And We're Still Marching in the Streets…
Avijit Dutta | 31.03.2003 08:00
Let us stop this catastrophic carnage immediately!
LET US STOP THE WAR NOW!!!!
-----------------------------------------------------
LET US STOP THE WAR NOW!!!!
-----------------------------------------------------
There is a dull pain in the pits of our stomachs. There are tears waiting to break out from our eyes. There is an ache in our jaws as we try to pull a smile for our friends and comrades. Somehow the words when they come out in debate and discussion, fail to hide the quiver of melancholic and helpless compassion.
Our impassioned efforts for peace has been crushed, in extremely slow motion, by the juggernaut of Empire. One by one, with an air of inevitability we have been patronised, ignored and in quite a few instances, attacked. Every ounce of Hope has, till now, been met with a ton of despicable deceit. We are deeply distraught and thoroughly disgusted that the world’s citizenry have been betrayed and sold into slavery of the military industrial complex, led by a handful of vacuous barbarians with grandiose titles of President and Prime Minister.
The fourth estate has been raped and relegated to the red light quarters of any thinking human being’s conscience. Apart from a few brave ones who have dared to confront the deception and donned the mantle of truth, the vast majority have blanketed themselves with make-up and the malodorous dung-heap of outright lies, untruths and disinformation. Free press, now, stands as an oxymoron.
About a fortnight ago, the British parliament voted for a war against Iraq against the backdrop of strident pleas of “No War on Iraq! No War on Iraq!” The earnest desperation in the strident voices was far more striking than the “piece to camera” of the BBC political editor’s smug expression, or his even more smug hyperbole.
And then a precious few days back, the people of the world, lost. The bombs and missiles spoke, drowning out all pleas in thunderous explosion. The first casualty was truth; the second, humanity and the third, civilisation. The suited barbarians, with appropriately serious expressions, now adorn the TV screens and papers with cries of “freedom”, “liberation” and “democracy” dripping from bloodthirsty lips and with arrogant conviction.
Since the 20th of March 2003, the criminal superpower and its appeasing allies have begun to accelerate, exponentially, an ongoing and outrageous genocide. They have started to use frighteningly destructive munitions than ever used in the last 50 odd years. The tactics of “shock and awe” have begun to take effect. No! Not necessarily on the Iraqis – they are too busy burying the dead and scrounging for food and water- but on world opinion.
Each thundering blast awakens another batch of souls to the evolving circumstance and the realisation of what we, the people, have done at the ballot box by electing murderers in sharp, Savile Row clothing.
Beyond the new stirrings within the anti-war and peace movements in the world over, each missile and bomb has stirred to life the feelings of Arab pride. After much drama and posturing, after months of media hype and stage management, the guns of the West have fired...
And shot themselves, quite successfully, in the foot.
It is almost a guarantee the persons haunting the corridors of Project for a New American Century and other such cowardly cabals of the fascist neo-cons, would never have dreamed of Iraqi exiles, under the threat of death from Saddam, would be voluntarily and determinedly, boarding buses in their thousands to protect their land and align themselves on the side of Saddam Hussein and his cohorts. Worse news followed with the smoothing over of Muslim factions by issue of several fatwas by Imams in Egypt, Iraq and Iran, essentially to espouse Iraq’s defence, whether Shi’a or Sunni. The defence and tactics of Iraqi forces, right or wrong, has inflamed Arab and Muslim pride, after years of discounting their opinion or giving them any respect.
Regardless of consequences, the growing confidence of fighting the good fight, bodes ill for those egomaniacs who thought that they could be patronising, albeit benevolent Emperors who want ex-Enron layabouts suck on Iraq’s oil reserves!
In the number-crunching by overnight flock of Middle-East analysts, or the vulture-like positioning of corporate bids and tenders for Iraqi reconstruction, or the media coverage of asset degradation and poignancy of coalition funerals; not a single mainstream TV channel, in the USA or UK, has managed to mention a simple figure… the estimated death toll among the civilians of Iraq.
