Occupations protested on three continents

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
10,000 protest Bush at APEC summit

Despite a downpour, some 10,000 people protested at the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit Sept. 7 in Sydney. Demonstrators particularly targeted U.S. President George W. Bush’s Iraq policies and Australian military interventions.

Bush and Australia’s Bush-like Prime Minister John Howard were the favorite protest targets. Howard has ordered Australian military units into Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor and West Papua, among other places.

As they set off on a march, the protesters chanted: “Howard, Bush, USA, how many kids did you kill today?” A large banner carried by a group of marchers read: “War criminals not welcome here—Bush go home.”

Among those protesting Bush were former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib, who was released without charges in 2005, and U.S. Marine veteran Matt Howard—no relation to the prime minister—who had spoken of his Iraq experiences at recent anti-war meetings throughout Australia.

The Australian regime had 5,000 police and soldiers on hand and a three-meter-high fence to keep demonstrators away from the APEC summit. The security operation was the largest ever mounted in Australia and included jet fighter overflights, police on jet water-skis in Sydney’s harbor, a water cannon and special laws aimed at repressing protesters, of whom 17 were arrested.

BERLIN, GERMANY
Sept. 15 protest against Afghanistan War

The anti-war movement in Germany has called for a national demonstration on Sept. 15 in Berlin, aimed especially at stopping that country’s military intervention in Afghanistan. Germany is part of the NATO military support for the U.S. occupation of the Afghan people.

A coalition of left anti-war forces issued a call supporting the action, which read in part:

“We welcome the nationwide campaign against the German Federal Armed Forces mission in Afghanistan and join the common call for a demonstration on Sept. 15.

“The direct intervention in the war in Afghanistan is, however, only the most visible participation of Germany in Western wars and interventions. Our protest is directed of course against all international missions of the German Federal Armed Forces.

“In addition, we also oppose German military, logistic and political support of the war against Iraq, the war threats against Syria and Iran, and also demand that intervention in Lebanon and the Israeli occupation of Palestine be terminated.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.:
Arrested demanding right to poster

U.S. Park Police arrested three anti-war activists in front of the White House on Sept. 6. The activists were holding a news conference to protest fines of $30,000 for putting up anti-war posters calling for a Sept. 15 demonstration in Washington, D.C.

The three arrested were Tina Richards, CEO of Grassroots America and mother of Iraq War veteran Cloy Richards; Adam Kokesh, the co-chair elect of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW); and Ian Thompson, an organizer with the ANSWER Coalition. Richards and Kokesh had announced that they would put a Sept. 15 March to Stop the War poster on a lamppost following the media conference. Mounted police then charged into the news conference to break it up.

The ANSWER Coalition’s goal, according to statements on its Web site, is “to sponsor a large protest in Washington, D.C., timed to coincide with the report by General [David] Petraeus on the ‘surge’ in Iraq.”

Petraeus’s report on Sept. 10—no surprise—called for keeping U.S. troops levels high at least until next summer. Bush will make a national address on Sept. 13, when he is expected to propose an eventual cut of 30,000 troops, but only if the U.S. occupation stabilizes.

Some movement activists protested as Petraeus was speaking, and Capitol police arrested anti-war spokespeople Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., a former Air Force officer and head of the Hip Hop Caucus; Cindy Sheehan; and members of the IVAW and Code Pink who had been interrupting the general’s demand for more blood money.

Other actions will take place in the week following Sept. 15. These events, led by many different groups, include a “Truth-in-Recruiting Day,” organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War on Sept. 17, and a Moratorium on Sept. 21.

Starting on Sept. 22, a series of actions called an encampment, organized by the Troops Out Now Coalition (TONC), will take place in Los Angeles and in Washington, D.C. These actions are aimed at stopping congressional approval of the war budget and are directed against the war “at home and abroad.” They will culminate in mass demonstrations in both cities on Sept. 29.

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