Workers Resistance

Category: US imperialism

  • U.S., Japan make threats against China

    Minneapolis, MN – U.S. and Japanese authorities are making threats against People’s China in the wake of China’s Nov. 23 establishment of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone.

    Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun states that China created the Identification Zone with “the aim of safeguarding state sovereignty, territorial land and air security and maintaining flight order. This is a necessary measure taken by China in exercising its self-defense right.”

    Inside the newly created Identification Zone are the Japan-occupied Diaoyu Islands. Historically a part of China, Japan maintains physical control over the Diaoyu Islands and the islands have become a flashpoint in Chinese-Japanese relations in recent years.

    Japan’s current Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe – a right winger who defends Japan’s brutal imperial past – is up in arms about the decision to establish the Identification Zone.

    A Nov. 24 report in The Guardian states, “Japan has denounced the zone set up by China on Saturday as ‘totally unacceptable’ and indicated that aircraft from its self-defence force would ignore Beijing’s attempt to oblige aeroplanes to obtain its permission before entering.”

    On Nov. 23 U.S Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel stated, “This announcement by the People’s Republic of China will not in any way change how the U.S. conducts military operations in the region.”

    Referring to the Diaoyu Islands as the ‘Senkaku Islands’, which is the name used by the Japanese authorities, Hegel affirmed the U.S. was ready to join a military conflict with China, stating, “We remain steadfast in our commitments to our allies and partners. The U.S. reaffirms its longstanding policy that Article V of the U.S.-Japan Mutual Defense Treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands.”

  • U.S. makes plans to keep thousands of troops in Afghanistan

    Minneapolis, MN – On Nov. 20 the U.S. and Afghan governments announced that final language had been agreed to for a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that would have U.S. troops staying in Afghanistan until at least 2024.

    This agreement will lay the basis for continuing the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan.

    Plans are being made to leave 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014, when the Obama administration had said all U.S. troops would be out of Afghanistan. There will also be several thousand NATO forces left in Afghanistan along with the U.S. troops. There likely will be thousands of “contractors” as well.

    There is growing opposition in Afghanistan to the agreement.

    Tasnim news agency reported that there was a protest in Kabul, Nov. 18, against the agreement. Tasnim reported, “During the demonstration on Monday, the protesters once again expressed opposition to the so-called Bilateral Security Agreement. The participants also called for the immediate withdrawal of the U.S. forces from the country.”

    Tasnim reported, “Our Kabul correspondent Fayez Khorshid says public anger is boiling up in Afghanistan over the security pact as people continue to come out in protest of the deal.”

    In the city of Jalalabad there was a demonstration on Nov. 17 involving many students against the BSA pact.

    NBC News reported, “While many Americans have been led to believe the war in Afghanistan will soon be over, a draft of a key U.S.-Afghan security deal obtained by NBC News shows the U.S. is prepared to maintain military outposts in Afghanistan for many years to come and to pay to support hundreds of thousands of Afghan security forces.”

    NBC reported, “The document appears to be the start of a new, open-ended military commitment in Afghanistan…”

    After 12 years of war in Afghanistan, the U.S. has been unable to secure its war aims. The massive opposition to the war in the U.S. and the resistance of the Afghan people to more war and occupation is forcing the U.S. to try and maintain its role in Afghanistan in such a way that the opposition can be lessened.

    As Time magazine reported in an online article this week, “…there’s always the chance that delaying the departure of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan will simply delay the inevitable.”

    The opposition in Afghanistan to the continued presence of foreign forces is so high that the Karzai regime has had negotiations with the U.S. to make an appearance of standing up for Afghan independence.

    The Karzai government made a show of insisting that U.S. troops could be prosecuted under Afghan law and saying that U.S. troops could not raid Afghan homes.

    A flurry of phone calls between Karzai and U.S. Secretary of State Kerry John Kerry in the last few days has seemingly come up with language that gives everyone political cover.

    The Karzai government has also called for the holding of a Loya Jirga, a Grand Assembly, that is a traditional Afghan gathering of social leaders to discuss issues of national impotence. Karzai has said that the Loya Jirga will discuss the BSA agreement and decide whether to enact it.

    The Wall Street Journal reported, “The Loya Jirga, most of whose delegates were selected by provincial authorities, and whose membership list was approved” by Karzai, “is highly unlikely to do anything against the wishes of the Afghan president.”

