Oakland vigil: Vote But Don't Stop There

Oakland vigil,Tuesday, Nov 7, noon Vote ­­ but don’t stop there

You are invited to join the weekly vigil to call for an end to the U.S. war on the people of Iraq.
Tuesday, noon, Oakland Federal Building,
1301 Clay Street,
two short blocks from the 12th Street BART Station.

This vigil was begun in the spring of 1998, shortly after Madeline Albright toured the country in her unsuccessful attempt to gain support for a war against Iraq.
After a civil disobedience action to oppose the proposed attack, Ecumenical Peace Institute/CALC and Mustardseed Affinity Group decided to organize a weekly vigil to call for an end to the sanctions which were causing the deaths of 5,000 Iraqi children each month.
The vigil has continued since that time and other sponsors have joined in the effort. The focus has changed, now calling for an immediate end to the war and the occupation.
Each week we hand out approximately four hundred flyers. Usually they are different each week, unless upcoming events are being announced.
Below you will see the text of the flyer for the week mentioned in the subject line of this message.
Please join us.
please share this invitation and this information.

End the Occupation –– Stop the War
Stop the Killing in Iraq

Vote –– but don’t stop there

Yes, we vote. Some trying to end the war on Iraq and prevent a war on Iran vote for Democrats in the hope that a change of the party controlling Congress will result in a real change in domestic and international policy.

Some vote Green or Peace and Freedom, in hopes of pressing the political system to “promote the general Welfare” by bringing about a fundamental change of the distribution of public resources and to put a stop to the U.S. drive for international domination undertaken under the claim of “provid[ing] for the common defence” while executing wars of aggression against countries owning desirable resources.
(quotes from the preamble of the U.S. Constitution)

Whoever we vote for, we will have to keep the pressure on a Congress to make them respect the right of the people of Iraq to run their own country.
We will have to pressure our government to bring home our soldiers, to pull out our big businesses and to stop stirring up dissention in Iraq by doling out favors and by training death squads.

The U.S. is supplying “trainers and advisors” like Col. James Steele who led U.S. Special Forces in El Salvador in the 1980s, aiding a repressive government’s military that killed thousands of peasants, students, and activists. Steele, one of the U.S. military’s experts on counterinsurgency, is an advisor to Adnan Thavit, the leader of the Special Police Commandos, known as one of the most brutal of Iraq’s new forces. In addition, Steve Casteel, a former top official in the Drug Enforcement Administration who spent years in Latin America, is the senior U.S. adviser in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, which has operational control over the commandos.

We need to ask our congresspeople to investigate the activities of these men and others like them who are putting into place the “Salvador Option” in Iraq.

Call up your congressperson every day, whoever he or she is, and ask the hard questions.

If Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi becomes Speaker of the House, call her every morning and tell her she has to act to bring our troops home –– now –– and prevent any new wars of aggression under whatever pretexts the administration puts forward.

Yes, vote, but don’t stop with voting.



Senator Barbara Boxer 415-403-0100
Senator Dianne Feinstein 415-393-0707
Congresswoman Barbara Lee 510-763-0370
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi 415-556-4862(Democratic leader)
Senator Harry Reid 202-224-3542(Democratic leader)
for any of the above, ask for them at 1-866-340-9281

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PLEASE, call Congress 1-866-340-9281
Tell your representative. Not one more penny for war!
It's time to bring the troops home now!

Join the Vigil • Noon - 1:00 p.m. • Each Tuesday
Oakland Federal Building • 1301 Clay

Berkeley Women in Black • East Bay Coalition to Support Self-Rule for Iraqis
Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace and Justice • Peace & Freedom Party
Women for Peace • Mustardseed Affinity Group • Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Ecumenical Peace Institute • http://www.epicalc.org/ • (510) 655-1162