Hey, guys? Aren’t we supposed to liberate these folks from Saddam’s tyrannical grip? How can we be greeted with hands full of flowers when the hand is left clutching a door handle of a marketplace shop and the body lying elsewhere? No answer…
No, we are too busy castigating Al Jazeera for showing images that spoil our dinners, while surreptitiously haggling for footage of the same. Our “unbiased” and suitably camouflaged journalists have either been kicked out of Iraqi cities for being “too unbiased” or are “in bed” with stories of halitosis, constipation or rancid armpits. It would be farcical, if it were not for hundreds of real life and death stories that we are creating each and every day on the Iraqi streets. These stories ought to rate higher in humanity’s estimation. They are the stories of human potential, lost or mangled, for eternity. These stories are of ordinary people who have no guns, no anaesthesia, no emergency airlifts, a dire lack of medicines and just a simple question “Why are you bombing us?”
Don’t all rush to answer! We ought to defer this one to our wise and sanctimonious warmongers.
Till now, there have been up to 545 verifiable civilian deaths and more than 4,500 civilian wounded. It would be a wild conjecture to ascertain that how many of those would survive, given the state of Iraq’s health system, courtesy our “humanitarian” sanctions and continued “softening and ground preparations”.
And how many thousands have we butchered for the temerity of holding a gun, in the cause of defending their own violated country? Or are they not entitled to do so? They are dying by thousands for the sake of the so-called security of America and, almost certainly have never set foot closer than 5,000 miles of its shores. The closest that they have ever come to Americana is the searing and jagged shrapnel that tore away their life and buried itself in their guts.
We cannot discount our own 137 needless deaths, sacrificed on behalf of stoking the warm and glowing feeling among our cold, grey leaders with over-sized egos.
We mourn all the dead! Right or wrong, theirs or ours! Our conscience demands a tear or two at the heartbreak and grief of all our own brothers and sisters, whether they be here or there…. Arab, Caucasian or otherwise.
So, today, we are allowed to cry. We are allowed to hold our common humanity in our arms for comfort and succour. Today, we have respite to heal, to wash our wounds with our tears. The sad and inevitable fact is that today will be one of many impending todays!
Unless, from tomorrow, WE, THE PEOPLE, forcibly wrest our right to co-exist in peace, with our myriad mosaic of cultures and beliefs, from faceless, monolithic corporations and their puerile proxies that continuously fool, lie and betray us.
From tomorrow, let us join the hundreds of millions that have already come out in peaceful marches and vigils the world over.
From tomorrow, let us join the quiet billions that have condemned this on-going barbarism by writing an anonymous letter or by standing bravely alone, in a spring downpour at dusk, guarding a spluttering candle, lighting the encircling gloom.
Three decades ago, a smaller number of people than today, stopped a wrong war. It was a war to expand markets and obtain theatre control. A song from that period, sung evocatively by Joan Baez, captures the feeling and hope for today:
Like these flowers at your door
And scribbled notes about the war
We're only saying the time is short
And there is work to do.
And we're still marching in the streets
With little victories and big defeats
But there is joy and there is hope
And there's a place for you!
And you have heard the voices in the night, Bobby
They're crying for you
See the children in the morning light, Bobby
They're dying!
Let us stop this catastrophic carnage immediately!
LET US STOP THE WAR NOW!!!!
- Avijit Dutta
- (Member of Mid Sussex Global Peace Campaign and can be contacted at
peacelad@yahoo.co.uk)
Our impassioned efforts for peace has been crushed, in extremely slow motion, by the juggernaut of Empire. One by one, with an air of inevitability we have been patronised, ignored and in quite a few instances, attacked. Every ounce of Hope has, till now, been met with a ton of despicable deceit. We are deeply distraught and thoroughly disgusted that the world’s citizenry have been betrayed and sold into slavery of the military industrial complex, led by a handful of vacuous barbarians with grandiose titles of President and Prime Minister.