    The students demonstrating against the BSA agreement in Jalalabad were clear in statements they gave to a reporter from Agence France-Presse about their view of the Loya Jirga called by Karzai: “The people of Afghanistan should not sign this agreement,” Shafiullah, a student who uses only one name, said as demonstrators chanted “Death to the U.S.” 

Another student, Habib-Ul Rahman Arab, accused the delegates, most of them hand-picked by President Hamid Karzai’s administration, of being government supporters. 

“They are not our representatives. They are not representatives of the Afghan people,” he said.

    U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) issued a statement Nov. 20 on the announcement of the BSA language agreement. Lee said in her statement, “This revelation is outrageous. The possibility of a military presence into 2024 is unacceptable. After 13 years and more than $778 billion invested” in Afghanistan and “the corrupt Karzai government, it is time to bring our troops and tax dollars home.”

    Alan Dale, a member of the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, said, “All opposed to the war should speak out against this plan to keep thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. As long as U.S. troops are in Afghanistan the war will continue. The people of Afghanistan must be free to determine their own future.”

  • Top 5 progressive horror films for activists on Halloween

    Odds are that Karl Marx would have enjoyed horror movies.

    The German revolutionary and author of The Communist Manifesto died almost 40 years before the release of Nosferatu, the first commercially successful horror movie. But as a harsh critic of capitalism and colonialism, Marx was familiar with his fair share of real life horrors perpetrated by the capitalist class on working and oppressed people. 100 years before Night of the Living Dead, Marx was already likening capitalist oppression to the undead: “Capital is dead labour, that, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks.”

    About a century later, Malcolm X would echo these sentiments and say, “Show me a capitalist, and I’ll show you a bloodsucker.” For Malcolm X and other freedom fighters throughout history, the system of imperialism faced by African Americans and other oppressed people was a real-life house of horrors full of violence and exploitation, literally sucking the life out of its victims. It’s precisely this reflection of the real conditions of oppression around us, especially in the U.S., that make horror films so interesting for activists and revolutionaries.

    All movies reflect the culture, politics and conditions around them, but horror films in particular reflect our collective fears as a society – and sometimes the fears that our rulers want us to have. For instance, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is only remembered now as an early slasher film. But in 1974 when it was released, the story was a terrifyingly exaggerated reflection of people’s real concerns: five young hippie kids go looking for gasoline after their car breaks down in Texas – a very common problem given the gas shortages from the 1973 oil embargo – and get terrorized by a family of unemployed meatpackers, who turned to maniacal violence only after losing their jobs to technology and outsourcing by the 1%.

    Sometimes horror films reflect the genuinely terrifying outlook of the right wing. The wave of slasher flicks in the 1980s reflected the rise of Ronald Reagan and the Christian Right, who violently imposed their vision of trickle-down economics and ‘family values’ on women, poor and working people and the youth. Similarly, The Exorcist (1973) was a thinly-veiled reactionary statement against single working mothers and the threat that science posed to conservative religious orthodoxy.

    The post-9/11 period featured horror films eerily reflective of the things people saw on the news, whether it was terrorists on video tapes (The Ring), exploding buildings in Manhattan (Cloverfield), torture (Saw, Hostel), or right-wing religious fanatics (The Mist).

    Today, it’s no surprise that the most successful horror films since the 2008 economic crisis all dealt with insecurity about people’s homes – whether its bankers haunted by the victims of foreclosures in Drag Me To Hell or traditional haunted house flicks like Insidious, Paranormal Activity, Sinister and The Conjuring.

    A few horror films particularly reflect what Malcolm X called “the American nightmare” of exploitation and oppression. Social justice activists can use these films as a jumping-off point for conversations about the very real horrific imperialist system that we face today. For activists looking for a couple of scary but socially-conscious movies for Halloween 2013, I present the top five most progressive horror movies:

    5. The Purge (2013)

    It didn’t seem right not putting a recent horror flick on this list, and The Purge holds its own with the rest of the list. Written like an episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, the film takes place in a dystopian future U.S. where a fascist group called the New Founding Fathers seized state power in a coup and implemented an annual, 12-hour event called “the purge.” During the purge, all criminal activity – including murder – becomes legal, which allows the rich to literally hunt down the poor or hide away in expensive defense fortresses that only they can afford. The Purge follows the lives of a wealthy family that gets attacked by a fascist gang of racist vigilantes after they give refuge to an African American man during the night. In the wake of the murder of Trayvon Martin and the outrageous Zimmerman verdict, The Purge has some genuinely scary and disturbing moments that make us reflect on the real police and vigilante violence inflicted on African Americans, Latinos and other oppressed nationalities every day.

