Organizing Meeting for National Anti-War Conference!

To organize a broad delegation of Connecticut Activists to attend the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations

In June of 2008 - in a year without a single national mass anti-war demonstration - over 400 anti-war activists from 26 states and Canada met for a national anti-war conference in Cleveland Ohio to rejuvenate the anti-war movement and unite it in the streets.  Through an open democratic process of one-person-one-vote they assembled an action plan which they proposed to the broad anti-war movement for the following year. 

In addition to such actions as local demonstrations on October 11th that were held in over twenty cities across the country, the conference came out in support of united national bi-coastal anti-war demonstrations in the spring of 2009.  The ensuing momentum and organization helped propel anti-war forces toward holding anti-war marches in Los Angeles, San Fransisco and Washington D.C. on March 21st and in New York on April 4th - all of which the National Assembly endorsed and helped build.

Many of the leaders who built these demonstrations - particularly in Connecticut - were participants in the June 2008 National Assembly.  For some the assembly was their introduction to the movement and galvanized their commitment.

This July 10-12 a second national anti-war conference will be held at La Roche college in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.  This conference offers activists a crucial opportunity to discuss the many questions posed by recent world events, cultivate leaders, and find openings for unified action.

In the face of escalating wars conducted and promoted by the U.S., strengthening the anti-war movement has never been more urgent.   The growing U.S. backed counter-insurgency war in Pakistan has turned 2 million Pakistanis into refugees - 1.5 million of whom were created this month alone.   The U.N. refugee agency is already calling this the worst refugee problem since the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

The mounting escalation of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and Pakistan - that will soon be injected with a 21,000 strong troop surge - is now headed by Stan McChrsystal, whose career of secret assassinations and torture includes running an “interrogation” unit that lives by the slogan “If you don’t make them bleed, they can’t prosecute for it.”

Meanwhile the war in Iraq continues as distant promises of withdrawal are broken to suit the needs of the occupiers.  Israel continues a merciless blockade of Gaza while building the apartheid wall through the settlement stricken West Bank with the full political and economic support of the U.S. government.  Threats against Iran don’t end, and the list of attacks on our civil liberties now includes the legalization of “preventive detention.”

From the demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza, to persistent GI resistance, to anti-occupation protests in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, the masses of the world continue to reject U.S. led war and occupation.  They remind us of our obligation to rebuild the anti-war movement here in the United States.    Towards this end we invite you to join us in organizing the broadest possible delegation to this July’s National Assembly in Pittsburgh.  To ensure the widest accessibility we will organize outreach and fund raising to make the conference accessible to all regardless of financial status.
Initial sponsors:

• Connecticut Students Against the War
• Iraq Veterans Against the War, CT
• Manchester Peace Coalition Socialist Party, CT Youth for Socialist Action, CT

For more information contact Marissa at marissablaszko@gmail.com
or 860-218-0566

For more information on the conference see:
www.natassembly.org