 Iraq Conflict |
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scottish2  |
Posted: 14-Mar-2003, 12:32 PM
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Celtic Guardian
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 3,048
Joined: 26-Sep-2001
Zodiac: Birch
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Wear a White Scarf Around Your Neck, On Your Back Pack, or Fly a White
Flag On Your Car:
A spontaneous war protest has started in Montreal after a popular radio
host here announced that Mrs. George W Bush had cancelled a meeting with
a group of women at the White House because several of them planned to
attend the meeting with a white scarf round their necks as a silent symbol
of their desire for peace. This symbol had power, as it disturbed Mrs Bush.
This story has triggered a grassroots email campaign asking those committed
to peace in the world to wear a white scarf.
If everyone who disagreed with the war were to wear a white scarf around
their neck, tie a white handkerchief to their back-packs, their attache
case, their school bags, white pennants from car antennas, white flags on
balconies and hanging in front of houses the world over, would this not be
a powerful message to send to our leaders? Sometimes images and symbols
are more powerful than words.
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'I love my country. It's my government I despise.' 
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| scottish2 |
Posted: 14-Mar-2003, 05:42 PM
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Celtic Guardian
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 3,048
Joined: 26-Sep-2001
Zodiac: Birch
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I wouldn't forget either, but if NYC the worst hit can oppose the war then others should take a second look at the whole issue. 
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/mar2003/nycc-m14.shtml
| Quote | New York?s City Council opposes Iraq war
By Bill Vann
14 March 2003
An antiwar vote Wednesday by the City Council in New York, the city that suffered the greatest loss of life in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, has further exposed the Bush administration?s hypocritical attempt to exploit those deaths as a pretext for aggression against Iraq.
With a 31-17 vote, the New York City Council joined nearly 150 other cities and counties that have passed measures opposing war.
The vote in New York, however, was particularly significant given the deaths of nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center 19 months ago. The Bush administration has repeatedly invoked this atrocity as the principal argument for going to war, despite the absence of any evidence linking the regime in Baghdad to the terrorist attacks. In passing the measure, the council rejected this argument as well as explicit appeals to support the war in the name of the September 11 victims
Opposition to the looming war appears greater in New York City than in the country as a whole. Recent polls have shown less than 20 percent of New Yorkers supporting a unilateral US attack against Iraq and nearly half opposing war under any circumstances.
These polls, like the council vote itself, are a pale reflection of the overwhelming opposition that exists to the Bush administration?s policy of military aggression.
The resolution passed by the council opposed any military action unless it could be demonstrated that ?Iraq poses a real and imminent threat to the security and safety of the United States? and that all other options for achieving compliance with UN resolutions had failed. The resolution further called for UN weapons inspectors to be given ?a full and fair opportunity? to complete their work.
Initially, just two City Council members introduced the resolution last October, and it was widely expected that it would never come to a vote. Most measures that are brought before the full body are backed by a substantial share of the 26-vote majority needed for passage.
By the middle of last month, on the eve of a February 15 demonstration that saw over half a million people take to the streets of New York in opposition to war, only eight other Council members had signed on to the bill and it had not even been assigned to a committee.
It was clear that the shift came as council members sniffed the political winds and concluded that their constituencies were overwhelmingly opposed to an attack on Iraq, making approval of a resolution a safe political move.
Before it was brought to a vote, however, the body?s Democratic leadership worked to soften the language of the measure, removing sections sharply critical of the Bush administration. These included warnings that the war ?could bring with it the most devastating consequences imaginable, not just in the Middle East but to our own shores as well? and that the Bush administration?s doctrine of preemptive war could lead to the eruption of military aggression around the globe.
In the debate before a packed City Council chamber, Republican and right-wing Democratic Council members denounced the resolution as ?anti-American,? invoking both support of US troops in the Persian Gulf and memory of the September 11 victims. One Democrat held up a picture of a friend killed at the World Trade Center and insisted that the war the Bush administration is preparing will be a ?fight for our democracy.?
The bill?s principal sponsor, Harlem Democrat Bill Perkins, defended the measure. ?With our economy in peril, a war in Iraq will drain urgently needed resources for our cities, our suburbs and our small towns,? he said. ?And there is the human price of war. Those who declare war are usually not the ones who have to fight it.?
Other major cities that have passed resolutions opposing a US war against Iraq include Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Milwaukee. |
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| Catriona |
Posted: 15-Mar-2003, 05:57 PM
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Banned Member
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 69
Joined: 25-Oct-2002
Zodiac: Birch
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The anti-war movement in the UK is gathering momentum. There have been loads of marches... ####, I've been on one myself!
