"End 25 Years of Killing: US Out of Iraq"
author: Protest
Three wars, millions of lives, and 25 years later, the United States
continues its military and economic intervention in the country of Iraq.
Join Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group and Portland Peaceful
Response Coalition (PPRC) in remembering the date that "Gulf War Part I"
began in 1991 with an expanded PPRC Friday Rally on January 15, starting
at a special early time, 4:30 PM at Pioneer Courthouse Square, SW Yamhill
and Morrison (tentative location).
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"End 25 Years of Killing: US Out of Iraq"
Expanded Portland Peaceful Response Coalition Friday Rally and March
Friday, January 15, 2016
4:30-6:00 PM
Pioneer Courthouse Square, SW Yamhill and Morrison
In 1991, President George HW Bush gave Saddam Hussein a deadline of
January 15-- Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday-- to withdraw Iraqi troops
from neighboring Kuwait. The next day, January 16, the US began one of the
most intense bombing campaigns in history, eventually driving Iraqi forces
out of the Emirate (and strafing retreating Iraqi troops on the "Highway
of Death"). The US continued killing Iraqis directly through enforcing
"no-fly zones" in Northern and Southern Iraq, and a bombing campaign in
late 1998 launched while President Clinton was facing impeachment. The
unprecedented sanctions put in place after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait
decimated Iraq, causing the deaths of at least half a million children,
which Secretary of State Madeleine Albright acknowledged in a CBS
interview, stating "the price... we think the price is worth it."
The sanctions were finally lifted, for the most part, after the US bombed
and invaded Iraq starting on March 19, 2003 (Iraq War part II) in a
mission dubbed "shock and awe." Thousands upon thousands of Iraqis were
killed not only by the US bombing and invading forces, but by sectarian
strife triggered by the killing of Saddam Hussein and the dismantling of
the existing government. These actions led to the rise of both Al Qaeda in
Iraq and the Islamic State. At least 4800 American soldiers died in the
effort, which left Iraq in more chaos than it had been in before the
invasion. Although most American troops were withdrawn in December 2011,
at least 200 remained, in part to guard the world's largest embassy-- the
US embassy in Baghdad.
On August 8, 2014, the US began bombing Iraq for the third time in 25
years, ostensibly to support Iraq's fight against the Islamic State.
Dozens of Iraqi civilians have been reported killed by the air campaign,
and despite the promise of "no boots on the ground," at least 3500
American soldiers, acting as "advisors" and "special operations forces,"
are back in the country. The US began similarly bombing Syria several
weeks later, the main difference being there is no formal relationship
between the US and Syrian governments and the US has a stated goal of
regime change there.
In Portland, the Coalition Against US Military Intervention in the Middle
East (CAUSMIME) rallied 12,000 people in Pioneer Courthouse Square on
January 12, 1991, days before the war broke out. CAUSMIME also held weekly
Friday rallies in Pioneer Courthouse Square for several months before and
after the war began, an inspiration to the Portland Peaceful Response
Coalition rallies which have continued weekly since November 2001. The
Coalition continued protesting the war and putting on educational forums
after the 1991 shooting war ended in late February, dissolving about a
year later. At about the same time, Peace and Justice Works was formed
including its Iraq Affinity Group.
The January 2016 event is endorsed by Portland Close Guantanamo Coalition.
For more information, to get involved or to cosponsor/endorse the event
contact Peace and Justice Works at 503-236-3065; this information is
posted and will be updated at < http://www.pjw.info/gw25yl.html>.
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homepage: http://www.pjw.info/gw25yl.html
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I guess tomorrow, the 15th, 2011, is 'officially' recognized as the end of major direct military involvement in Iraq that began in 2003. With today's general mood and the rhetoric thick in events and presidential primary fever, I'm not sure I care to stand with a sign of reminder for the distracted, as I did in March for the anniversay of the start of the Afghan war. People might get the wrong message, especially as it's an 'end'. Signs should be simple for passers-by, and I surely don't want to give the impression that I'm using the day as a 'war relief' day with an IRAQ or IRAQ WAR and dates printed on it like a headstone.
Tomorrow, along with the usual haters, we'll have the severely deluded swelled from the ranks of the distracted by the rhetoric of presidential primary politics and real/false-flag attacks. At that point, it is I who would be deluded with thought reminder makes any good difference at all.
You know, way back in the days of late DOS, early Windows systems, and VGA and SVGA monitors, I did some work in the computer facility at the Naval War College in Monterey. Really small facility back then, also a secure facility, so all I got was a few glimpses of their screens while I accompanied my boss (he held top-secret clearance) on assessment of the work for the contract. The facility was shut down during my work, as it entailed compromised the EMF shielding for some days. But I did have to communicate with the facility's civilian management, and they told me they simulated scenarios and played them out as training. These weren't just 'war games', but politico/war games.
So after the first Iraq debacle, when at least there might have been some intelligence on the part of Bush's CIA buddies with the realization that running the country is not desirable when there are better ways to rape and pillage, I knew someone had run the simulations and paid attention to them. They were realistic. Fast forward to 2003, and I wondered where in hell they were coming from.
So, here we are today, and power has found the military unreliable and the mentally/physically maimed for whom they don't want to give the promised lifetime care and support a bit too incovenient for them and the public. They've found another way, and in the process create havoc that even the Muslim world doesn't know who is what when. Seems many individuals in the Muslim world don't even know of themselves at this point. Peace is obviously not the aim of our government.
It's all been played out, even my part, on some government screen in a program written and assembled with the best minds and best equipment money can buy. It's hardly a secret.
Oh, I'm going to make a sign, but I'll pound it into the median of the busy street a couple blocks from my house. It can take the abuse and mark the day, however long it's allowed to stay standing. (Might be interesting to wait around and see how long it does stand...) The Iraq war never ended in the 90s, anyway. Ask any Iraqi.