About 125 of us came out today in Syracuse, New York, in a cold rain on one day’s notice to protest the escalation of the war on Iran and demand that the US military get out of the Middle East.
We heard moving speeches from two Iranians who live in Syracuse. They talked about how the US war and its economic sanctions have hurt their families in Iran and their increased worries for their families’ safety after Trump’s new escalation.
Representatives of the sponsors of the demonstration— the Syracuse Peace Council, Veterans for Peace, Democratic Socialists of American, the Party for Liberation and Socialism, the Green Party — spoke as well.
In my remarks on behalf of the Green Party I emphasized the bi-partisan nature of the war, noting how the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act passed just a couple of weeks ago with the overwhelming support of both parties in Congress. It passed after Congress voted against a proposed provision that would have required Trump to go to Congress for authorization before taking military action against Iran.
I talked about how the US wars across the Middle East have been going on for decades and the Green Party has been opposing them all along. I said we can’t count on either party in power to end the war. We have to build a sustained, disruptive, nonviolent antiwar movement that gives the politicians no peace until we get peace.
I said that we need to organize, not just mobilize the usual suspects. We need to talk to people outside our usual circles and bring them to the next protest, and more people to the next action after that, and keep going, until we force the US to withdraw from its endless wars in the Middle East.
Great content in your speech here, Howie. In line with your “talking to people outside our usual circles” I suggest you attempt a twitter initiative with Marco Rubio, who is on the Senate Armed Services Committee and defended the Soleimani killing on Meet the Press. I wrote him: “I can’t confirm it from web search, but I think it was Bertrand Russell who said “homicidal maniacs are well employed in killing each other”. Unfortunately for American service members who may be in the military for the G.I, bill, not to kill foreigners, it is they who will suffer for the “boldness” of their C-in-C. International peace is more likely to occur when we have renounced the Carter Doctrine, which establishes our “right” to intercede wherever in the world our access to strategic assets is threatened. This sums up the philosophy of neo-imperialism and is nothing short of a right to assault and robbery. Would this, as a principle, be allowable in a Senator Rubio’s neighborhood? If not, then why should it be allowable as foreign policy?” Glad to see you’re still engaging and I will continue to support.