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War in 7 Days! Pre-emptive Direct Action NOW, NOT LATER!

by Earl Berg (earlb [at] realityfusion.com)
Some very brave and wonderful people are already organizing direct actions for when the war starts. This is necessary, but from educated predictions of what the war will look like, it will be too late to begin direct action after a war starts... The warmakers must hear us loud and clear BEFORE war starts: We will shut you down and not let up until the threat of war is abandoned.
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War in 7 Days! Pre-emptive Direct Action NOW, NOT LATER!

Santa Cruz Area Resisters,
War may be upon us very soon if people all over the world don't stop it. Below is a letter I have written, calling for direct action before war starts in order to prevent it from starting. The peace movement has called for direct action when a war starts. Let's do one better and stop the war before it starts!
I cannot think of a better place than Santa Cruz for this to start on a national scale. We have already shut down the military recruiting office in Capitola. Next we must shut down Lockheed's facility up Empire Grade.
If we do this successfully, we can set an example for the rest of the Bay Area, the US and the world. Please read the letter below and contact me as soon as possible for action in the next 7 days.
-Earl Berg
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
earl [at] realityfusion.com
831-345-0041
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-- Below is an open letter to all who oppose war in Iraq --
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fellow Resisters,

The time to act directly is now. We have until Monday, March 17 before the Bush Administration will start a new war in Iraq.

France has vowed to veto any resolution calling for a war. The US has replied that it will not be deterred by a loss at the UN, and that Saddam Hussein has until Monday, March 17 to disarm. In other words, even without the UN, we're going to bomb Iraq. Not only that; they’ve set a date. Our time to stop this is extremely limited, and we must act powerfully.

It has been wonderful to see the massive protests against the possible war in Iraq. There is an unprecedented level of organization moving against it, which is inspiring to say the least. The huge protests in cities across the globe are a great start, but we need direct action now. The infrastructure for such action is already in place. Some very brave and wonderful people are already organizing direct actions for when the war starts. This is necessary, but from educated predictions of what the war will look like, it will be too late to begin direct action after a war starts. After the first bomb has dropped, protest will be ineffective. It will take only two days of bombing to destroy Iraq and the administration will not be deterred by any of our actions after war has begun. Once started, the war will be finished only when Rumsfeld et al have declared a victory.

The plan of pre-war protests, and mid-war civil disobedience is a great start, but it falls short of what is needed. We must step up our level of resistance quickly. We have the power to stop war, but direct action must occur now. We must not be afraid or hesitant to act while it still counts. The warmakers must hear us loud and clear before a war starts: We will shut you down and not let up until the threat of war is abandoned. We will block the entrances to corporate offices, labs, and factories of Lockheed, ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, Halliburton, capitols of states and countries, military bases and storage sites. We will organize labor strikes against these companies, branches of our military, and other vital nerves of the system. Oil refineries will be occupied by refinery workers and other volunteers. Shipping ports will be blocked by longshoremen. We will non-violently hit them where it hurts and not let up. If on March 15, we can get those several hundred thousand people per city to march to corporate and military property instead of city plazas, we will do something powerful and show the powers that be that non-violence is a force to pay attention to.

The great thing about this is that we already have planning in the works for such actions. The problem is that they're scheduled for the day -- or the day after -- a war starts. By that time, we will have failed the people of Iraq. What must happen now is a national and international effort to reprioritize and act before war starts.

WE MUST MAKE A NON-VIOLENT PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE AGAINST WAR NOW!

-Earl Berg
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
earl [at] realityfusion.com
831-345-0041
Add Your Comments
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TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
history buff
Wed, Mar 12, 2003 4:13PM
joel ainger
Wed, Mar 12, 2003 9:27AM
Anti-Fascist
Tue, Mar 11, 2003 6:44PM
Earl Berg
Mon, Mar 10, 2003 7:41PM
Deja vu
Mon, Mar 10, 2003 7:16PM
Earl Berg
Mon, Mar 10, 2003 6:35PM
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