Reply #16: People of the World Unite for Peace on March 20

[IndianaGreen]

Here is the mobilization E-mail and flyer being distributed by CPUSA:

Sent: Monday, February 02, 2004 2:54 PM
Subject: March 20 demo

Dear Comrades,

The Feb 1 National Committee meeting called for an all out push by the Party and YCL to mobilize for nationally coordinated local demonstrations vs the illegal US occupation of Iraq on March 20, the first anniversary of the launching of the war. Initiated by United for Peace and Justice, the recent World Social Forum in Moobai,India (the initiator of the Feb. 15 demonstrations) called for a global day of action.

Once again, millions around the world will say no to war, no to the Bush Doctrine! It is also the first of a series of peace movement activities that can help to educate and mobilize the anti-Bush vote in the 2004 elections.

During the Bush administration's drive to war on Iraq, many of our members became a part of the grassroots movement of local coalitions to try to stop the war. The Bush administration lied, sidelined the United Nations and made war anyway. Now public opinion again is shifting because the far right is willing to spend billions on war instead of in our communities with attacks on civil liberties and rights while continuing to cover-up the lies told to justify preemptive war on Iraq.

The spiraling crisis in Iraq and the impact on our communities is one of the defining issues that can help to mobilize the vote to defeat Bush and the far right in the elections.

We are asking every district and club to make a plan for how to help local coalitions make March 20 the massive outpouring of opposition to the US occupation and calling for No More Iraq's. Our active participation can help to build and strengthen the network of organized grassroots activity between now and election day for voter registration and mobilization.

Below is the organizing email sent out by United for Peace and Justice and the resolution passed at the National Committee meeting on Feb. 1.

For the Peace and Solidarity Commission,

Judith Le Blanc

************

People of the World Unite for Peace on March 20

International day of protest against war and the occupation of Iraq

Momentum is building worldwide for the Global Day of Action against War and Occupation on March 20, the one-year anniversary of the U.S. war, bombing and invasion of Iraq. We were right to oppose the war, and nearly a year later, we still say no to war. March 20 will be the first time the world's "other superpower," as The New York Times described the global anti-war movement, will organize massive, broad-based, internationally coordinated anti-war demonstrations since February 15, 2003. On that day, 10 to 30 million people in more than 800 cities across the globe expressed their opposition to Bush's looming war on Iraq. On March 20, we will again speak in one voice, "No more Iraqs!"

United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), the broadest and largest national coalition fighting the Bush administration's agenda of preemptive war and empire, has called for massive demonstrations in the streets of cities, towns and villages around the world against the U.S. occupation of Iraq and an end to the Bush administration's war drive.


Nationally coordinated local actions are being planned across the U.S. New York City will be the site of a major regional demonstration. We urge the full mobilization and support of the Communist Party and the Young Communist League to organize and mobilize for these actions.

As the occupation of Iraq becomes an ever-greater quagmire and the Bush administration's assaults on democracy continue, a broad cross-section of the U.S. population is increasingly anxious about the direction the Bush administration is taking us. Our organizing for the March 20 activities gives us a major opportunity to engage the grassroots, to show that the anti-war movement is still here, and that they are not alone in wanting to change U.S. policy.

Coming in the middle of the primary season, March 20 will allow us to focus the country's attention on the ongoing reality of war and empire and the intensifying war at home. It will send a powerful message to all U.S. Presidential and Congressional candidates, as well as the Republican and Democratic Parties, that large sections of the U.S. population want an end to the policies of preemptive war, occupation, and attacks on our rights at home. Showing our strength will activate the peace vote to defeat the right.

Building March 20 also gives us a chance to broaden, unite, and strengthen diverse grassroots movements throughout the 2004 electoral season in order to be a powerful influence on November's winners.

Every Communist, young and older, every Communist Party and Young Communist League club, every peace and solidarity activist must join the effort to say no to war and occupation on March 20.