Update Oct 26: Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated today in several US cities against Bush's war on Iraq. Washington DC saw more than 100 thousand people surrounding the White House. Report | DC-Indymedia

As the Bush Administration angles for the power to maintain control in the Middle East, including the option for unilateral war, people across the United States are organizing and acting out in opposition. This Saturday, Oct. 26, tens of thousands of people are expected to converge on the east and west coasts -- in Washington DC and San Francisco -- for anti-war demonstrations to stop the drive toward war with Iraq. The demonstration in DC is being organized by the International ANSWER coalition, while the actions in San Francisco are being coordinated by the United For Peace coalition.

For the last 10 years, a movement has been growing in opposition to the regular bombing of Iraq, and to the trade sanctions put in place by the United Nations and maintained with heavy US lobbying. The UN itself estimates that the sanctions cause the death of 5,000 Iraqi children per month.

Also taken to task is the executive branch's tradition of using lies to get American people and Congress to back war -- from the fiction about babies being knocked out of incubators by invading Iraqis, to the politically motivated rumor from Prague (New York Times) about Al Qaeda and Iraq formally meeting together.

The rally in DC this Saturday was originally organized by the International ANSWER coalition -- but has now become an anti-war rally with a broad range of participants. While ANSWER will have its rally by the Vietnam Memorial, other groups plan rallies and marches that will feed into the center of the activity on the National Mall.

Many diverse groups have encouraged their members and supporters to participate in the various marches and events this weekend. The organizations include: the DC Statehood Green Party; Move On (a group responsible for organizing hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens to call Congress in opposition to war, which inadvertently jammed communication on Capitol Hill with a flood of opposition calls (which Congress later ignored); groups that have contributed to Anti-Capitalist Convergences; the Washington Peace Center; the National Coalition for Peace and Justice; the DC Anti- War Network; and labour groups.

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