Feb 15 Rally

naeem, this is late, who knows when u will see this.
i have met u in NYC by the way..when i used to be there...soon will be back there..anyhow,

i was one of the people in the back of the march. i almost got tramped by horses. it was one the coldest but most amazing NYC experiences i have.

my friends, afraid of being detained for being illegal were leaving were packing up their apartment that day in brooklyn. i went straight from the march to their place to help them pack and to report back to them on the different slogans and mood in NYC. i knew and i dont kknwo THAT many people in NYC, but i knew every 25th person in that millions person march. it felt incredible.

wbai was all around us. it really was something.

thanks for writing about this.

zehra rizvi.

The Dean of the Daring Democrats -- ladies and gentlemen -- the NEXT PRESIDENT of the United States -- Former Senator from Vermont -- Dr. Howard Dean:

````On Friday and Saturday, seven of the eight announced Democratic presidential candidates (all but Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who is still recovering from prostate cancer surgery) showed up at the Hyatt Regency hotel on Capitol Hill to test-market their messages to the party faithful.

....at this point, there are at least two tiers of candidates.

In the first tier, there are Sens. Kerry, Joe Lieberman (Conn.), and John Edwards (N.C.), and Rep. Richard Gephardt (Mo.).

The second tier would be led by former Vermont Sen. Howard Dean, and also include the Rev. Al Sharpton, former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun and Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

One of the things the first tier has in common - other than proven abilities to raise cash, national profiles, and first-rate campaign staffs - is that they all supported the resolution last year authorizing President Bush to use military force against Iraq.

In their speeches, these candidates seemed almost apologetic about their positions that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein must be disarmed by force if necessary.

``Now I know that there are a lot of you who don`t agree with me about this,`` Edwards, son of a mill worker, said, relegating his Iraq position to a few words seemingly tacked on to the end of his speech. ``I do believe that Saddam Hussein needs to be disarmed, including, if necessary, the use of military force. He has chemical and biological weapons. He`s used them in the past. We cannot let him have nuclear capability.``

Silence.

Lieberman, who sought to establish his bona fides by talking about his travels to Mississippi in 1964 to fight for the right of blacks to vote, said of Iraq: ``Now, my friends, to protect the safety of the American people and the credibility of the United Nations, Iraq must disarm - peacefully if possible, by force if necessary. Saddam Hussein`s weapons of mass destruction must be destroyed sooner than later, because sooner or later, if we do not, they will be used against us.``

Silence.

Gephardt, son of a milk truck driver, jumped into the Iraq issue near the beginning of his speech, seemingly to just get it out of the way: ``Before I start, I want to address the question of foreign policy in Iraq, because I know it`s on everyone`s mind. I believe we must disarm Saddam Hussein, and I`m proud that I wrote the resolution. It helped lead the president to finally make his case to the United Nations.``

Silence. Well, almost. One fellow in the back yelled, ``shame.``

The other four candidates who spoke made their opposition to Bush`s policy on Iraq a major issue - and at least one of them will likely enter the first tier of candidates because of it, given the hardening opposition to a military strike among the party rank and file.
____________________________________________________
At this point, that candidate seems to be Dean, a physician with an unabashedly liberal message, strong speaking ability, good looks and aggressive style.
______________________________________________________
Dean`s speech on Friday was among the best of the bunch, if for no other reason than its audacity.

He muttered only one or two lines of pleasantries before getting right to the punch, challenging the leadership of his party (and ostensibly two of the people, Lieberman and Gephardt) who spoke before him.

``What I want to know is why in the world the Democratic Party leadership is supporting the president`s unilateral attack on Iraq …

What I want to know is why are Democratic Party leaders supporting tax cuts …

What I want to know is why we`re fighting in Congress about the patients` bill of rights when the Democratic Party ought to be standing up for health care for every single American man, woman and child in this country …

What I want to know is why our folks are voting for the president`s No Child Left Behind bill that leaves every child behind, every teacher behind, every school board behind and every property taxpayer behind

… (applause) …

I`m Howard Dean, and I`m here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.``

Wild applause/standing ovation.
(Washington Post)

______________________________________________________
thanks Washington Post for introducing this brilliant Presidental Star to the American Public tired of fascist mediocrity -- being sold as Nazi patriotism --

thanks again WP

here is ONE physician -- who will VOTE for and work for the Physician Senator Howard Dean of Vermont -- any day any time rain or snow -- to be the next PRESIDENT of -- MY United States of America...

remember the name folks -- the next President of the United States -- senator Howard Dean of Vermont ....

hasan

sadna bi

what that Bandar was saying is also called sublimation -- when faced with fate accompli -- that monkey will sell his mother -- to keep his throne

ah -- that phrase -- `defeat saddam` --

one won`t need 200,000 GIs to defeat one Saddam -- one would not need an armada of B52`s -- daisy cutters -- new 5 thousand pounds cluster bombs -- to defeat one saddam --

