Ask not what the left can do for us...
nothing! has to be our working assumption until proved wrong by their actions
...but what we can do to stop the planned genocide in Iran?
nothing! has to be our working assumption until proved wrong by their actions
...but what we can do to stop the planned genocide in Iran?
A lot of excellent stuff is going around on the net and that is all very encouraging but certainly will prove insufficient.It must be combined with action on the ground.
I propose setting up local bodies of some form, however informal, but with a name, an E-mail address and preferably a website. These should not be regarded as being "left" organisations i.e. the domain of representatives of a single philosophical tendency, but should be open to people of all beliefs backgrounds, political persuasions and denominations. They are citizen bodies for those who realize that in a democracy we are ultimately reponsible for the actions carried out in our name, if the word democracy is to have any meaning at all.
Realistically these will consist only of a few, perhaps only one or two activists to begin with but matters is that they exist and people come to know about them.
Our first job is to inform and convince: we need an extraordinary publicity campaign to alert people to dangers of which they have probably only the faintest notion. However, the increasingly hysterical campaign against Iran makes our case more than credible.
I suggest that we should attempt to integrate web work with work on the ground, meetings , educationals, leafletings etc. so that they mirror and reinforce each other- I see some kind of multiplier effect here. We must be able to create as much stir as possible in as short a time as possible- time clearly is running out for us.Each body must act and communicate - the net must be saturated not only with analysis of what they, the war party, are doing but of reports of what we are doing in each locality. In the process we draw together a national network, laying the foundation for regional and national conferences.
Even if we are unable to stop the next phase of the war it is most important that we establish these networks in order to have oppositional and organisational forces in place as disastrous war plunges us into as immense political, economic and even, existential crisis.
To this end I have called a meeting in Glasgow this Thursday and I appeal to others to do something similar.
Colin Buchanan
http://endempire.blogspot.com/
I propose setting up local bodies of some form, however informal, but with a name, an E-mail address and preferably a website. These should not be regarded as being "left" organisations i.e. the domain of representatives of a single philosophical tendency, but should be open to people of all beliefs backgrounds, political persuasions and denominations. They are citizen bodies for those who realize that in a democracy we are ultimately reponsible for the actions carried out in our name, if the word democracy is to have any meaning at all.
Realistically these will consist only of a few, perhaps only one or two activists to begin with but matters is that they exist and people come to know about them.
Our first job is to inform and convince: we need an extraordinary publicity campaign to alert people to dangers of which they have probably only the faintest notion. However, the increasingly hysterical campaign against Iran makes our case more than credible.
I suggest that we should attempt to integrate web work with work on the ground, meetings , educationals, leafletings etc. so that they mirror and reinforce each other- I see some kind of multiplier effect here. We must be able to create as much stir as possible in as short a time as possible- time clearly is running out for us.Each body must act and communicate - the net must be saturated not only with analysis of what they, the war party, are doing but of reports of what we are doing in each locality. In the process we draw together a national network, laying the foundation for regional and national conferences.
Even if we are unable to stop the next phase of the war it is most important that we establish these networks in order to have oppositional and organisational forces in place as disastrous war plunges us into as immense political, economic and even, existential crisis.
To this end I have called a meeting in Glasgow this Thursday and I appeal to others to do something similar.
Colin Buchanan
http://endempire.blogspot.com/
Comments
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Colin's Blogspot
18.01.2006 22:21
"Just to remind you of the first meeting of "Hands off Iran" committee
this Thursday 19th, Partick Burgh Halls, 7.30, room 9.
To get to Partick Burgh Halls turn left as you come out of Partick
underground. got straight on crossing Dunbarton road and then take first
right: 50 metres down you will find entrance on your right.Ask for room
9.
hope to see you there,
Colin"
frodo
Hands Off Our Government, Fascist Criminals!!
