posted 03-17-2004 11:39 PM            

BTW, Kucinich is going to be at the NYC rally! He was the only presidential candidate that we (Swampgas, Thetaloops, and I) saw at the DC anti-war demonstration in October 2003.

Momentum is building around the world for the Global Day of Action against War and Occupation on March 20, the one-year anniversary of the U.S. bombing and invasion of Iraq.

On that day, people on every continent will take to the streets to say YES to peace and NO to pre-emptive war and occupation. Joining with growing numbers of military families and soldiers, we will call for an end to the occupation of Iraq and Bush’s militaristic foreign policies, and highlight the linkages between the occupations of Iraq and Palestine. March 20 will be the first time the world's "other superpower," as The New York Times described us, will take center stage since February 15, when more than 15 million people across the globe expressed their opposition to Bush's looming war on Iraq.

The March 20 Global Day of Action has been endorsed by the Global Assembly of the Anti-War Movement, the World Social Forum, and the 3rd Hemispheric Forum Against the FTAA. A vast and diverse array of organizations worldwide are hard at work mobilizing for the day.

In the United States, there will be a massive protest in New York City plus dozens of local and regional demonstrations across the country, including a major protest in Fayetteville, NC, the home of Fort Bragg.

Politically, the U.S. protests will also take on the domestic impact of Bush's foreign policies—what some people call "the war at home." We will express the growing opposition to the USA PATRIOT Act, which has authorized political arrests, indefinite detentions, domestic spying, and religious and racial profiling. We will call for an end to the mass detentions and deportations of innocent immigrants in the name of fighting terrorism. We will say no to massive military spending amidst vast cuts in vital domestic social and economic programs.

For more information:

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/

http://www.internationalanswer.org/

http://www.votenowar.org/

posted 03-19-2004 04:55 PM            

Here is Kucinich's press release:

Kucinich to Address Thousands at New York City Peace Rally Saturday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 18, 2004

Contact: Matt Harris: (o) (216) 889-2004, (c) (216) 403-3980, press@kucinich.us, Nate Wilkes 602.221.6598

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, winner of the 2003 Ghandi Peace Award, has accepted an invitation to be one of the keynote speakers at the Rally Against War and Occupation (Global Day of Action) in New York on March 20th.

Kucinich, the Ohio Congressman who led the fight on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to oppose the 2002 resolution empowering the President to invade Iraq, announced he will leave the campaign trail in Alaska to attend the Saturday events, where tens of thousands are expected from Boston, Washington and the Northeast. Specially designated "peace trains" are also coming from Connecticut, New Jersey and Long Island.

Kucinich, the last remaining active challenger to Sen. John Kerry, is the only Democratic presidential candidate who voted against the war resolution two years ago. "Giving the President carte blanche then was the wrong decision," Kucinich said, "and the events and revelations over the past several months have proven that there was no legitimate basis for the invasion."

More than 250 similar protests are planned in cities all across the United States, as well as in dozens of countries around the world, to mark the one year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

"Last year, I stood on New York's First Avenue and looked out at a half-million people who were protesting what was then the prospective involvement of the United States in Iraq." Kucinich said. "Since then we've seen that there has been nothing but a trail of lies that led the United States into its involvement in Iraq. That Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. That Iraq had nothing to do with Al Qaida's role in 9/11, and that it had nothing to do with the Anthrax attack upon this country."

The NYC event begins with an hour-long kickoff rally, then a march through Midtown Manhattan, followed by a closing rally at Madison Ave. and East 23rd St. Other rally speakers will include Tony Benn, former member of the British Parliament; Adele Welty of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows; and Fernando Suarez del Solar of Military Families Speak Out.

A central plank in Kucinich's platform has been the withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Iraq, as well as the establishment of a cabinet-level Department of Peace. "We must work toward a society in which a Department of Peace is as important as a Department of Defense, in which we spend as much on health and education as we do on our military. We must get the UN in and the US out of Iraq. And we must bring home as soon as possible the American servicemen and women who have served so long and so hard in Iraq."

"Right now, neither the leading Democrat nor the Republican Administration is willing to commit to a plan to bring our troops home," Kucinich said. "I look forward to joining forces with people throughout America and the world as we send a united message to governments and peoples everywhere: an end to war and a beginning to peace. We will no longer tolerate a world in which war is the driving force and peace merely an interval between conflicts."

Thousands of Kucinich campaign volunteers all across the country have been working with local organizers of various March 20th events in New York and other cities to lend support and provide coordination.

For information about the National campaign: http://www.kucinich.us

For Congressman Kucinich's Schedule: http://www.kucinich.us/schedule.htm.

To schedule an interview with Kucinich or a spokesperson: jonathans@kucinich.us

posted 03-20-2004 06:45 PM            

I'll paste most of the images from the link below into this thread.

http://people.cornellcollege.edu/a-free/mar20.htm

Thessaloniki, Greece

New York City, New York, USA - Times Square

New York City, New York, USA - Times Square
Police arrest 21 (confirmed), more alleged.

Madrid, Spain - Police striking protestors.

Chicago, Illinois, USA - Federal Plaza

Seoul, South Korea
Police pushing back protestors.

San Francisco, California, USA
Police arresting protestors.