they are needed -- to defeat Iraq -- to defeat the men, women and children of Iraq -- and to `isolate` and `protect` Iraqi oilfields.

to kill iraqi men women and children quickly and efficiently -- with a kill ratio of one GI to 1,000 Iraqis -- and to kill them with laser guided accuracy and fast --

no Vietnam this time -- get in and get out -- no moral constraints on the use of disproportionate force this time -- we have learnt our `lesson` in Vietnam --

maximum brutal force minimum time -- Colin Powell`s Humanitarian Doctrine

it`s not to defeat saddam -- saddam is already defeated --

he was defeated 12 years ago --

and we have been defeating him -- EVERY DAY -- for more than a decade --

the broken tyrant has not done anything in the past 12 years to threaten his neighbors or to us -- no neighbor has compalined about his behavior -

- in fact each and every neighbor of Iraq -- including the kuisling kurds -- who never had it so good -- do not want instability -- while enjoying their own land, language even the oil fields and their own government inside a majority Arab land --

how many TIMES saddam has to be deafeated --

in the politically correct terminology -- this `OVERWHELMING` force is apparently needed -- not only to relieve the misery of Iraqi people and to liberate them -- from the brutality of their own government -- without their asking us for B52s --

but also for Bush`s `Colonial` America to install its FIRST AMERICAN VICEROY -- His Excellency Sir General Tommy Franks -- to rule an over Iraq for full two years -- before handing the country over to the undeserving Iraq people --

In 2002 -- thanks to the inguinity of a few Texas OIL MEN and emancipated Black folks -- MY America wii be a proud owner of a oil rich colony

``And to deprive Saddam of his Arab friends is one way to defeat Saddam which is better than war.``(sadna)

sadna bi

what that Bandar was saying -- is also called sublimation --

when faced with fate accompli -- that monkey will not only sell his people`s oil -- he will sell his mother --to keep his throne..

ah -- that popular phrase -- `defeat saddam` --

one won`t need 200,000 GIs to defeat ONE Saddam -- one would not need an armada of B52`s -- daisy cutters -- new 5 thousand pounds cluster bombs -- to defeat one saddam --

they are needed -- to defeat Iraq -- to defeat the men, women and children of Iraq -- and to `isolate` and `protect` Iraqi oilfields.

to kill iraqi men women and children quickly and efficiently -- with a kill ratio of -- one GI to 1,000 Iraqis -- and to kill them with laser guided accuracy and fast --

no Vietnam this time --

get in and get out -- no moral constraints on the use of disproportionate force this time -- we have learnt our `lessons` in Vietnam --

maximum brutal force in minimum time -- Colin Powell`s `Humanitarian` Doctrine

it`s not to defeat saddam -- saddam is already defeated --

he was defeated 12 years ago --

and we have been defeating him -- EVERY DAY -- for more than a decade --

the broken tyrant has not done anything in the past 12 years to threaten his neighbors or to us -- no neighbor has compalined about his behavior -

- in fact each and every neighbor of Iraq -- including the kuisling kurds -- who never had it so good -- do not want instability -- while enjoying their own land, language even -- the oil fields -- and of course their own government inside a majority Arab land --

how many TIMES saddam has to be deafeated --

in the politically correct terminology -- this `OVERWHELMING` force is apparently needed -- not only to relieve the misery of Iraqi people and to liberate them -- from the brutality of their own government -- without their asking us -- for our B52s --

but also for Bush`s `Colonial` America to install its FIRST AMERICAN VICEROY -- His Excellency Sir General Tommy Franks -- to RULE over Iraq for full two to five years -- before handing the country over to the undeserving Iraq people --

In 2002 -- thanks to the ingenuity foresight and the vision -- of a few Texas OIL MEN -- and ONE emancipated Black Couple --

MY America will be a proud owner of an oil rich COLONY right in the heart of oil-rich Arab Land -- RULING blissfully alongside another mini Colonial power -- Israel ruling over their duly conquered land -- of Judea and Samaria...

and everybody in the Middle East will live happily ever after ....folks

God bless George Bush the Junior --

for turning USA from a former British Colony -- to a most formidable Colonial Power of the world in 21st Century -- and for employing Tony Blair -- his former Colonial Master -- as his Barking Butler --

all within a brief span of two years of his most benevolent RAJ....

nasahsahib #24
Though I oppose the Iraq war and wish to see `Muslim` countries PUBLIC ally itself with the rest of the worlds anti-war public, IMO its heartening to see a influential Muslim country`s LEADER get out of the `Muslim/Arab` kneejerk reaction mindset and at least BEGIN to discuss an issue with other Arabs on `other merits`. And to deprive Saddam of his Arab friends is one way to defeat Saddam which is better than war.

Sadna the answer to ur question as here --

just listen to what the `pragmatic` Saudi Monkey Prince or (Prince among/of Arab Monkeys) has to say.....

CAIRO, Feb. 20 -- In a spacious fifth-floor conference room at Egypt`s leading think tank, Saudi Arabia`s ambassador to the United States delivered a message that surprised some of Cairo`s most prominent intellectuals and analysts.

The ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, said Arabs would blunder by actively backing French and German efforts to forestall a war against Iraq, according to two participants in Sunday`s three-hour, off-the-record talk.

The Bush administration`s contentions that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction and has cultivated links with al Qaeda have substance, they recalled him saying, and Arabs should acknowledge that war is inevitable and begin jockeying for a role in shaping postwar Iraq.

