OntheWilderSide

Greens, urging immediate withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq, blast Corporate Presidential Candidates including Clinton, Obama, and Edwards for refusing to guarantee withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq by 2013

Green Party leaders participating in the week-long Encampment to End the War in Washington, DC and other cities across the US pressed their demands for an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, with a plea to Congress to cancel further war spending.

Updates from various Encampments to End the War:• WASHINGTON, DC: GPAXwww.gp.org/committees/peace and the DC Statehood Green Party www.dcstatehoodgreen.org> have set up a tent at the encampment site on the Mall near the Reflecting Pool. Sarah “echo” Steiner, Florida Green and national Green Party co-chair, will co-emcee the September 29 rally, which is set to follow a mass march. Malik Rahim, former Green city council candidate in New Orleans and
organizer of the Common Ground Collective www.commongroundrelief.org, and Jared Ball, candidate for the Green Party’s presidential nomination www.jaredball.com, will speak at the rally. On September 26, DC Statehood Green leaders led a discussion on DC statehood, affordable housing, and preserving neighborhood libraries threatened with closing. Mr. Rahim spoke on Thursday, addressing the national response to Hurricane Katrina and rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Greens also joined a September 25 demonstration in front of the White House against a military attack on Iran, organized by the Troops Out Now Coalition.

• LOS ANGELES, CA: Greens have joined other groups setting up a tent city in front of the Federal Building, 300 North Los Angeles Street. Utah Green Deanna Taylor, who serves as co-chair of GPAX, and Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry of the Green Party of California will speak at a September 29 rally outside the Federal Building, which will take place after a Mass March to Bring the Troops Home. Ms. Curry has announced her Vice Presidential candidacy and is a member of the party’s Black Caucus www.gpblackcaucus.blogspot.com.

• SYRACUSE, NY: Greens will participate in a “Soldiers & Civilians Speak Out” antiwar march and rally on September 29, an event initiated by New York Iraq Veterans Against the War and hosted by the Syracuse Peace Council & SEIU-1199. Rebecca Rotzler, former Deputy Mayor of New Paltz and former national co-chair of the Green Party, will speak at the main rally. A Green Party rally to kick off the Green feeder march to the main rally will feature Bob Gumbs, veteran and Green Party member who has announced his candidacy for the 15th Congressional District in the US House (Charles Rangel’s seat), as well as local Green activists Gary Bonaparte and Aggie Lane.. More information:
www.upstateantiwar.net  and www.syracusegreens.org

The events, which will culminate in a march and rally on Saturday, September 29, have been organized by the Troops Out Now Coalition http://www.troopsoutnow.org, of which the Green Party is a member.

On Friday, video interviews with Greens at the DC encampment will posted on line at the blog page www.gpax.wordpress.com of the Green Party’s Peace Action Committee (GPAX).

Summary of Green positions on the war:

• The Green Party of the United States has called for full and immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the occupation of which is entering its sixth year; the Green Party opposes a US military attack on Iran and warns Americans not to believe the new flood of deceptive war propaganda.

• Greens stress that Congress could end the war quickly if Democrats refused to move on bills for war funding, including the latest request for nearly $190 billion the Pentagon says is necessary to keep combat troops in Iraq for another year. Greens urge Congress to divert federal funds from war spending to human needs and services in the US, including restoration and rebuilding in the Gulf Coast.

• The Green Party has called for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney for numerous abuses of power, including misleading the American people about the reasons for invading Iraq. Greens have called the invasion a criminal breach of the US Constitution and international law, motivated by desire for political and corporate dominance in the region, control over Iraqi oil and other resources, and cooperation with Israel’s aggressive strategic objectives.

• Greens have sharply criticized Democratic and Republican Party leaders for supporting the invasion, offering vague and delayed timetables for troop withdrawal, approving bills for continued war spending, and retreating from impeachment. Green leaders strongly condemned recent statements by Corporate Presidential aspirants such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards that they could not promise the removal of all US combat troops from Iraq by 2013 warning that the Iraq War (as well as the threat of war with Iran) will continue whether a Democrat or Republican is elected in 2008.

Filed under: Anti-War, Green Party Websites, To Study Up On Nonviolence