Peace

BRUSSELS, Belgium (IPS) — The United States is leading efforts to resist a complete ban on cluster bombs, human rights activists charge.

A senior United Nations official said that cooperation with Iran was “good” Oct. 29, a day after the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency said that there was no evidence that Iran was working to build nuclear weapons.

“The people believe that peace is possible and we know that we are here to make it happen,” Rep. Danny Davis told thousands in Chicago Oct. 27 rallying for an end to the Iraq war. “We have to keep the heat on,” declared Davis, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and longtime progressive leader. “Let’s stop the funding, let’s stop the war, let’s bring the troops home.”

Tensiones sobre la muerte de civiles a manos de efectivos estadounidenses en Irak se empeoraron cuando tropas de EEUU mataron a 17 civiles y herieron varias docenas más, entre estas ancianos y niños en el vecindario pobre de Bagdad conocido como Ciudad Sadr el 21 de octubre.

Los delegados al II Congreso Latino Nacional del 2007 unánimemente pasaron una resolución en contra de la guerra como lo hicieron el año pasado en el primer congreso. La resolución, introducida por Rosalío Muñoz de Latinos por la Paz exigen que “se tome acción inmediata para empezar el retiro de tropas en Irak y regresarlas a casa”.

The death of Veterans for Peace leader David Cline on Sept. 15 in Jersey City, N.J., touched off an outpouring of tributes from his fellow veterans that continues to this day.

LAS VEGAS — Some 800 women (and a few men) stomped and cheered as they passed a resolution demanding an end to the war and the occupation of Iraq. They were delegates to the 14th biennial national convention of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), meeting here Oct. 10-13.

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council voted 12-2 on Oct. 16 to tell President Bush “to immediately commence a rapid, humane, and complete withdrawal” of U.S. forces from Iraq.

Tensions over U.S. killings of civilians in Iraq received another jolt with reports that American forces killed 17 civilians and wounded several dozen others, including old people and children, in Baghdad’s impoverished Sadr City neighborhood Oct. 21.

Unidos por la Paz y Justicia (UFPJ), la coalición antiguerra más grande en Estados Unidos, anunció que planean protestas masivas en 11 ciudades del país el 27 de octubre.