Paul
Join the Resistance - Take the Red Pill
Sat May 17 19:41:53 2003
208.152.73.121

Join the Resistance - Take the Red Pill


We can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it...

You are invited to join with the Not In Our Name project as we expand and strengthen resistance to end this government's course of war and repression.
Welcome to the real world

Thousands of Iraqis and Afghans maimed and murdered.

Over 5,000 U.S. immigrants rounded up, detained, and/or deported.

An Orwellian Police State of homeland security, Patriot Acts, military tribunals, and Internet spying.
We don't know if you're ready to see what we have to show you...

They say it was a war to combat terrorism, but it has never been proven that Iraq had links to Al Qaeda. They say it was a war to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction, but no biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons have been found, and Iraqi forces used no such weapons against U.S. troops. They say it was a war to liberate the Iraqi people from a brutal dictator, a man who used nerve gas against his own people, but when Saddam committed the worst of these acts it was with the aid of U.S. military intelligence- because it suited U.S. policy to support Iraq in its war against Iran. They say it was a war to bring democracy to the people of Iraq, while the U.S. military appoints a government that the Iraqis have no say in.
It's the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth

Iraq is only the second stop in an illegitimate, immoral, and unjust war on the world. Even as victory is declared over Baghdad, the Bush administration is directing its aggression towards Syria, Iran, and North Korea.
See how deep the rabbit hole goes

This is their future:

* During the first week of the occupation, seriously wounded people crowded into Iraq’s looted hospitals, where doctors were forced to perform amputations without anesthesia or clean water.
* An injured man in a Baghdad Hospital whose family can’t bear to tell him his three young daughters were murdered by US bombs.
* Dozens killed in a Baghdad market by U.S. Missiles (NOT Iraqi missiles).
* U.S. soldiers killing Iraqi people for ignoring “orders to halt” in a language they don’t understand.
* 10 people -- including five children -- killed at an Army checkpoint.
* U.S. Marines firing on Iraqi protesters (13 people killed in Mosul).
* U.S. forces have brought back Saddam’s old police force to patrol the streets.
* The Iraqi National Museum plundered and the National Library torched while U.S. troops guard the Ministry of Oil.
* All we are offering is the truth...

The war on Iraq was wrong, the occupation of Iraq is wrong, and the Bush doctrine of war and repression is wrong! The Not In Our Name project calls on you to take action to denounce this war and occupation. We pledge that we will not stop until this war on the world is stopped. Another world is possible and we pledge to make it real.

http://www.notinourname.net/war_on_the_world/redpill.html

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LINKS EVERYBODY SHOULD REVIEW:
http://www.notinourname.net/war_on_the_world/index.html

The Pledge of Resistance
http://www.notinourname.net/pledge_about.html


Not In Our Name
http://www.notinourname.net
info@notinourname.net

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March 7, 2002

Dear Friends:

We face an unprecedented situation.

The U.S. has commenced a series of wars, beginning with Afghanistan where they killed thousands of innocent civilians, and they now openly threaten unilateral war on Iraq, Iran, North Korea or any place else on the planet they decide. The government has targeted Arab and Muslim immigrants, rounding up over 1,000 and still holding hundreds in indefinite detention, refusing even to release their names. They have gutted longstanding civil liberties and unleashed police spying. The executive branch of government has seized vast new powers, unchecked by either the legislature or the judiciary. They have attempted to intimidate all dissenting voices, and tried to make critical thought itself suspect.

At the same time, we know there’s something else in the air — a lot of anguish, a lot of questioning, and some beginning good resistance. We need to build on this, but we all know it is not yet enough. If we’re going to be able to STOP what’s happening and have a chance at another future, we need a movement of resistance that dares to alter the course of history. We need a resistance movement powerful enough to send a message to the people of the world that we stand with them against this unjust, unlimited war — that "we the people" are NOT part of the Bush "us" but are part of the world’s "us."