The fourth estate has been raped and relegated to the red light quarters of any thinking human being’s conscience. Apart from a few brave ones who have dared to confront the deception and donned the mantle of truth, the vast majority have blanketed themselves with make-up and the malodorous dung-heap of outright lies, untruths and disinformation. Free press, now, stands as an oxymoron.
About a fortnight ago, the British parliament voted for a war against Iraq against the backdrop of strident pleas of “No War on Iraq! No War on Iraq!” The earnest desperation in the strident voices was far more striking than the “piece to camera” of the BBC political editor’s smug expression, or his even more smug hyperbole.
And then a precious few days back, the people of the world, lost. The bombs and missiles spoke, drowning out all pleas in thunderous explosion. The first casualty was truth; the second, humanity and the third, civilisation. The suited barbarians, with appropriately serious expressions, now adorn the TV screens and papers with cries of “freedom”, “liberation” and “democracy” dripping from bloodthirsty lips and with arrogant conviction.
Since the 20th of March 2003, the criminal superpower and its appeasing allies have begun to accelerate, exponentially, an ongoing and outrageous genocide. They have started to use frighteningly destructive munitions than ever used in the last 50 odd years. The tactics of “shock and awe” have begun to take effect. No! Not necessarily on the Iraqis – they are too busy burying the dead and scrounging for food and water- but on world opinion.
Each thundering blast awakens another batch of souls to the evolving circumstance and the realisation of what we, the people, have done at the ballot box by electing murderers in sharp, Savile Row clothing.
Beyond the new stirrings within the anti-war and peace movements in the world over, each missile and bomb has stirred to life the feelings of Arab pride. After much drama and posturing, after months of media hype and stage management, the guns of the West have fired...
And shot themselves, quite successfully, in the foot.
It is almost a guarantee the persons haunting the corridors of Project for a New American Century and other such cowardly cabals of the fascist neo-cons, would never have dreamed of Iraqi exiles, under the threat of death from Saddam, would be voluntarily and determinedly, boarding buses in their thousands to protect their land and align themselves on the side of Saddam Hussein and his cohorts. Worse news followed with the smoothing over of Muslim factions by issue of several fatwas by Imams in Egypt, Iraq and Iran, essentially to espouse Iraq’s defence, whether Shi’a or Sunni. The defence and tactics of Iraqi forces, right or wrong, has inflamed Arab and Muslim pride, after years of discounting their opinion or giving them any respect.
Regardless of consequences, the growing confidence of fighting the good fight, bodes ill for those egomaniacs who thought that they could be patronising, albeit benevolent Emperors who want ex-Enron layabouts suck on Iraq’s oil reserves!
In the number-crunching by overnight flock of Middle-East analysts, or the vulture-like positioning of corporate bids and tenders for Iraqi reconstruction, or the media coverage of asset degradation and poignancy of coalition funerals; not a single mainstream TV channel, in the USA or UK, has managed to mention a simple figure… the estimated death toll among the civilians of Iraq.
Hey, guys? Aren’t we supposed to liberate these folks from Saddam’s tyrannical grip? How can we be greeted with hands full of flowers when the hand is left clutching a door handle of a marketplace shop and the body lying elsewhere? No answer…
No, we are too busy castigating Al Jazeera for showing images that spoil our dinners, while surreptitiously haggling for footage of the same. Our “unbiased” and suitably camouflaged journalists have either been kicked out of Iraqi cities for being “too unbiased” or are “in bed” with stories of halitosis, constipation or rancid armpits. It would be farcical, if it were not for hundreds of real life and death stories that we are creating each and every day on the Iraqi streets. These stories ought to rate higher in humanity’s estimation. They are the stories of human potential, lost or mangled, for eternity. These stories are of ordinary people who have no guns, no anaesthesia, no emergency airlifts, a dire lack of medicines and just a simple question “Why are you bombing us?”
