I had promised to report on the National Assembly to End the Iraq War and Occupation held June 28-29 in Cleveland, but delayed it to await an official summary of the actions taken there.  Unless you were in the room almost all of the time for the debate and votes, it was impossible to know exactly what decisions the 400-plus participants made.  And I confess to spending a good chunk of time “networking” and kibitzing in the halls.

Now the organizers have produced their summary and evaluation, which you can read it its entirety here.

The Assembly urged united and massive mobilizations on both coasts in the spring to end the war, while also endorsing demonstrations at the Republican (Sept. 1-4)  and Democratic (Aug. 25-28) conventions, local actions on October 11 — the date Congress passed the resolution authorizing the Iraq war — and proposing Dec. 9-14 as dates for local actions across the country demanding the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The group also voted almost unanmously to endorse local Iraq Moratorium actions on the Third Friday of every month, although that is not specifically mentioned in the organizers’ report. That’s disappointing to me, as part of the group who worked to make that part of the action agenda passed by the participants. But in the grand scheme of things, as one of my compatriots said, “This is just one document, produced by some exhausted folks in the aftermath of a complex event.”  The proof, as usual, will be in the pudding.

Organizers believe the Dec. 9-14 actions provide the best potential for uniting the entire movement in the months ahead:

ANSWER and the Troops Out Now Coalition have endorsed them and the hope is that United for Peace and Justice will do the same. The need now is to take these proposed dates to local antiwar coalitions; labor groups, especially U.S. Labor Against the War; veterans and military families organizations: the faith community; Black, Hispanic, Asian, Arab, Muslim and other nationalities, racial and ethnic groups; students; women’s peace organizations; the Iraq Moratorium; and other social forces that can be drawn into antiwar activities. All actions are viewed as springboards for building massive, united, independent and bi-coastal Spring 2009 demonstrations against the war.

In other action, the Assembly:

— Expressed its strong opposition to attacks against Iran, as well as sanctions and other forms of intervention into that country’s internal affairs; registered determination to join other antiwar forces in massive united, protest actions in the event that the U.S. or its proxy, Israel, bombs Iran; and urged that if this occurs an emergency meeting of all the major antiwar forces be called to plan such actions.

— Added Afghanistan to the name of the Assembly because the U.S. is fighting two unjust, illegal and brutal wars simultaneously and both must be opposed. We are now the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations.

— Voted to integrate the issue of Palestine into the broader antiwar struggle and to challenge U.S. support for the Israeli occupation.

It’s hard to judge the Assembly’s real impact, but just getting activists from a wide variety of groups and causes to spend the weekend in the same room, operating in a civil fashion and emphasizing their unifying beliefs rather than their differences, is an accomplishment in itself.

As one of my Wisconsin friends put it, “The hollering was at a minimum, the crowd lively, (if a bit unfocused), the tone was upbeat.”

The Assembly adopted the Big Tent philosophy, and was happy to keep enlarging the tent to make room for everyone.  Oppose the war in Afghanistan, too?  Come on in.  Palestine’s your main focus?  No problem, there’s plenty of room.

While that may have built a broader coalition, it seems like that message may be a harder sell when it comes to trying to mobilize massive numbers of regular folks to act against the war — and that must be the ultimate objective. With a single focus on Iraq, which two-thirds of Americans think was a mistake, it has still been hard to get people to translate their feelings into action.  Adding more issues to the pot will not make it easier, but more difficult.  

The group’s five points of unity are: (1) “Out Now!” as the movement’s unifying demand, (2) mass action as the central strategy, (3) unity of the movement, (4) democratic decision making, and (5) independence from all political parties. Steps were taken to make the Assembly an ongoing organization, “a network with its mission intact and continuing:  to be a catalyst and unifier, striving always to unite the movement in the streets.”