19.01.2006 20:17
by Jordan Thornton
www.dissidentvoice.org
September 18, 2005
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Cindy Sheehan's courageous actions in Texas have captured the imaginations of an American public desperate for an end to this madness. We must give them something they can get behind, while the Bush/PNAC Regime is vulnerable, and before the next big Distraction we all sense is imminent. Let's send an unmistakable message of unity and determination to the world, and end this now before things get any worse.
Since the demonstrations which reversed the electoral decision in the Ukraine, I've heard and seen many Ukrainians talking about large groups of foreigners who were pivotal to their planning. Many of these groups were the ones responsible for paying for the food, shelter, and orange banners used by the protestors. I didn't think much of this, or the accusations of funding from agencies such as the CIA, until I saw the same thing occurring in Lebanon.
Then, a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Carol Off, did a piece explaining that the "spontaneous, grassroots" protests in the Ukraine were the result of CIA funding and planning over a period of ten years.
Sadly, the report lauded these tactics of Regime Change, but nonetheless, proved my point.
One thing I've noticed is the tightly-controlled Western media's willingness to ignore the unsubstantiated allegations made in Syria and Lebanon that the Central Intelligence Agency, or Israel's Mossad, or both, were responsible for actions like the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, and behind the recent Opposition Movements, while at the same time, parroting over and over the same unsubstantiated claims about Syria, emanating from the White House den of LIARS and thieves. Even media outlets which I consider better than the rest, like the CBC, are guilty of such irresponsibility. When pro-Syrian demonstrators turned out in the hundreds of thousands, proving the anti-Syrians to be the minority voice, the media downplayed these numbers.
Just feels a bit too staged for my taste ... What I find the most irresponsible about all of this is the fact that whoever is behind this, they are attempting (and succeeding) to divide the Lebanese People, and cause conflict both within the country, and towards Syria. This, of course, aids the Israelis and PNAC Americans, who both have an interest, and want to invade and occupy Syria (and perhaps Lebanon as well), as called for repeatedly by the agenda which has seen Bush/PNAC illegally invade two Arab nations already.
The CBC chose Janice Stein, a Zionist "Middle East Expert" to comment on the situation, and she said when she saw the demonstrations she "saw the colour orange". This was after the first anti-Syrian demo, when the colour scheme wasn't so pronounced. Since then, orange flags, placards, etc. have started “spontaneously" appearing in great numbers.
When I was in university, my Design professor brought in some Colour Researchers from the University of Edmonton, who lectured on the psychological, but also the PHYSICAL effects, colours have on the human body and mind. This red-orange colour is one of the "comfort colours", and you will no doubt remember seeing it in countless commercials (ING Direct, and the creepy, stereotypical European banker, anyone ...?).
Since the CIA, or some similar agency, is ultimately behind these carefully stage-managed displays, you know they understand what they're doing. I believe that we should be taking a cue from them, and striking while the iron is hot. This orange color scheme has been carefully crafted in order to transmit "armchair understanding" of these two manufactured crises, and make them appear to be popular uprisings.
Even though it was our Enemy putting it out there, for their own purposes, we should seize the opportunity to claim it for ourselves, since this IS a popular uprising, for the betterment of the world. After all, we have been granted an unprecedented peek inside the CIA's Handbook for Non-Violent Revolutionary Change, and you know damn well that they have studied all of the relevant psychological factors. We should not squander the opportunity we've been provided, and act while the soft underbellies of these monsters is exposed.
If you are to protest, from now on, DRESS IN ORANGE, and CARRY SIGNS OF ORANGE, rally at the feet of power, and the media, DEMANDING that the democratic Will of the People not be ignored. I guarantee this will send an instant message, not only to the Bush/PNAC/Bliar Regime, but to all Americans and to the world that sees it.
Keep your signs easy to read and understand, things such as "FIRE THE LIARS", "INVESTIGATE, IMPEACH, PROSECUTE" and at media centers, "LIARS", or "TRAITORS", or "COWARDS".