    4. Tales From the Hood (1995)

    Tales From the Hood was Spike Lee’s entry into the horror genre and although it’s not necessarily the scariest film because of its occasionally tongue-in-cheek humor, it stands out as one of the most anti-racist horror films ever made. Tales From the Hood is told as an anthology, the premise being that three gang members are told four stories by a funeral home owner named Mr. Simms. The stories range from the ghost of a civil rights activist haunting the police officers who murdered him to the souls of dead slaves exacting revenge on a Ku Klux Klan politician, who converts an old slave plantation into his office. The most striking part of the film is that although some of the horror elements are over the top, like the use of ghosts, none of the disturbing stories are unrealistic. Police or racist vigilantes murder African Americans every 36 hours, and many of the politicians in office today have extensive connections to fascist groups like the Klan. Tales From the Hood had a poor theatrical run, but it’s made a comeback on Netflix and deserves a Halloween viewing by activists in the US.

    3. George Romero’s Dead Series (1968, 1978, 1985, 2005)

    I cheated a little with this entry by rolling four films into one, but I can’t preference one of Romero’s four classic zombie films over the others. Night of the Living Dead (1968) feels very dated and hardly scary anymore, but activists will still find its commentary on racism and national oppression powerful today. The not-so-subtle Dawn of the Dead (1978) is an extended critique of rampant consumerism and Day of the Dead (1985) asks the audience to consider whether the U.S. military is a greater threat to humanity than the undead ‘enemies’ they claim to fight. Land of the Dead brings it all together in a zombie-filled class war that also comments on the U.S.’s destructive immigration policies. Some of the films are scarier than others, but all four are required viewing for activist horror fans.

    2. Candyman (1992)

    Set predominantly in a Chicago public housing project, Candyman on its face is about an urban legend involving a hook-handed killer who appears when you say his name five times into a mirror. In actuality, this underrated early 90s classic harshly criticizes white liberal racism and academia’s fixation on studying – but never solving – poverty and national oppression. Candyman, seemingly the villain of the film, is actually the victim of racist violence by a lynch mob. The real villains are the middle and upper class academics, whose discrimination and condescension towards poor people in the community actually exacerbates their oppression. Terrifying and surprisingly nuanced, Candyman is a horror movie staple for any social justice advocate.

    1. Alien (1979)

    Alien is the most progressive horror film I’ve ever seen, hands down. Ridley Scott’s masterpiece features truckers and miners in space who get sent on a suicide mission by their corporate employers to retrieve a deadly alien. The most oppressed workers are African Americans and women and they’re also the people who survive the longest. The film features Sigourney Weaver as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley, a strong female fighter who essentially organizes her co-workers to revolt against the company’s plan to capture the titular alien. Set more than 100 years in the future, the concerns of the workers on board the Nostromo echo those of Wal-Mart cashiers, UPS part-timers and fast-food workers in the U.S. today – poverty wages, wage theft, and in the case of the Nostromo Crew, incredibly unsafe working conditions. Alien still holds up as a genuinely scary film, but the real draw for activists is its fairly explicit anti-capitalist, pro-worker message.

  • Grand Mufti joins Jacksonville rally for Syria peace

    Jacksonville, FL – On Oct. 13, 40 people held a “Rally for Peace in Syria” at Saint Ephrem Syriac Catholic Church in Jacksonville. The peace rally drew members of the church congregation, anti-war activists and members of Jacksonville’s large Syrian-American and Arab-American community. Friends of the Syrian American Forum organized the rally.

    Protesters carried signs reading, “U.S. hands off Syria” and “U.S. stop funding al-Qaeda,” referring to the U.S. and Saudi-backed rebels affiliated with al-Qaeda. Obama’s White House and U.S. intelligence agencies have spent over $1 billion on ‘rebels’ in Syria already. Another sign featured U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s quote during his attempt to drive the U.S. into another Middle East war, “They [the Syrian rebels] are becoming more moderate by the day,” along with a photo of civilians massacred by the U.S. and Israeli-backed rebels.

    The rally began with several chants calling for no U.S. war on Syria and then others offered a prayer for peace. Both Muslims and Christians attended the rally, praying together and demanding an end to the U.S.-sponsored violence in Syria.