There are certain to be some bumps in the road.  The one-person, one-vote rule worked in Cleveland, but that meant that Ohio participants had 140 votes while Texas had one.  Twenty-five states had no representatives at all.  While geography may not be important — this is an antiwar coalition, not the Electoral College — it also means that some of the bigger organizations were under-represented.  At some point that may become an issue.

But, big picture, was it worth doing?  Was it energizing?  Am I glad I went?

Yes, yes, and yes.

More Iraq Moratorium #10 reports.  Meg Oldman of Point Arena CA checks in:

Friday, June 20, 2008  was a warm, sunny day; the best kind for protest.  

I represented Iraq Moratorium, and Women in Black by myself, this time.  A good number of people stopped and talked with me about the war, elections coming up later in the fall, and the economy. Drivers going by(more than usual due to being the first day of Summer) honked, whistled and raised their fists high in solidarity.

Overall, I feel that one person DOES make a difference, as witnessed above.  I am excited to sense the populace taking a deep breath and preparing to change the paradigm from one of fear and apathy, to one of focus and and unity.  I am fulfilling my role to facilitate standing together, all over the world, one the same day, at the same time.

From Lutz, Florida:

The Veterans For Peace contingent was led by retired USAF Maj. Debra Hedding, who controlled combat aircraft over Laos and Cambodia during Vietnam and served as a Public Affairs Officer under Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf during Operation Desert Storm. (She is also a Political Action Coordinator for MoveOn.org’s Tampa Council.) My own father, Commander U.S.N. (Ret.) John W. Palm wore his “USS Yorktown CV-5” hat–as communications watch officer aboard the carrier USS Yorktown on December 7, 1941, he relayed the devastating news of Pearl Harbor to the ship’s crew.

From Cornwall, Connecticut:

In addition to attending the Iraq Moratorium observation in Cornwall, CT, I wore two buttons all day–the big white-on-black Iraq Moratorium pin and one that has two soldiers comforting on another and says “Support the Troops. Bring Them Home Now,” and got in one or two brief discussions as a result.

I woke up on Saturday and put them on again and headed for a lovely outdoor wedding.

Right before the ceremony, the grandfather of the bride, a tall lean Jewish gent in his 90s who is not too mobile, spotted the Iraq Moratorium pin as I walked past the front row of chairs. “What’s that about?” he asked. When I explained, he propelled himself to his feet and thanked me, grabbing my hand and shaking it vigorously.

I resolved on the spot to wear an anti-war button every time I go out until the next Moratorium and have put a couple hanging on a cloth strip by my front door to remind me.

Every month the Moratorium learns about other events across the country that have never been listed on the national website, which had 110 events posted for June.  The latest to surface is in Silverton, Oregon:

The Silverton People for Peace have been holding monthly vigils since the invasion. These were on the third Mondays, but we switched to Third Fridays last winter to be part of the Iraq Moratorium. Our turnout varies from several people to dozens depending on schedules, weather and other factors. But we ALWAYS have someone on the side of the street. The vigil is at 6 p.m. at Town Square Park on West Main Street, Silverton,OR. The Silverton group is affiliated with the Oregon Fellowship of Reconciliation.

So it goes, and so it grows. More reports here.

It’s only three weeks until the next Moratorium observance, on July 18.  Do something.

Every month’s Iraq Moratorium action in Milwaukee seems to have a special moment. In May it was a thumbs-up from a passing Army recruiter. This month, it was when a woman stopped to tell a leafleter handing out information about the Moratorium that her son is in Iraq. So tearful and emotional she had difficulty speaking, she said he was on his second tour there as a National Guardsman. “Thank you for what you’re doing,” she said. “I just want him home.”

Cornwall, Connecticut held its first outdoor vigil and reported an “overwhelmingly positive response from people driving by, with at least one local resident, Suzanne, who hadn’t heard about the doings on the Green in advance pulling her car over and jumping aboard for the rest of the vigil.”  Maybe it was the horn trio (two trombones and a sax) that got her attention. (Photo above.)

