"Why We Occupied Senator Herb Kohl's Office -- And Why This is Just the Beginning"

[marmar]

from the Campus AntiWar Network:


Why We Occupied Senator Herb Kohl's Office -- And Why This is Just the Beginning
Thursday, 19 April 2007
"Why We Occupied Senator Herb Kohl's Office -- And Why This is Just the Beginning"

A statement from the Campus Antiwar Network at UW-Madison

http://www.campusantiwar.net/ * [email protected]

On Wednesday, April 18, the Campus Antiwar Network at the University of Wisconsin-Madison led a walkout of approximately 200 students against the war. This walkout culminated in 100 antiwar activists entering the office of Senator Herb Kohl, with twenty-five staying the night and dozens more joining us in the morning before Senator Kohl's staff had us evicted by the Madison Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

WHY WE OCCUPIED SENATOR KOHL'S OFFICE

The simplest reason: Senator Kohl says he's against the war, but votes to fund the continuation of the war. Moreover, in a remarkable display of arrogance, Senator Kohl has refused to meet with the antiwar movement in his state during the entire four years of the war in Iraq. Thus, the vibrant antiwar community in Madison, including chapters of the Campus Antiwar Network and Iraq Veterans Against the War, the Madison Area Peace Coalition and the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, has never been able to discuss our position with a senator who says he is on our side, but never votes that way.

We presented Senator Kohl's office with six demands, and informed him that setting a definite date for a public meeting with him to discuss these demands would end our building occupation immediately. Ultimately, his office preferred to inflict the force of the police on us rather than the force of our arguments on the senator.

Our demands were:

1.) Immediate withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq
2.) Iraq for Iraqis
3.) Fully fund veterans' benefits and health care, including mental health care
4.) Reparations to the Iraqi people, no strings attached
5.) Ban the use of depleted uranium munitions in Iraq
6.) Money for Jobs & Education, not for War and Occupation .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://campusantiwar.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=181&Itemid=2

[madrchsod]

1. i`m getting a flash back to August 24, 1970.......

i hope they remember what happened that day and watch those around them....

[jwirr]

2. Kent State?

[mile18blister]

5. UW-Madison physics building blown up in early AM hours.

The building was supposed to be empty, but one researcher was working late and died.

Kent State was May 4, 1970.

[babylonsister]

3. NOM! Drip, drip, drip, I'm happy to see it! nt

[rodeodance]

4. Kohl asked grat questions of gonzo last week