2003. He was stationed in Fort Bragg, North
Carolina. His job description was Paratrooper/Field Artillery (cannon crew
member) in the Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 321st Field Artillery
Regiment.
John deployed in early 2003 to Hungary where he was a member of a QRF (Quick
Reactionary Force) team with Hungarian soldiers in a military base that served
as a hold-over for Iraqi nationals.
Of his current political involvement, John writes: “I used to support U.S.
actions in Iraq. I was even in the Republican Party! But when I came back home
and rejoined my community, where there was an absence of jobs, healthcare and
money to live a dignified life, I started to question where U.S. interests
really lay. Also, keeping in touch with friends that had re-enlisted and
deployed to Iraq changed my perspective. Luckily I knew progressive-minded
people here at home who helped me get involved in the anti-war movement.”
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Act Now to Stop War and End Racism
137 N. Virgil Ave., #201
Los Angeles, CA 90004
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