Mar 8, 2003

WASHINGTON – A delegation from the European Parliament (EP) here to confer with peace leaders against war on Iraq hailed the vote by Turkey’s Parliament March 1 to reject Bush’s war in which as many as 3,000 misiles will rain on Baghdad within 48 hours.

In a sharp break with tradition, the 13- million-member AFL-CIO added its voice to the growing demand that the Bush administration work through the United Nations in resolving the Iraq crisis.

LOS ANGELES – This became the largest city in the nation to officially take a stand in opposition to President Bush’s war against Iraq when the City Council adopted an anti-war resolution Feb. 21. Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn signed the resolution later that day.

CHICAGO – Singing “peace, salaam, shalom” 2,000 clergy and lay worshipers solemnly paraded through the city’s Gold Coast on Feb. 23 to bear witness to the casualties of a U.S. pre-emptive war on Iraq. The action was sponsored by United for Peace: Faithful Citizenship, a growing interfaith anti-war coalition in Chicago.

New Haven, Conn. – Five thousand enthusiastic workers at Yale University including cooks, janitors, graduate student teachers, secretaries and lab technicians are making history with their one-week strike.

PITTSBURGH: 124th city on the peace list / BALTIMORE: Peace ‘illegal’ in suburban mall / SAN FRANCISCO: Stock exchange pres. against war / DETROIT: Marchers to High Court: ‘Save affirmative action’ / DALLAS: Driving while Black or Brown: Hazardous to your health / NEW YORK: Hikers start ‘No Tuition Hike’

Commentary


For the past seven months, the United Nations Security Council has been proceeding on the assumption that its sole objective was to disarm the Iraqi regime of weapons of mass destruction, not to overthrow it.

WASHINGTON – Beginning with readings of the classic Greek anti-war comedy, Lysistrata, in 900 cities and ending with a “Code Pink” protest at the White House on International Women’s Day, March 8, thousands of women mobilized this week against George W. Bush’s war on Iraq.

Cracks appear to be growing within governmental structures over the Bush administration’s ruthless, go-it-alone strategy towards Iraq. Tired of the bullying, bruising and bribing of other countries, especially long-time allies, a U.S. diplomat resigned his post as political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Athens.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s impassioned anti-war calls at a time when “the world lives in fear” set the stage for leaders at the Non-Aligned Summit, held in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, to speak out against war in Iraq as well as unilateralism in international affairs.