    The Grand Mufti of Syria, Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hassoun, spoke to the crowd by videoconference. Syria’s highest Muslim religious figure, Hassoun addressed the rally in Arabic, praying and calling for peace in Syria. He emphasized his desire for unity with all of Syria’s religious groups, including Christians, and called on Syrians to support President Assad in fighting the U.S. and Saudi-backed rebels.

    People asked Hassoun questions

    Dave Schneider, an organizer with Jacksonville Against the War on Syria (JAWS), told Hassoun about the efforts in Florida to stop U.S. military intervention in Syria. With someone translating his words into Arabic, he said, “We have brought together hundreds of people to tell the politicians who make the laws in this country that we don’t want war. 91% of the American people do not want war on Syria. And many of us see the courage of the Syrian people and President Bashar al-Assad in the face of U.S. intervention and the Saudi-funded rebels, and we are inspired by that courage.”

    Hassoun, whose son was assassinated at a university by the so-called rebels, thanked the people of Jacksonville for their support and asked them to continue spreading the truth about Syria. He told the rally that his attempt to come and address the U.S. Congress was blocked by the U.S. State Department, which denied his visa.

    Hassoun said, “When Obama was elected, he promised peace, but now he wants to deliver more war.”

    Jacksonville’s rally was part of a larger nationwide day of action called by the Friends of the Syrian American Forum. The organization plans to call more days of action in the future to demand “Hands off Syria” and an end to U.S. war.

  • South Florida protest: ‘12 years too long, U.S. out of Afghanistan’

    Hollywood, FL – A group of anti-war activists gathered downtown here, to mark 12 years of U.S. war and occupation in Afghanistan. At the busy intersection of Young Circle Park, protesters held signs to remind the public that the U.S. is still waging war on the people of Afghanistan. People’s Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism (POWIR), a local anti-war group, organized the event.

    The activists braved the rain and winds to demand an end to U.S. occupation, the immediate return of all U.S. troops and an end to wasteful spending on U.S. wars. The organizers stressed that billions of taxpayer dollars are being spent on U.S. wars and occupations abroad, instead of on jobs, healthcare, and education at home.

    Signs read, “12 years too long, U.S. out of Afghanistan,” “War is not the answer,” “Fund our schools, not your wars” and “Honk for peace.” As cars and buses drove by, they honked in solidarity and the passersby walking in the park made peace signs in support and engaged in discussion. The protesters sang, “All we are saying is give peace a chance,” as they waved the banner and signs.

    Cassia Laham, lead organizer of POWIR, held 12 black balloons to mark the 12 terrible years endured by the Afghan people and for the lives lost in Afghanistan, including U.S. soldiers. She said in her speech, “Afghanistan and all other countries currently being occupied and dominated by the U.S. have the right to self-determination.”

    Sandy Davies from Progressive Democrats of America said, “It’s much easier to start a war than to end one. There are still more than 50,000 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and the U.S. has increased the number of air strikes and continues to attack the Afghan people.”

    Davies continued by stating how in 2013 alone, there have been over 2000 airstrikes in Afghanistan, which averages to about five to ten airstrikes per day.

    The Obama White House more than doubled the number of drones in the air and intensified attacks in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, killing hundreds of civilians, with drone attacks on weddings, funerals and family homes.

    The southern Florida protest was part of an international day of action opposing the war in Afghanistan.

  • National liberation movements mourn passing of Vietnam’s General Giap

    Minneapolis, MN – National liberation movements around the world are morning the Oct. 4 passing of General Vo Nguyen Giap who, along with Ho Chi Minh, was one of the main leaders of Vietnam’s fight to free itself from Japanese, French and finally U.S. domination.

    Describing General Giap as a “warrior of the twentieth century, architect of the future,” the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) stated, “Japan, France and the United States, three of the strongest powers in human history, fell successively, humiliated before his military and political genius.”

    A statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said “Giap was the first military commander to defeat a Western colonial power in Asia, and his legacy is renowned not only by the Vietnamese people but by all peoples around the world and all movements for liberation from colonialism and imperialism.”

    The Communist Party of the Philippines, summed up some of the lessons of Giap’s efforts, stating, “Comrade Giap led the Vietnamese People’s Army in the historic Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the center of French military power in Indochina. Here, the Vietnamese people demonstrated how they could defeat a more modern army through the use of guerrilla tactics. They marched in their thousands to build hidden trails, dug hundreds of kilometers of trenches, dismantled their cannons and artillery and manually pulled them up to high mountain ridges in order to quietly encircle the overly confident French troops. They launched a blitzkrieg attack against the French military base and after 55 days of fighting, forced the complete surrender of the French colonialists on May 7, 1954.”

