A6 Vigil and Action: End the War Against the Poor

For Immediate Release 
 
Monday, August 6th there will be a silent vigil and direct action at 8:30 PM at U.N Plaza in the Civic Center to commemorate the eleventh year of war against Iraq. The Autonomous Affinity Group plans to draw attention not only to the endless war in the Gulf, but also to the war against the poor here in San Francisco that has been waged against working people throughout the City. The crackdown on San Francisco’s poor is part of the City’s plan to fatten corporate profits while criminalizing the most vulnerable part of our community, the homeless.  
 
 
Salem McCarron, a member of the Affinity Group said: “On Monday August 6th it will be the eleventh anniversary of the war against Iraq at the expense of the most vulnerable in our society: the poor, the children, the homeless. While we have waged an economic and military war against Iraq under the guise of fighting a single person named Saddam Hussein, over 1,500,000 Iraqis have died. At the same time billions of dollars of American tax expenditures have been wasted on a needless war for control of Oil in the Gulf. Instead of funding new schools, homeless shelters and other infrastructure needs in the United States, our leaders have spent chosen to protect the Oil market of such American corporations as Chevron. Thus, the Autonomous Affinity Group is calling for an action to remind San Franciscans about the war being waged in their name against a people across the sea while our own citizens suffer in the streets.” 
 
The Autonomous Affinity Group will be delivering a set of demands to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors regarding the War on the Poor in Iraq and in San Francisco. The vigil will move from UN Plaza at the Civic Center to City Hall where the demands will be placed.  
 
Reference Materials: 
Corporate War Against the Poor, http://www.mashriq.org/Connections%20Article.doc 
Talking Points: http://www.indybay.org/display.php3?article_id=101881 
San Francisco Homeless and Housing Crisis: http://www.indybay.org/housing/