Don’t all rush to answer! We ought to defer this one to our wise and sanctimonious warmongers.
Till now, there have been up to 545 verifiable civilian deaths and more than 4,500 civilian wounded. It would be a wild conjecture to ascertain that how many of those would survive, given the state of Iraq’s health system, courtesy our “humanitarian” sanctions and continued “softening and ground preparations”.
And how many thousands have we butchered for the temerity of holding a gun, in the cause of defending their own violated country? Or are they not entitled to do so? They are dying by thousands for the sake of the so-called security of America and, almost certainly have never set foot closer than 5,000 miles of its shores. The closest that they have ever come to Americana is the searing and jagged shrapnel that tore away their life and buried itself in their guts.
We cannot discount our own 137 needless deaths, sacrificed on behalf of stoking the warm and glowing feeling among our cold, grey leaders with over-sized egos.
We mourn all the dead! Right or wrong, theirs or ours! Our conscience demands a tear or two at the heartbreak and grief of all our own brothers and sisters, whether they be here or there…. Arab, Caucasian or otherwise.
So, today, we are allowed to cry. We are allowed to hold our common humanity in our arms for comfort and succour. Today, we have respite to heal, to wash our wounds with our tears. The sad and inevitable fact is that today will be one of many impending todays!
Unless, from tomorrow, WE, THE PEOPLE, forcibly wrest our right to co-exist in peace, with our myriad mosaic of cultures and beliefs, from faceless, monolithic corporations and their puerile proxies that continuously fool, lie and betray us.
From tomorrow, let us join the hundreds of millions that have already come out in peaceful marches and vigils the world over.
From tomorrow, let us join the quiet billions that have condemned this on-going barbarism by writing an anonymous letter or by standing bravely alone, in a spring downpour at dusk, guarding a spluttering candle, lighting the encircling gloom.
Three decades ago, a smaller number of people than today, stopped a wrong war. It was a war to expand markets and obtain theatre control. A song from that period, sung evocatively by Joan Baez, captures the feeling and hope for today:
Like these flowers at your door
And scribbled notes about the war
We're only saying the time is short
And there is work to do.
And we're still marching in the streets
With little victories and big defeats
But there is joy and there is hope
And there's a place for you!
And you have heard the voices in the night, Bobby
They're crying for you
See the children in the morning light, Bobby
They're dying!
Let us stop this catastrophic carnage immediately!
LET US STOP THE WAR NOW!!!!
- Avijit Dutta
- (Member of Mid Sussex Global Peace Campaign and can be contacted at
peacelad@yahoo.co.uk)
Avijit Dutta
e-mail:
peacelad@yahoo.co.uk
Comments
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Dangers Exists What Should We Do
31.03.2003 16:13
Dangers Exists What Should We Do
majdur.htmlplanet.com/Iraq/death.to.amer...
Danger from terrorism increase everywhere everyday. Be aware, be prepared and be brown skinned if you can (safer in most of the world from now on!)consider the safety instructions at all petrol stations because you may rest assured that assaults by incendiary compounds will happen.
Guide To Living TroughDangerous Times (Short)
by Tu Mama es Una Terrorista - Public Service Announcement
The WOrld Designed By Bush: It only takes One Match
“The US president is Mr. Reckless, insane, criminal little Bush jr.of the Black House,” and the end of the modern world is near, but that does not mean that citizens cannot take things into their own hands (safety first!)
A GUIDE FOR LIVING IN DANGEROUS TIMES
(Abridged Ver. Pt. 1)
US President Bush has chosen a path of world war that puts its citizens in harms way. This guide is meant to educate and alert peaceful citizens of the many dangers present all around them. What they chose to do with this information is a personal and collective decision that we have no control over. A world of changes awaits…
The US is officially a criminal nation with a long history of genocide and other war crimes. Iraq is just part of a continuing pattern of immoral and bizarre behavior by the US.