    The Communist Party of the Philippines also stated, “The lessons of the Vietnamese people’s war of resistance continue to illumine people’s wars around the world, including that being waged by the Filipino people through the New People’s Army. The military writings of Comrade Giap, especially in waging guerrilla warfare, have been translated into Pilipino and other local languages, enabling Filipino revolutionaries to study the lessons of the people’s war in Vietnam.”

  • National liberation movements mourn passing of Vietnam’s General Giap

    Minneapolis, MN – National liberation movements around the world are morning the Oct. 4 passing of General Vo Nguyen Giap who, along with Ho Chi Minh, was one of the main leaders of Vietnam’s fight to free itself from Japanese, French and finally U.S. domination.

    Describing General Giap as a “warrior of the twentieth century, architect of the future,” the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) stated, “Japan, France and the United States, three of the strongest powers in human history, fell successively, humiliated before his military and political genius.”

    A statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said “Giap was the first military commander to defeat a Western colonial power in Asia, and his legacy is renowned not only by the Vietnamese people but by all peoples around the world and all movements for liberation from colonialism and imperialism.”

    The Communist Party of the Philippines, summed up some of the lessons of Giap’s efforts, stating, “Comrade Giap led the Vietnamese People’s Army in the historic Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the center of French military power in Indochina. Here, the Vietnamese people demonstrated how they could defeat a more modern army through the use of guerrilla tactics. They marched in their thousands to build hidden trails, dug hundreds of kilometers of trenches, dismantled their cannons and artillery and manually pulled them up to high mountain ridges in order to quietly encircle the overly confident French troops. They launched a blitzkrieg attack against the French military base and after 55 days of fighting, forced the complete surrender of the French colonialists on May 7, 1954.”

    The Communist Party of the Philippines also stated, “The lessons of the Vietnamese people’s war of resistance continue to illumine people’s wars around the world, including that being waged by the Filipino people through the New People’s Army. The military writings of Comrade Giap, especially in waging guerrilla warfare, have been translated into Pilipino and other local languages, enabling Filipino revolutionaries to study the lessons of the people’s war in Vietnam.”

  • ILPS: In honor of the immortal General Vo Nguyen Giap

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Professor Jose Maria Sison,Chairperson, International League of Peoples’ Struggle(ILPS).

    We, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, solemnly honor and render our highest respects to the immortal General Vo Nguyen Giap upon his passing away on 4 October. He was a close comrade in arms of the great Ho Chi Minh and outstanding hero, leader and commander of the Vietnamese people’s revolutionary struggles for national liberation against Japanese, French and US imperialism.

    He was born to a peasant family in 1911 but he was able to go to school. In 1922 he joined the anti-colonial student movement. After graduating with high honors from the university,he became a teacher and journalist noted for his patriotic and progressive views. In 1933 he became a member of the Communist Party of Indochina and soon a member of the leading core under the direction of Ho Chi Minh.

    He founded and led the Vietnam People’s Army under the leadership of the Communist Party. He adopted and developed the strategic line of people’s war against the foreign aggressors and occupiers of his country. He built the people’s army as the politico-military weapon of the Vietnamese people in order to achieve brilliant victories against the enemy.

    In late 1941, he formed the first guerrilla groups in the mountains of Vietnam. He made an alliance with the armed formation of a national minority in northeastern Vietnam. By mid-1945 he had some 10,000 fighters under his command and carried out an offensive against the Japanese invaders. Thus, the way was made for the Viet Minh to undertake the August Revolution on a nationwide scale, compelling Emperor Bao Dai to abdicate on 25 August and proceeding to the proclamation of Vietnam’s independence on 2 September 1945.

    He directed the people’s war that brought utter defeat to the French colonial army at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. He mustered 100,000 fighters and another 100,000 workers (many of them women) to encircle and gain vantage points against the enemy. The heroic people’s army and the people struggling for national and social liberation under the leadership of the Communist Party inflicted heavy losses on the enemy forces and compelled them to surrender.

    The brilliance of Vo Nguyen Giap as a strategist of protracted people’s war came to the fore by reflecting and availing of the revolutionary determination and courage of the Vietnamese people against the US war of aggression from the 1960s to 1972. He and his people were not cowed by the US which had become the strongest imperialist power in the course of World War II. They fought even harder and more effectively even as US imperialism barbarically used weapons of mass destruction.