"San Francisco was the antiwar movement's epicenter. Demonstrators made the Bay Bridge and about 40 intersections impassable during the morning rush hour, set fire to bales of hay in the shadow of the Transamerica Building, opened fire hydrants and smashed police car windows." --NYTimes.com

posted 03-20-2004 06:59 PM            

Major Protests Mark Iraq War Anniversary
2 hours, 2 minutes ago Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Hundreds of thousands of people around the world rallied against the U.S. presence in Iraq (news - web sites) on the first anniversary of the war Saturday, in protests that retained the anger, if not the size, of demonstrations held before the invasion began.

Protesters filled more than a dozen police-lined blocks in Manhattan, calling on President Bush (news - web sites) to bring home U.S. troops serving in Iraq. Mayor Michael Bloomberg estimated the crowd at about 30,000, but organizers said later that number had grown to more than 100,000.

"It is time to bring our children home and declare this war was unnecessary," said the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, a New York activist addressing a rally in Manhattan.

The roughly 250 anti-war protests scheduled around the country by United for Peace and Justice ranged from solemn to brash.

In Montpelier, Vt., hundreds of silent protesters placed a pair of shoes on the Statehouse steps for each of the more than 560 U.S. soldiers killed in the war. In Los Angeles, one of about 2,000 protesters held photographs of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) with the words, "forget Janet Jackson's — expose the real boobs."

Around the world, hundreds of thousands raised their voices in rallies from Spain to Egypt to the Philippines.

Organizers estimated up to 2 million people demonstrated in Rome, and 100,000 in London, but police in those cities gave estimates of 250,000 and 25,000, respectively.

Anti-war activists jammed the streets of central Rome, many of them decked out in rainbow-colored peace flags and chanting "assassins." Protesters demanded that the Italian government, a strong supporter of the war, withdraw its 2,600 troops from Iraq.

Paolo Quadrardi, 42, a mechanic, said the Madrid train bombings that killed 202 people March 11 showed that "war doesn't do anything but increase terrorism."

No crowd estimate was immediately available for Madrid's protest, although about 150,000 demonstrated in Barcelona. But the numbers paled in comparison to the millions that packed streets all over Spain after the train bombings.

The rallies coincided with the anniversary of the first bombings in Baghdad last year. Although President Bush ordered the attacks on March 19, the time difference made it March 20 in Iraq.

While turnout was high in some nations, the protests were all far smaller than the enormous demonstrations held around the world shortly before the war began.

A New York protest a year ago drew more than 125,000 by official estimates. Although that's similar to organizers' estimate Saturday, organizers for last year's event estimated the crowd at more than 250,000.

This event was peaceful, unlike last year's rally, which produced several clashes between demonstrators and police.

New York police in riot gear walked calmly past barricades marking off the demonstration area on Madison Avenue as speakers mounted a stage to address the crowd on a sunny afternoon.

Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly stopped by the rally, but didn't speak to demonstrators or participate.

Chicago police in full riot gear lined downtown streets as thousands of war opponents marched about two miles to the city's Federal Plaza.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson (news - web sites) told the Chicago demonstrators to express their opposition to the war by voting against Bush. "It's time to fight back: Remember in November," he said.

In Cincinnati, several hundred people gathered in a downtown park to call for a U.S. troop withdrawal. Claire Mugavin, clad in a biohazard suit, pretended to look for weapons of mass destruction beneath benches and garbage cans.

"We figure they're not in Iraq," said the 24-year-old Cincinnati resident. "So we figured we'd come look for them in Fountain Square."

Thousands marched from Seattle's First Hill neighborhood to the waterfront, including Alberto Salazar, whose 20-year-old son, a Marine, served in Iraq.

"I feel angry that we have gone this far," Salazar said. "I feel hopeful people are waking up and seeing the truth of this whole matter."

In San Francisco, thousands of taiko drummers, cyclists, activists and other protesters chanted "End the occupation" and "Impeach Bush." Richard Penrose, 77, and his wife boarded an early bus from Sacramento to join the rally.

"I don't know if Bush is going to hear the message, but we're hoping the people of the United States hear it. Because people should have their power back," Penrose said.

Several thousand people turned out in Denver and several hundred marched in Atlanta and Albuquerque, N.M.

An anti-war rally and march in Augusta, Maine, drew an estimated 1,000 or more participants, as well as a smaller but enthusiastic band of counter-demonstrators. "We're here so the troops know we support them," said Erica Nawfel, 27, of Waterville.

Elsewhere around the world, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and other European countries saw protests, while demonstrations took place earlier in Japan, Australia and India. About 500 protesters clashed with police outside the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines capital, Manila. No injuries were reported.

posted 03-20-2004 07:04 PM            

Called: Anti-War & Protests

posted 03-20-2004 07:13 PM            

Thousands Marched in Vancouver in Opposition to the Illegal Occupation
Saturday March 20, 2004 - Featuring Noam Chomsky

March 20th, the first anniversary of occupation of Iraq, didn't pass without thousands of people remembering it.

In Vancouver, about 25000 people marched to the streets of Vancouver to show their solidarity with the people of Iraq and to show opposition to all illegal and immoral occupation.

posted 03-20-2004 08:32 PM            

Power To The People!!!