I have not 'demonstrated' since I was a teenager, when I marched on Holy Loch (where the US Polaris missiles were stored) and for the Scots NatsParty in marches in Edinburgh.
HOWEVER, I feel very strongly about this.
My country - ie the UK (all sections) have been targets for the IRA for 30 plus years. The bombings in London, when I lived there, were part of every day life.... We in Europe have lived under the threat of terrorism for over 40 years - the ETA groups in Spain, the Bader Meinhof in Germany and the IRA in my own land.... Terrorism is frightening, and obviously the USA which had until the 11 September massacre, been immune were very slow to make comments or help... In fact, for many decades we BEGGED the USA to stop the fund-raising for the IRA.... To no avail. After 11 September, Mr Bush suddenly realised that the IRA were a terrorist organisation too...... After his predecessor had welcomed and feted the likes of the Sinn Fein reps Martin McGuiness and the one with the beard, Gerry Adams. God, they were even invited to 'lead' St Patrick's Day parades in NY....
Please don't misunderstand me... I am heart-sick for the families of those who died or were injured in the 11 September tragedy. None of them deserved to die, they were all innocents.... BUT please remember, they were not all Americans - some of the victims were from Europe and from other continents. It should be something that binds us, not drives wedges between our cultures.
I think that America should realise that the anti-war movement is world-wide. WE DO NOT WANT WAR. We certainly don't want a war which has questionable motives.
Sorry, end of rant! 
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| TracyLynn |
Posted: 16-Mar-2003, 03:01 PM
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Honored Clan Member
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 81
Joined: 08-Mar-2003
Zodiac: Birch
Realm: United States Of AMERICA!
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I will not be wearing the white scarf...this post will more than likely make me very unpopular here but I had to speak up for my country and how I feel as an American....this is not intended as a personal attack towards any board members....here goes.....
The following countries are being very vocal in their support for action against Iraq: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Macadonia, and the Czech Republic. What do they all have in common? They were all under repressive communist governments until about a decade or so ago. It seems to me that they understand that you sometimes have to fight for freedom.
I also want to applaud the Netherlands. While NATO was trying to decide whether or not to defend Turkey (a member of NATO) if they are attacked by Iraq, the Netherlands said "the #### with all of you" and sent Patriot missile batteries and crews to Turkey to help out.
It seems that the smaller countries who have been dominated and invaded many times in the past are the only ones who are truly with us on this. Maybe it's because they understand from experience why we need to do it.
I would be uncomfortable knowing that there are nations of power hungry, unethical and misguided people out there planning the destruction of my country, and that we would let that pass.
By not going to war we are implying that we will accomodate and tolerate groups with agendas like Al Qaeda.
How else should we go about disarming Saddam? He has weapons that are a threat to not only the US but the entire world. We have to face the present and the bigger picture of what's at stake. He is a tyrant who has had many many years to comply. He has been allowed to stall for much too long. The attacks on the US Sept 11 were a huge wake up call to not only our leaders but we the people. I personally do not like the idea of war (yet understand the need for action) and yes have had the blessing of being immune to it here in the country that I live in but realistically what else can we do?
Negotiations only work when a compromise can be reached. There is no compromise to be had here. People that want to negotiate do not kill thousands of civilians by smashing planes into office buildings!
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How much Healthy Choice ice cream can I eat before it's no longer a healthy choice?
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| Jimmy Carbomb |
Posted: 16-Mar-2003, 05:18 PM
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Barleyjuice ~ "Pog Mo Tunes"Publishing
Group: Ireland
Posts: 495
Joined: 08-Mar-2003
Zodiac: Oak
Realm: On The Road
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TracyLynn... you're not unpopular at all!
All the bombings, hijackings, kidnappings, etc. have just gone too far. Tracking down the sources of the problems has to be done. Hussein has been handing them the fodder for years, and like the Taliban is in the way of peace. If no one else is willing to finally stand-up and put their own "back-sides" in the way of these guys, then I applaude the US. The fact that protesters are out there only shows me that the world is diverse... but free to speak. If they had been in Manhattan digging-up, feeling, smelling, and experiencing what I did... they would be looking at this differently. The people who use these tactics to get their points in the limelight, just happened to pick on the "biggest kid on the block". You just don't play infront of a speeding truck!
To those who oppose... keep it up. It's your human right to express your opinions and beliefs. Shame the dissenters can't do the same thing in Iraq.
[Stepping down from soap box... re-entering the Pub]
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