    The US killed one million Vietnamese combatants and four million civilians, who constituted a large percentage of the Vietnamese population then. This is reminiscent of the US butchery in the killing of 1.5 million Filipinos from 1899 to 1913, and more than 3 million Koreans from 1951 to 1953. To this day, the Vietnamese people continue to suffer from the chemical warfare waged by the US, which poured millions of liters of Agent Orange on Vietnam.

    As the US war of aggression went on, the people of the world, including the American people, were outraged by the barbarism of US military forces and were inspired by the heroic resistance of the Vietnamese people. The anti-imperialist and democratic movement expanded and intensified on a global scale. The US started to sue for peace in 1969 and withdrew from Vietnam under the Paris Peace Accord of 1972, after the death of 58,226 US troops and many more wounded.

    US imperialism accepted defeat as it was faced with the prospect of losing more troops and financial resources at a faster rate and as the American people and the people of the world condemned the war of aggression on an ever widening scale. The people of an underdevelopedcountry and victims of aggression achieved a resounding victory over US imperialism.

    Since then, the defeat of US imperialism in Vietnam has served to show the limits of US economic and military power and has inspired the oppressed peoples and nations of the world to persevere and intensify their struggle for national and social liberation. All peoples of the world emulate the heroic example and indomitable spirit of the immortal General Vo Nguyen Giap in fighting for national independence, democracy, socialism, international solidarity and peace.

  • People from across Midwest march on Boeing, say ‘No to drones’

    Chicago, IL – 200 people marched against Boeing Company on Sept 28. Many participants and organizers from that march met for a conference the following day to share skills, experiences and knowledge that will help strengthen the movement against drone warfare.

    50 of the protesters came from other states around the Midwest, from groups like the Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones & End the Wars, the Minnesota-based groups Anti-War Committee, Women Against Military Madness and the Brainerd Area Coalition for Peace as well as others from Michigan, Indiana and Missouri. The Anti-War Committee-Chicago (AWC) had called for the march and the groups were joined by the ANSWER Coalition, the Syrian American Forum, U.S. Palestinian Community Network and other Chicago organizations.

    The Boeing headquarters was the destination for the marchers. Boeing has been targeted by the AWC because they are vying for a Pentagon contract to build a new combat drone. Boeing is the second largest arms manufacturer in the U.S.

    Combat drones have become controversial in the past two years in part because the Obama administration has sent drones to assassinate American citizens in Yemen. According to Medea Benjamin, founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, the majority of drone victims in Pakistan are not ‘high level Al Qaeda’ leaders but civilians, including many children. Benjamin, who has organized delegations to Pakistan and Yemen, was the keynote speaker at the conference and protest.

    Thousands of people watched and dozens took videos as the march, complete with a band, puppets and several banners, went through a park and a shopping district on its way to Boeing headquarters. Upon reaching its destination, the group placed child-sized coffins on Boeing’s property. Kait McIntyre, an organizer with Anti-War Committee-Chicago, explained, “The child-sized coffins we placed at Boeing’s doorstep represent over 178 children that have been killed as a result of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen and the countless more whose blood will be on Boeing’s hands if it wins this military drone contract.”

  • Minnesota anti-war activists join Midwest Action Against Drones in Chicago

    Minneapolis, MN – Activists from the Twin Cities will be joining people from six Midwest states in Chicago this weekend to protest drone warfare at the headquarters of Boeing Company. Boeing is the second largest weapons manufacturer in the country.

    Minnesota’s Anti-War Committee and Women Against Military Madness worked together to organize transportation to the protest from the Twin Cities to Chicago. In Chicago, the Minnesota contingent will march under the banner, “We’re not just Minnesota nice, we’re MAD (Minnesotans Against Drones).”

    Organizer Meredith Aby-Keirstead, explained, “Drone strikes, especially in Pakistan and Yemen, have killed hundreds of civilians, many of them children. This protest will bring our voices directly to the company that has helped kill so many people. Boeing makes surveillance drones and is competing for a Pentagon contract to make the Phantom Ray, a new combat drone. The Phantom Ray would travel much further and carry more missiles than the Navy’s current combat drone, the Reaper.”

    According to Kait McIntyre of the Anti-War Committee – Chicago, “It’s time to end the drone wars, not prepare to build another generation of deadly weapons.”

    The protest on Sept. 28 will be followed by an organizing conference on Sept. 29.