The signers of this letter have been talking about what can be done. We’d like to expand this discussion and get together with many more of the folks who’ve been resisting, hear your ideas, share ours, and then get down on an approach and plan the next steps. Our basic vision consists of a Statement of Conscience issued by public figures; a day of protest to launch a new commitment and take a common Pledge of Resistance; and a unifying Symbol of the globe. We want to discuss all this at a meeting in NYC on Saturday, March 23.

How about this for a beginning: A day when an amazing breadth of people come together in a few key cities, including NYC, under the theme "Not In Our Name." The Day would make a powerful statement in diverse ways, including in the streets, that we all will, from that day forward, raise our voices and act to stop the war/repression machine and that we will not let the U.S. government pit the people of this country against the people of the world. This commitment would be concentrated in a Pledge of Resistance that would be recited aloud. The day would not be a traditional rally or march, but a creative mass form through which our determination to resist will be expressed and projected into the international media. It should involve the exuberance of the youth with the creativity of the artists and the collective voice of the many public figures of conscience. The heart and soul of the day would project a new level of resistance. We want to strive to hold this day before spring turns to summer and the new horrors now being threatened are launched.

We would hope the Day would inspire:

*

School administrators to pledge not to turn over the names of Arab and Muslim students.
*

Reservists to pledge not to be part of occupying other countries or raining bombs on civilians.
*

Community residents to pledge to defend their neighbors who wear turbans or head coverings or "look different" or express unpopular views.
*

Acts of solidarity with the immigrants unjustly detained.
*

Support for the writers, artists, activists and everyone who comes under attack for breaking ranks and daring to dissent.

We are aware of many plans for protest and resistance, and we welcome and support them all. The "Not in Our Name" Statement, day and Pledge should not be the property of any one group or coalition; it should serve to strengthen all of them. We know protests have been called for Washington D.C. on April 20th. The "Not In Our Name" effort should help build these. We would like to see a lot more unity overall, and we hope that this whole project will help build it.

There are already three broad, key things the movement has raised that provide the basis for even greater unity: stop the war on the people of the world; stop the disappearances and vicious attacks on Arab, Muslim and South Asian people in the U.S.; and stop the destruction of civil, legal and political rights, including the very right to dissent, here in the U.S. We need to popularize the stand and the words of the relatives of those killed September 11 who refused to let Bush use their grief to justify the war and, instead, declared "not in our name."

We envision a "Not in Our Name" Statement of Conscience to be issued by well-known artists, intellectuals, activists and people in public life, lending their moral authority and their unified voice to the resistance movement. This statement could be publicized widely and could become the spirit call that assists this movement to rise to the challenges before us.

We envision a Pledge to Resist to be taken publicly for the first time on the day of protest. We think ordinary people across the country could continue to take it up well after the day, reciting it in schools, union meetings and community gatherings. City councils, student governments, religious congregations and professional organizations could adopt it. The Pledge could be a kind of bridge between what people think and what they do, and would help strengthen people’s resolve to do the right thing. It could also help mobilize broad numbers of people to act at critical moments in the coming period.

We also need a powerful image with a clear message — and we want to propose that the globe be adopted for the symbol of this movement as an expression of internationalist solidarity. A number of anti-globalization groups use this image on flags and signs already, and it needs to be seen everywhere people are in opposition.

Those who see the urgency of the times and agree with the thrust of this proposal are invited to the meeting. We will need to discuss what kinds of future meetings and mechanisms are needed — including ways to raise funds — to project the Statement and Pledge and symbol of the globe into the media so that millions in this country and worldwide will hear about them. A website, an organizing center/office for an ad-hoc grouping to work out of, on-the-ground organizers — all will be needed.

The signers of this letter have different views on a number of important questions. But we agree that we must come together now to determine how we can best build the kind of movement that can extend a hand to the people of the world and stop the horrors being unleashed by our own government. It’s no exaggeration to say we’re living in historic times — and what we do at this moment will affect the lives of people in this country and around the world for generations.

We hope we can count on your creativity, your passion, your commitment.

Signed (partial list - affiliations listed for identification only):
http://www.notinourname.net/about.html