Feature Archives

On Monday September 17th Iraq's Interior Ministry revoked the license of Blackwater USA and demanded that all employees leave the country. The ban followed a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead. The Interior Ministry said authorities will prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force and "all those responsible for Sunday's killing will be referred to Iraqi justice." On Tuesday, the Iraqi government softened its stance, saying that the ban on Blackwater was not permanent, but warned it planned to review the legal immunity of all private security companies.

On September 15th, an antiwar protest took place Washington DC to coincide with the report by General Petraeus on the "surge" in Iraq. Protests and peace rallies also took place in many cities across the United States. In Berkeley, a "Community Peace Rally and Concert" was held at People's Park starting at 1pm.

Peace groups in Fresno unite in strategic effort to target Democratic Representative Jim Costa to stop funding the war & occupation in Iraq.

On Saturday September 8th, Michael Franti and his group Spearhead – along with Guerrilla Management –presented the 9th Annual 911 Power to the Peaceful Festival at Speedway Meadow in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. This free annual music and arts festival is "dedicated to social justice, non violence, coexistence, and environmental sustainability-- and is aimed to educate, enrage, enlighten and inspire." The event was followed by an after-party at the Mezzanine, and a daytime Yoga Jam is planned for Sunday.

A nationwide call was issued for a general strike on the 6th anniversary of the horrendous attacks upon the World Trade Center. Organizers say "No longer will we allow the tragedies of 911 to be used as a rallying point and symbolic justification for war. Instead, we are encouraging people to spend the day reflecting, mourning, and protesting what has happened to this nation in the wake of September 11th."

On August 19th, activists from as far away as Palo Alto, Mexico City, and Milan joined members of Code Pink in front of Diane Feinstein's mansion, where they rang the doorbell and sang out for peace. Code Pink members are half way through a fast for peace, in an effort to convince Feinstein and Pelosi to take a stronger stand against the war in Iraq.

On Friday, August 17th people who oppose the American Psychological Association (APA)'s role in the development and use of torture by the US marked the beginning of the APA's convention in San Francisco by gathering at the Stone Stage in Yerba Buena Gardens. A recently declassified August 2006 Department of Defense report confirms that psychologists were directly responsible for the development and use of techniques defined by the International Red Cross as “tantamount to torture.”