``Once we join the club, then we can negotiate what Iraq will be like after the war,`` Bandar was quoted as saying. ``But without being part of the club, then we have no role in the day after.``

After months of impassioned opposition to a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and attempts to inspire President Saddam Hussein`s exile or a coup d`etat by his military, Egypt, Jordan and other Arab states friendly to the United States have begun to privately endorse the gist of Bandar`s views.....(NewYork Times)

I don`t know why Mr Ayaz Amir is moaning in todays Dawn, what good does it do? The difference between the western world and in the Muslim world in the matter of the recent anti-war demonstrations was not likely to be apathy or lack of `principle`, its likely to be a lack of ORGANISATION.

The Feb 15 rallies were not coincidental and spontaneous, that one fine morning 10 million people decided to rally. A lot of advance preparations would have gone into organising these rallies. A large number of organisations which exist around the world, and which have alliances and lines of communication between each other would have planned and mobilised ahead of Feb 15 and in the days or weeks or months before Feb 15 rally organisers would have worked hard orchestrating the arrangements all around the world, including trying to get a large turnout.

The reason why the turnout was not high in Muslim countries is probably because these (largely left-leaning) organisations in the western world donot have strong linkages with similar grassroots organisations in Muslim countries, why doesn`t Mr Ayaz Amir analyze that instead of wasting his breath and newspaper column inches in grumbling ?

From: http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/

Subject: Join me in a Virtual March on Washington

Please join me NOW in registering for a Virtual March on Washington
for February 26th. We are asking Congress to stop the Bush
administration`s rush to war, and to Let the Inspections Work.
Time is running out.

With your help, on February 26th, every Senate office will receive
a call EVERY MINUTE from a constituent, as they receive a
simultaneous crush of faxes and email. In New York and Washington
D.C., ``antiwar rooms`` will highlight the progress of the day for
national media. Local media will visit the ``antiwar room`` online,
to monitor this constituent march throughout the day.

With your help, every Senate office switchboard will be lit up all
day with our antiwar messages. This will be a powerful reminder
of the bread and depth of opposition to a war in Iraq.

Just go to:

http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/

Please join me and sign up today. This has never been done
before. Let`s be part of it.

so much protest in such massive rallies -- BEFORE THE WAR --

just imagine what will happen -- if the Moron STARTS the WAR -- with his diabolical plan -- of carpet bombings of Baghdad -- to minimize American casualties –

all hell will break loose all over the world --

Bush will be the most despised name in the history of the world -- after Hitler -- he would not be able to travel outside the United States.

great write up Naeem -- thanks

Naeem,
What is of utmost importance is for the peaceniks not to lose heart and scatter once the invasion starts. The american public will ``support the president`` and any sort of thuggery performed in defence of its pecuniary interests, and the marchers will be judged even more harshly. Remember, for the 1-million odd marchers, there were several hundred million that did not march either out of apathy, indifference, sloth & boredom or wanting revenge for the attack on the wtc. It is going to get tougher...

OBL did not budge from Afghanistan till the time he and his hosts the Talibans ensured that the USA makes its presence in Central Asia a reality. His presence or diappearance is not helping a single Muslim. Muslims all over the world are under pressure. When the world begins to question his existence, an audio tape is conveniently found by Al Jazeera and broadcasted immediately. This becomes even more apparent when ever General Parvez Musharraf potulates that OBL is not alive.

Saddam will not disappear unless he and his cohorts ensure US presence in Iraq to put pressure on Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Muslims would have loved to see OBL and his ilk to leave Afghanistan on their own and we would like to see Saddam and his gangsters leave Iraq for exile so that no excuse could be used by the US Troika to gain a foothold in the region.

to chowk: pull out the previous one.

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
People power! You go Naeem!
As you said today`s protests as compared to history, have started before the war has actually begun, thus attempting to stop the crangae before it`s initiation. Let`s all come together and make that ``human connection,`` the connection that is powerful enough to overrule all veto powers and the new world order.

Naeem,

The conclusion to your piece regarding ``human connections that are being made in this moment`` was inspirational. In Toronto, the original estimate of 30,000 was easily surpassed and according to some estimates, rose to over 70,000, this despite -20 C weather.

For those hours, we of Gen X finally felt that we could change the world and not just our bank accounts.

Today I saw two banners on a bridge in Islamabad, both of equal size.One read ``Rally in connection with US Attack on Iraq ....`` the other read `` Eid-Basant Mela``. Not only that we celebrated Valentines day here while the Non-Muslims took out rallies for Iraq.

Salaam Naeem,

kemun acho?

We need more participation from our Bangali friends here on CHOWK.

Good report.

You write well. Please submit more of your work.


Ras

Info on the rally in London: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_19-2-2003_pg3_5

``A diverse contingent of around 2,000 represented Cambridge at the biggest ever rally in British history (two million-strong).``