All US soldiers, defense contractors and most of its citizens are considered war criminals and subject to arrest or aggression. Any group or individual can morally attack the US anywhere and anyway that it wants. Terror attacks on anything related to the US will now be considered global self defense by most of the world (80 or 90 percent! See the polls). Terrorists are now seen as legitimate freedom fighters struggling against the evil empire of the criminal little Bush. Iraq and other targets of US agression have every right to defend themselves with every weapon available to it – including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
Targets abound in the US and Europe: power plants, aircraft, toxic waste facilities, water supplies, hospitals, natural gas lines, gasoline stations, port facilities, military bases, politicians and defense contractors (and the friends and families of all of these people). A particularly dangerous situation arises because the US government is not democratic and its citizens support terrorism and the war crimes of its government. Well-meaning activists who feel compelled to stop their government will become domestic terrorists. No one seems to be addressing this inevitability which only serves to reinforce the convictions of these Newbie Freedom Fighters.
EXAMPLES OF DANGEROUS IDEAS
Craig Rosenbaugh who for years worked as the Press Information officer for the sabotage-oriented Earth Liberation Front has published many manifestos for violent revolutionary campaigns. His latest work shows how worthless the standard protest tactics of the last 40 years have been and he calls for massive destruction of property to stop the war machine.
How far is the anti-war movement in the US willing to go to stop the U.S. government and its unceasing atrocities? How far are you willing to go, what are you willing to do to stop the massive bloodshed once again caused by the U.S. government?
In his TV interview before the Iraq war, President Bush said that the anti-war movement is a mere focus group and would not effect his ultimate decision. This should provide at least some indication that the large parties - which some might call protestor rallies - are not capable of generating the needed pressure which could actually force the government to stop.
Yet, the mainstream peace groups continue to give caring U.S. people false hope that if they get involved in the movement there is actually a chance they can help stop the war.If we are going to become serious about stopping this war, and the U.S. led atrocities of tomorrow, we must be realistic about our strategies and tactics and actually begin to utilize those methodologies which can challenge the power structure of the US Elite.
Even though public education is an inherent necessity of any movement, the time for public education by relying upon corporate media's interpretation of your events has long since passed - if it was ever valuable.
The only possibility of stopping this current military action is to engage in strategies which severely disrupt the war machine, the U.S. economy, and the overall functioning of U.S. society particularly how it relates to consumerism and the economy. A new strategy must begin with our ability to look beyond the business as usual strategies that have failed in the past. It must begin with our allegiance to come to terms with the realization that any and all tactics and strategies must be considered at least available for use.
1) Attack the financial centers of the country. Using covert or black block techniques. Physically shut down financial centers which assist the functioning of U.S. economy. This can be done in a variety of ways from massive property destruction to online sabotage.
2) Large scale urban rioting. With massive unrest and even state of emergencies declared in major cities across the country, the U.S. government will be forced to send U.S. troops into the domestic arena. Unstable conditions in much of the country serve as a political embarrassment for the Administration and could assist in forcing them to stop the war. Rioting should be focused on governmental agencies and corporations - especially those that are profiting from the war or destruction of life.
3) Attack the media centers of the country. Corporate media continues to influence and control the minds of the mass of people in the US. These media outlets cannot be utilized by the movement as they are owned by the very corporations one should be opposing. Using any means necessary, shut down the national networks of NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, etc. Not just occupations but actually engage in strategies and tactics which knock the networks off the air.
4) Spread the battle to the individuals responsible for the war and destruction of life, the heads of government and U.S. corporations. No longer should these people be able to hide behind their occupations, living their lives in peace while they simultaneously slaughter countless people. Hit them in their personal lives, visit their homes, and make them feel personally responsible for committing massive atrocities.
