UNAC calls July 9 protests to ‘Stop NATO’s aggressive expansion toward Russia!’

The United National Antiwar Coalition, the U.S. Peace Council, the International Action Center, Veterans for Peace and other groups have called for protests in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on July 9 against the NATO summit held in Warsaw, Poland, calling it an aggressive threat against Russia. Below is the UNAC appeal issued in mid-June.  

The drive by nuclear-armed NATO to the borders of Russia — a nuclear-armed state — poses at the very least the risk of accidental nuclear war, and at worst the possibility of military confrontation between two nuclear powers.

On July 8-9 in Warsaw, Poland, a NATO Summit will be held. Many fear it goes beyond saber rattling to active war preparation. Its agenda is alarming. For example, the U.S. wishes to incorporate Ukraine and Georgia into NATO. Next year, the Pentagon plans to quadruple military spending in Europe to $3.4 billion and begin rotating an armored brigade through Eastern Europe — in addition to extra NATO forces deployed to Poland and the Baltics. The U.S., the main force behind NATO, is already in a deadly proxy war in eastern Ukraine.

NATO has already launched the largest war games in decades [June 7-17] — involving 31,000 troops (14,000 from the U.S.) and thousands of vehicles from 24 countries. The war games in Poland included air-ground assaults and electronic warfare scenarios. Airborne units, infantrymen, medics, military police and aviation units will operate jointly throughout the exercise, which culminates in a massive live-fire event led by the U.S. A naval exercise involving NATO forces has just begun in Finland [also in June].

A few weeks ago the United States activated the first of two missile-defense installations in Eastern Europe. The new missile defense site in Romania is a direct threat to regional security and inaugurates a new arms race. Earlier this year, it was disclosed that the U.S. was ramping up the deployment of heavy weapons and armored vehicles to NATO member countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

A separate missile defense base in Poland — a country with a new far-right government — is turning that country, according to one expert, into a U.S. bastion and potential launch platform against Russia in possible violation of existing agreements governing intermediate-range nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, there is the ongoing “SaberStrike” operation in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Given the serious escalation of the danger of a disastrous confrontation between the United States and Russia, we must make our alarm at the upcoming NATO Summit known in a more public way.

To this end, we have organized a demonstration for Saturday, July 9, to coincide with the NATO Summit in Warsaw, Poland. Other actions are planned around the U.S. and the world, particularly in Warsaw. We think it is important for the New York region to make its voice heard.

We consider the following general slogans to be a basis for unity:

• No to NATO; No to War!
• Yes to Peace; No to NATO!
• Abolish NATO, Don’t Expand It!
• Money for Jobs, Not for NATO!
• No More War Games!
• End NATO Provocations Against Russia!
• NATO Provocations Threaten Nuclear War!
• No to a New Cold War!

The demonstration will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 9, at the Army Recruiting Center in Times Square, Manhattan. At 12 noon in Los Angeles at Grand Park and at 12 noon in San Francisco at 355 McAllister St.

It’s a dangerous moment. We ask you to be an endorsing organization and to commit to participating and mobilizing your members for this action. Please go to the link below and fill out the online Endorsement Form for the July 9 demonstration:

Let us make this demonstration as broad as possible.

Signed:

— Alfred Marder, President, US Peace Council

— National Executive Committee, Veterans for Peace

— Joe Lombardo, Co-coordinator, United National Antiwar Committee

— Sara Flounders, Co-coordinator, International Action Center, N.Y.

— Bruce K. Gagnon, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space

— Margaret Kimberley, Editor and Senior Columnist, Black Agenda Report

— Bernadette Ellorin, Chairperson, BAYAN, USA

— Joe Jamison, Queens, NY Peace Council

— Susan Schnall, Veterans for Peace, NY Chapter #34

— Michael Kramer, Veterans for Peace, NJ Chapter #21

— Bahman Azad, Chair, Iran Working Group, Veterans for Peace

— Manhattan Green Party

— Alice Slater, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation