(noon – promoted by ek hornbeck)
From our friends and colleagues at the Iraq Moratorium:
Sometime in the next few weeks, the 4,000th American service member will die in Iraq. Coalition deaths in Iraq reached 4,000 last August, but Americans focus on American casualties. Even approximate numbers of Iraqi deaths are estimates, so we will never learn when the millionth Iraqi is killed–and it may well have happened already.
On March 19, this unjust and unjustifiable war will enter its sixth year! Kids who were in first grade during the 2003 invasion will be entering Junior High this year, more than half their lives spent with the horror of war constantly in the background.
March 21, the Third Friday of this month, will mark the seventh Iraq Moratorium Day, a day to interrupt our normal routine and speak out against this senseless bloodshed and the damage it is doing to our country. Politicians and talking heads on TV speak calmly of the occupation lasting another decade–or another hundred years–or they try not to talk about it at all.
Many of us will be taking part in protests around the 5th Anniversary of the start of the war. It begins with some courageous Iraq Veterans Against the War holding Winter Soldier hearings March 13-16. Some Iraq Moratorium vigils will be held on Wednesday, March 19, this month to highlight the anniversary of the war’s start, and to link up with other protests called by United For Peace & Justice and a broad range of individual anti-war groups. Some will continue on the Third Friday as usual. Check the listings at IraqMoratorium.org for an action near you.
March 21 is also Good Friday, the religious holiday marking when the man many of us know as The Prince of Peace was killed by Roman soldiers occupying Judea. Some of us will wear a button or black armband to services to remind others of the need to speak out and to act to end the war. In a growing number of towns, especially in New England, local churches will ring their bells at noon in observance of the Iraq Moratorium.
As we have said from the beginning: It’s got to stop! We’ve got to stop it!
So do something on March 21 to keep this issue on the front burner — and to turn up the heat.
If you’re traveling for Easter, or on spring break from school, take the Iraq Moratorium with you wherever you go. Wear a button or a black ribbon. Talk to your family about the war. Find an event in the community you’re visiting. Send an email or write a blog post. Make a donation to a peace group. But do something to mark the day. (You’ll find a list of activities and ideas for individual action on our website .)
Finally, if you can, please make a contribution to keep this grassroots, volunteer effort going and growing. We operate on a shoestring. American taxpayers spend as much on the Iraq war in four seconds as the Iraq Moratorium spends in a year. Every dollar you can spare will go to immediate and effective use in the cause of peace.
Donate here.
In closing, we thank you for all you are doing to end this catastrophic war.
7 comments
Skip to comment form
Author
Looked and there is no March 21st protest scheduled here in Austin, TX. That is unthinkable.
I will see what I can do to change that.
everything that will be going on.
Hopefully, the Iraq Moratorium will gain much needed funds for the wonderful work that is being done by it.
The Winter Soldiers have a preview video of some of what you will hearing when they give their testimonies between March 13-16.
Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
(Caution: Contains “raw” graphic material and truths)
While making a contribution to Iraq Moratorium, please consider making a contribution to the Iraq Veterans Against War, as well. The vets need our help to get to D.C. to be a part of the Winter Soldiers. Money is still needed to help cover their trips. See this page for more information, including how you may view the event.