Once again, Washington, DC SDS and a mass of young activists hit the pavement in a “Funk the War 4” action. A major destination for the raucous street action with mobile musical backing was a military Recruiting Center.

You’ll find more reports, still coming in from around the country after Friday’s action, at the Moratorium website.

Does it all matter?

The NY Times asked Pete Seeger, who stands with his banjo, a sign and a small group of antiwar protesters every Saturday in the Hudson Valley:

Asked whether he thought that protesting by the side of the road would help end the war, he said: “I don’t think that big things are as effective as people think they are. The last time there was an antiwar demonstration in New York City I said, ‘Why not have a hundred little ones?’ ”

He said that working for peace was like adding sand to a basket on one side of a large scale, trying to tip it one way despite enormous weight on the opposite side.

“Some of us try to add more sand by teaspoons,” he explained. “It’s leaking out as fast as it goes in and they’re all laughing at us. But we’re still getting people with teaspoons. I get letters from people saying, ‘I’m still on the teaspoon brigade.’ “

This report from Judy Miner of the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice (WNPJ):

WNPJ and People for Peace in Waupaca promoted the Iraq Moratorium at their PANCAKES for PEACE breakfast June 20 in Custer, WI. Black Iraq Moratorium ribbons were handed out to 350 exhibitors and visitors to the largest Renewable Energy Fair in the country, as they came through the pancake line and visited the WNPJ table in the exhibition hall. That's Louise Pease of People for Peace in Waupaca  pictured, greeting people and offering Iraq Moratorium ribbons at the pancake breakfast.

Deb from Wausau had never heard of the Iraq Moratorium – and was thrilled to put on her black ribbon – asking then for 10 extra ribbons and information sheets about the Moratorium to take back to her workplace in Wausau. [Note to Deb: If you read this, please email [email protected] your contact information so we can help with your efforts.]

So many of the 20,000 participants at the MREA Fair understand the message that “War is NOT the Answer” and that “The Answer….is Blowing in the Wind”….and how the use of clean, renewable solar and wind energy promotes peace by ending wars for oil. And they are taking this path to peace, putting up their own wind turbines – solar panels – living off the grid – insulating – conserving……

The first dozen reports from last Friday's actions, including some from Milwaukee and Hayward, are now on the Iraq Moratorium website. Some are inspirational.  Check it out.  

Another cave-in by Congressional Democrats.  Another deal to keep the war going, in exchange for a few crumbs.

Today is Iraq Moratorium day.  Do something to let them know what you think.

It’s true that 151 Democrats voted against the war funding.  So, if you want to thank them, go ahead — but don’t thank them too much, David Swanson  says.  Here’s the roll call.

“Not a single one of them did a damned thing more than vote no,” Swanson (left), of Democrats.com, ImpeachCheney.org and , AfterDowningStreet.org said in a Milwaukee appearance Thursday night.  They didn’t issue public statements to the media, write their colleagues, or do anything to press to defeat the bill.  “They voted no, knowing it would pass.”

That’s not why Americans elected a new Congressional majority in 2006, Swanson said.  We elected them to end the war in Iraq.  Instead, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Dems like David Obey are happy to have negotiated a bill that the Republicans would vote for and pass. “They are hiding behind the troops,” Swanson said, when a majority of Americans in a Democrats.com poll said they would stop funding the war and bring the troops home within six months.

Democrats say we have to keep funding the occupation because it’s dangerous “to do what the majority wants” in an election year, Swanson said. They want us to elect them again so that they can do what they didn’t do last time we elected them.  But by spring, it will be only 18 months until the next election, so it will be dangerous again to vote to end the war, he said.

The fact that the House also voted for money for new veterans benefits, for unemployment benefits, and for flood relief is no consolation for funding the war.

Who wouldn’t support those items if they came up as separate bills, Swanson asked.

Instead, the veterans benefits are attached as an amendment to a bill that will result in many more deaths, physical and psychological injuries to American troops and Iraqis, and damage the US economy.