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NOT IN OUR NAME - PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE event…
NOT IN OUR NAME website:
http://www.notinourname.net/main.html
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Searchable version of above text:
WAR WITHOUT END? NOT IN OUR NAME.
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June 6, 2002 - Berkeley, CA
San Francisco Bay Area joins the nationwide kickoff of
the NOT IN OUR NAME - PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE.
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Martin Luther King Park - People’s Park - M.L.K. Park
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Riding towards People’s Park in the NOT IN OUR NAME truck
(above). The truck carried an awesome, high energy, drumming
group - making for a spirited march.
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Several hundred people took the
“pledge of resistance” at People’s
Park (above).
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THE PLEDGE TO RESIST
We believe that as people living
in the United States it is our
responsibility to resist the injustices
done by our government, in our names
Not in our name
will you wage endless war
there can be no more deaths
no more transfusions of blood for oil
Not in our name
will you invade countries
bomb civilians, kill more children
letting history take its course
over the graves of the nameless
Not in our name
will you erode the very freedoms
you have claimed to fight for
Not by our hands
will we supply weapons and funding
for the annihilation of families
on foreign soil
Not by our mouths
will we let fear silence us
Not by our hearts
will we allow whole peoples
or countries to be deemed
evil
Not by our will
and Not in our name
We pledge resistance
We pledge alliance with those
who have come under attack
for voicing opposition to the war
or for their religion or ethnicity
We pledge to make common cause
with the people of the world
to bring about justice freedom and peace
Another world is possible
and we pledge to make it real
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Banner held high (left): “WAR
WITHOUT END? - NOT IN OUR NAME.”
Heading back towards Martin Luther
King Park (below).
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Back at Martin Luther King
Park - people moved to the
center of a large circle of
lanterns - paper lanterns
decorated by local Kindergarten
and First Grade students for
the NOT IN OUR NAME event.
Then people spoke about why they
took THE PLEDGE TO RESISTANCE -
a beautiful event.
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Photos by B. Marsh - Email: subbrian3 [at] yahoo.com
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I fully support our government killing more children.
As long as it keeps me fat and in an SUV - it's O.K.
with me.
So let's assume you're in charge of US foreign policy -- for starters, what are you going to do about the Al-Qaida? I'll even let you go back in time to September 12th before the invasion of Afghanistan. What brilliant alternative do you have?
Assume that Al Qaida is a genuine expression of Islamic extremists and not a US conspiracy -- what do you do?
The pledge is worthless if you can't also provide plausible alternatives to the public.
The alternative? In Gore Vidal's words, "you don't bomb Sicily to take out the Mob. You get a police force and you go in and get them." An international police action, not a war, is the way to deal with a criminal conspiracy like al-Quada.
For a conservative articulation of this principle, see Michael Howard's article last fall in Foreign Affairs. There's nothing utopian about it. The entire world was sympathetic to the U.S. on 9/12 and the U.N. would have given instant approval.
I agree the left has not been forceful on this issue, leaving the door wide open for people to say, "Well, we had no choice." But this is the route favored by Z (in particular, Steven Shalom), Chomsky, and Cockburn, in addition to Vidal.
In the event a police action did not work, then I think a more intensified and unilateral application of force, again with international assent to the extent feasible, would be acceptable.
The other side oppresses free speech,any worship but thier god, and if you disagree with thier activtees you could face Death or worse, and who does Berkeley side with?
THIS IS NOT VIETNAM!
You may recall that the Taliban forced the UN to abandon the Afghanistan in the summer of 2001, and that an international effort led by the UN, US, Russina, India and Iran was already in the works to retake N. Afghanistan and to provide an operational space for UN humanitarian missions (often described as the "pre-9/11 invasion conspiracy"). So, what he had/have is in fact an international police action -- this might refresh your memory:
Security Council approves international security force for Kabul and nearby areas
20 December (2001) – Aiming to foster a secure environment for the political transition in Afghanistan, the United Nations Security Council today authorized the establishment of an International Security Assistance Force to assist the Afghan Interim Authority in Kabul and its surrounding areas.
Voting unanimously, the Council adopted a resolution calling on States to contribute personnel, equipment and other resources to the new Force to be established for a 6-month period. The 15-member body called on all neighbouring countries and other UN Member States to provide the Force with the needed assistance, including "overflight clearance and transit."
The resolution, passed under Chapter VII of the UN Charter that provides for the use of force, also authorized participating countries to "take all necessary measures" in carrying out their responsibilities. The text notes that in implementing its mandate, the Force will work in close consultation with the Afghan Interim Authority.
The Council also called on all Afghans to cooperate with the Force and relevant international organizations, and welcomed the commitment of the parties to the Bonn Agreement - which paved the way for the Interim Authority - to "do all within their means and influence" to ensure the safety, security and freedom of movement of all UN and other international personnel in Afghanistan.
The resolution urged the parties to make good on their pledge made in Bonn on 5 December to withdraw all military units from Kabul in cooperation with the Force. Member States participating in the Force were called on to help the Interim Authority in the establishment and training of new Afghan security and armed forces.
The Council's authorization of the Force was envisaged in Annex I to the Bonn Agreement, which stipulated that such a force "could, as appropriate, be progressively expanded to other urban centres and other areas."
Under the Bonn Agreement, the political transition to the Interim Authority is set to take place on 22 December. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, currently in Islamabad, will head to Kabul tomorrow to attend the hand-over ceremony on Saturday.
See also: Brahimi lays out plan for political transition in Afghanistan - 13 November (2001)
for a balanced and informed understanding not tainted by the mainstream media.
at 10am sat. to protest pales. suicide bombers
To gauge the tenor of the crowd, Dingell asked for a show of hands.
"How many people support Saddam Hussein?" The crowd remained still.
Dingell then asked, "Is anybody against him?" They erupted into applause and cheering, many standing and shouting cheers in Arabic. Some waved their prayer beads in the air.
The crowd, which was heavily represented by Iraqi men, overwhelmingly agreed that the United States should go after Hussein, with or without support from the United Nations or the allies, or "by any means necessary" as many said.
http://www.detnews.com/2002/metro/0210/01/c01-601318.htm
I have been in Law Enforcement all my life. However, in the Army I was a simple Mechanic. I had the "Honor" to participate in Operation Desert Storm and would go right now. That is no longer possible due to the illnesses we came back with.
It saddens me to hear or see you all against what I risked my life for. YOUR protection and many have no clue as to what really we saw over there. I wish to God (in his name) I could open up and talk about it. It's not what we did to them, it's what happened "Before" we got there. Palque with nightmares I can only pray God gives me the strength each and everyday to not let your words hurt what I did was "RIGHT".
It's our freedom to protest against what we feel is wrong. It's also my freedom to express the hurt that causes to MANY VETERAN. A hurt of worthlessness and shame. A hurt of belittle that NONE of you see us hurt or cry. THEN you honor us on VETERANS DAY?
I ask of you to just stop please and help ease our hurt. It's not hurt of what you might think the Government is NOT doing for us. It's not hurt for what we did. It's hurt seeing and hearing your words to remind us of the of the job we did for our country for you and "ALL RACES" in America. Only to hear year after year that was wrong and what we did made us worthless to you in your eyes.
PLEASE DON'T HONOR US ON VETERAN'S DAY.
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