5) Make it known publicly that this movement DOES NOT support U.S. troops as long as they are serving an unjust and horrifying political regime. Create an atmosphere lacking of support to assist U.S. troops at home and abroad in losing their morale and will to fight.
6) Actively target U.S. military establishments within the United States. Following the goal of NOT getting caught, use any means necessary to slow down the functioning of the military.
7) Strike hard and fast and retreat in anonymity. Select another location, strike again hard and fast and quickly retreat in anonymity. Engage only in actions where you will be victorious. Do not be concerned with alienating the mainstream sectors of the movement. Do not get caught. Stay alert, keep active, and keep fighting.
These suggestions are not radical. They are merely recommendations for those that desire a chance to stop the US. Peace and anti-war organizations vocally oppose these suggestions. Continue to ask what realistic chance do their strategies have to stop this war? What historical precedent do their business as usual politics and policies have? As no peace or anti-war movement has ever stopped U.S. governmental military policies or activities using the state sanctioned and societal approved methods, what right do they have to give the caring public false hope?
[Craig Manifesto end]
Another Group calling itself the Anticapitalist Popular Front Proclaims: In some countries like the US, UK and Australia, the governments and perhaps the people will never change politically or peacefully. You know what that means and what has to be done. Support each other and remember: “The Whole World IS Watching AND WE WANT TO (NEED TO) SEE SOME FIREWORKS IN THOSE ANGLO-AMERICAN PLUTOCRACIES.LOOKING FOR “A THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT (FIRES!):
A BEACON FOR REBELLION!
The sources for discontent in the US are almost infinite. The anthrax that killed people after 911 seems to have come from a US army base. The right wing militia is always capable of pulling off another Oklahoma City bombing. Disgruntled or mentally unbalanced FBI and ATF officials are prone to independent terrorist acts, framing innocent people and sharing information with other death squads. Even the US military and its personnel may turn to terrorism to relive frustration or to make a point.
The fact that the US sends so many military people to their death from friendly fire, exposure to toxic and radioactive poisons and on missions in unsafe aircraft, may one day come back to haunt the whole country. Almost a dozen US Black hawk choppers have crashed in the last year, There is something wrong with them, but the government needs them in the air so US crewmembers are dying every week. In Colombia several have crashed, sometimes because they were overloaded or flying too high in the Andes mountains. Contractors warned the US and CIA that planes were unsafe in Colombia, but their warnings were ignored. See: (From
More radical and violence-prone groups pop up in the US every day: Resistance : beat back 6:54am
Total resistance - beat the system - red paint beat back - worldwide - against branches, buildings and interior decoration of american companies to constrict their business activities and handicap the cash flow for their war - supermarkets, convenience restaurants, embassies, commercial agencies and banks - stand up now for total resistance
The strike-free.org website has the following warnings: There exist an eventuality that terroristic groups will buy foodstuffs (convenience foods, soups, snacks, cereals, beer, lemonades), pharmaceutical products (vitamin mineral and vital nutrients), cosmetics (lipsticks, face creams) and sanitary products (toothpastes, mouth irrigations, shampoos) made by american affiliated groups and contaminate them with HIV-viruses, SARS-viruses and recirculate in supermarkets. Therefore please check any packing categorical for pinholes and other generally manipulations...we must inform you to forbear from visiting american fast food establishments because we can't guarantee your safeness Please consider the safety instructions at all petrol stations because you may rest assured that assaults by incendiary compounds will happen.
Updates of the Citizen’s Guide to Living in Dangerous Times will be out soon, so bee aware, bee prepared and bee brown skinned if you can (safer in most of the world from now on!)
Late entries see:
GREAT DEBATE ON PROTESTERS THROWING ROCKS
Another US military spy plane downed in Colombia
26.03.2003 (By Maria Engqvist, ANNCOL Stockholm)
indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=3054...
Selm Racine
Homepage:
majdur.htmlplanet.com/Iraq/death.to.amer