The War On the World
Last weekend on March 19th and 20th, people from all parts of the US and world took to the streets to voice opposition to the Bush administration's lies and bloody oil war. A year has passed, and instead of celebrating an anniversary, many people are calling attention to the fact that the war is still wreaking havoc at home and abroad. While Gen. Tommy Franks of the US Central Command has affirmed that "(the Army) doesn't do body counts", the world has been watching and counting and is truly horrified. With an estimated 10,000 Iraqi civilians dead and at least 583 soliders killed in Iraq to date, the people of the world continue to express outrage at the US's illegal bid for control of Iraq's oil fields at any cost. Speaking of cost, this "quick" and "efficient" war has turned out to be one of the most expensive in modern US history, diverting billions of dollars from social and educational services. Video
Told by the Army that they would only be in Iraq for several months, many soliders continue to express anger and frustration at an ever-delayed homecoming, bordering on two years for many, and forced protection of companies like Haliburton, who are better armed than the soliders themselves. Soldiers like Stephen Funk and Brandon Huey continue to desert the immoral war, while Camilo Mejia, the first veteran of the Iraq war to apply for conscientious objector status, awaits the verdict of the US Army regarding his five month absence from the war.
With the Bush administration continuing to dodge inquiries into their knowledge of 9/11 and capitalizing off of the misery of victim's families in order to fuel a re-election campaign, the government still has not provided any concrete proof that Iraq was a threat to US lives or in possession of weapons of mass destruction.
Afghanistan continues to suffer, as media attention has been drawn to Iraq, and the world vehemently disagrees with Bush's assertions that they are safer. Press freedoms also continue to be hijacked, with Middle East reporters detained and tortured by US forces.
San Francisco has been the backbone of the antiwar movement, capturing the imaginations of the world and inspiring hope that a different world is possible. -AUDIO-