Groups should design some Talking Points, and designate members to speak with the reporters on-scene. In larger centers, you should inform the media of what's going to happen, and call the station’s News Director or Assignment Editor, and request to be interviewed. You could even take it further, and offer your services as an Activist Analyst for the day, just like they use ex-military personnel, and members of Right-Wing "Think-Tanks" to undermine our work. If they refuse, acknowledge their hypocrisy, stage a noisy rally at their front doors, contact their competitors, and when they arrive (and they will), talk to them.
Let's test these LIARS and War Criminals, and their media puppets, and see just how much they truly respect "Freedom & Democracy", the words upon which they attempt to justify the atrocities upon which they've built their fortunes.
Regardless of what happens, the message will be sent. We have nothing to lose. If something comes of this, then great. Follow up and celebrate. If the rallies are ignored, or treated by the police as those in the past, then you've just PROVEN these men to be the Hypocrites we all know them to be ... and this message will be transmitted in no uncertain terms around the world.
I'd like to see as many people as can not simply Rally for a few hours but for DAYS. Those who cannot make it there, plan and hold your own local rallies, and not only gather where your Government officials meet, but also where the media does its business.
Let's take this thing that was designed to dupe people into supporting what the Fascists in DC want, and turn it on its head. Let's use it as a tool for bringing that Fascism to its knees, and demonstrate the good intentions that were to be assumed about the "Orange Revolutionaries".
Remember, that we are the Majority, and Truth is our greatest Ally.
The only way we can fail, is if we fail to ACT.
P E A C E . . . ?
Jordan Thornton is an independent journalist, political activist, and screenwriter, who spent the past decade within the mainstream media, both in Canada and the United States. He can be contacted at pilgrim112 at hotmail.com
Investigate, Impeach, Imprison
Typical Manipulation, Right On Cue
22.01.2006 19:12
That's a ridiculous Straw Man, considering the media's willingness to spread Bush/PNAC Propaganda, just as they did before the illegal war of aggression for profit against Iraq.
"than the fact that that same country might be bombed for trying to produce such weapons."
I would disagree with you, however. Most people I've spoken to about the issue see it as a certainty - and again, this isn't about "WMD" or current events, as it was planned long before the PNAC Regime was installed to the White House - and fear for the untold thousands of men, women, and children who will undoubtedly be slaughtered without compunction or apology, as well as what kind of monster a US-installed puppet will turn the country into, remembering their man Saddam.
"Iran is a threat already due to its insane leader calling for things like the anhilation of Israel"
It's not a threat to the world's #1 and #5 military powers, the US and Israel. And again, he called for no such thing. The context of the speech was that the Apartheid, Zionist creation has no place in the "civilized world", to which I think most people would agree. He was not referring to any military action - such as that planned against his country by Israel/the USA - but for a reform of the racist construct misnamed "Israel".
That's why he made the speech in front of a banner reading, in english, "The World Without Zionism". That would be a more peaceful world indeed.
"Iran must be stopped now it has resummed nuclear research"
For the generation of power, as acknowledged by every respected international body relevant to such matters. Stop listeing to LIARS, and start digging for the truth, Spook.
Again, even if they WERE to pursue such things, this would not warrant military actions. Military intervention would only be possible under the law, if there was a known plan of aggression - such as those already drawn up by the US and Israel ...
Don't Let Them Limit The Debate
Why do you always side with the enemy?
23.01.2006 17:34
ProtestWarrior
Who Is the West
23.01.2006 18:59
1 Either all countries get rid of their nuclear weapons or no one does
2 We must and will not allow our governments to carry out any more attacks on innocent countries.
3 Protest Warrior does not seem to be 'concerned' enough with discovering the truth. He/She/It prefers to pretend to be more of a 'realist' and just quote what the mainstream media says without being able to hear any 'voice of reason' coming from the other side. I aknowledge you are young and gullible. I have faith in you for the future. But until then kep the entertainment coming.
...