Chicago
On March 14, the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) in Chicago joined a national call for emergency protests to end the war in Afghanistan. The Chicago action took place in Federal Plaza. Protesters were responding to the massacre of 17 people in Afghanistan by U.S. forces.
Protesters formed a marching picket in front of the downtown federal building and chanted “No more occupation, troops out now” and “No war on Iran, get out of Afghanistan!”
During the picket, many cars honked and passersby waved in support of the protesters. A number of people walking by also joined in the protest. ANSWER had a table set up at the busy corner of Adams and Dearborn, where volunteers distributed leaflets and collected petitions to end the war.
At the end of the picket, an open mic was held. Many of the speakers urged people to stay in the streets and continue building solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Afghanistan and the Middle East who are bearing the brunt of imperialist war and occupation.
Money for Jobs and Education, Not War and Occupation! Bring All the Troops Home Now!
Los Angeles
In response to the horrible civilian massacre in Afghanistan, the ANSWER Coalition, the National Lawyer’s Guild and March Forward! held an emergency rally and press conference March 14 demanding an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
The Obama administration and Pentagon command have issued empty apologies for the atrocity, on one hand, while vowing to maintain the conditions that make these atrocities inevitable, on the other.
With the rhetoric around the incident attempting to characterize it as an isolated incident by a “bad apple,” the reality is that the death of innocent civilians is an everyday occurrence in Afghanistan. Atrocities like these are the natural outgrowth of a brutal, colonial-type occupation, combined with racist indoctrination within the military and the complete failure of the U.S. government to address the crisis of post-traumatic stress disorder.
To correctly point out the reality of the situation and call for the only solution—a complete and immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan—March Forward! veterans and active-duty soldiers have been speaking out to the media to give the real story. This includes active-duty Army members at Fort Lewis, the base from which the soldier indicted in the massacre was stationed, giving anonymous interviews to the press about the crisis on the base.
San Francisco
On March 15, the ANSWER Coalition organized a rally in the heart of San Francisco’s shopping district to demand an end to the Afghan war. Members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation unfurled a large banner that read “10 Years of War is 10 Years Too Long! End the War in Afghanistan Now! Money for People’s Needs, Not the Pentagon!” About 100 people gathered to listen to the speakers.
One speaker, a veteran of the Vietnam War, spoke of the way that the media portrayed Robert Bales, the soldier who has been accused of killing 17 civilians, as a “bad apple” in a generally humane Army. The media thus obscured the ways in which any occupation engenders racism and desensitization in the occupying forces.
Another speaker reminded the crowd that when the defeated Nazis were charged with war crimes, the first and most heinous count charged against them was that they started a war of aggression. The speaker asked how the war in Afghanistan could not be considered a war of aggression as none of the 9-11 hijackers were from Afghanistan, and Afghanistan never posed any threat to the United States. The United States is therefore guilty of a heinous war crime.
The crowd was very receptive to the message of the rally. One passer-by said, “Every U.S. war is criminal!” Many copies of Liberation newspaper were sold.
Seattle
On March 21, protesters gathered at Seattle’s Westlake park in downtown to condemn the massacre of 17 Afghan civilians, allegedly by a soldier based at nearby Fort Lewis. The protest also marked the nine-year anniversary of the Shock and Awe invasion of Iraq and the one-year anniversary of the U.S./NATO bombing campaign on Libya. The demonstrators demanded an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and no U.S. intervention in Iran.
The vigil and speak-out was co-sponsored by Seattle ANSWER , World Can’t Wait and Coffee Strong, the anti-war, pro-soldier coffee house near Ft. Lewis. Many Occupy Seattle activists came out in solidarity. Speakers included Emma Kaplan of World Can’t Wait, Jane Cutter of ANSWER, Tim Bedwell, Navy veteran and member of March Forward! and Josh Simpson, Iraq war veteran and Coffee Strong volunteer. Many passersby stopped to listen to the anti-war message.
Local media has focused on the fact that a Ft. Lewis soldier stands accused of the massacre. Ft. Lewis has been in the news quite a lot in the past year, with two well-publicized soldier suicides leading to an investigation into PTSD treatment at the base. As a result of the investigation, the head of Madigan Hospital was removed from his position, and it was revealed that hundreds of soldiers’ PTSD diagnoses had been falsely reversed in order to save the military money. As a result, the media has suggested that Ft. Lewis is unique in some way.
Cutter of ANSWER pointed out that what makes Ft. Lewis unique is not the conditions for soldiers but the fact that soldiers at the base have been organizing and fighting back, which is what has shined a spotlight on the military mental health crisis and led to some changes. She called for the anti-war movement to support soldiers who take a stand against the war.
Contributing to this report: Ana Santoyo,William West, Jane Cutter, Mike Prysner
