arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

30,000 demonstrate in Washington DC to say
OCCUPATION IS NOT LIBERATION - NO WAR FOR EMPIRE

Demonstrations in sixty countries on April 12 oppose U.S.
invasion and occupation of Iraq

30,000 demonstrators marched in central Washington, DC
today against the invasion and occupation of Iraq by U.S.
and British forces, according to the Washington DC police
authorities. The demonstration, called by the
International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, coincided with
coordinated anti-war actions in the capital cities of more
than 60 countries around the world.

D.C. police forces carried out a series of unprovoked
attacks against the demonstrators, using clubs and pepper
spray as they assaulted people who were chanting "Stop the
U.S. War Machine from Iraq to Korea to the Philippines."

Tens of thousands of people in Iraq have been killed or
maimed in the onslaught carried out by the U.S. and
British forces since March 19. The U.S. corporate media
has portrayed the military actions as the liberation of
Iraq. We know that the real motivation the White House and
the Pentagon was to conquer Iraq and to put into place a
U.S. military dictatorship followed by a proxy or puppet
regime in Baghdad.

The demonstration today in Washington DC was noteworthy
because tens of thousands of demonstrators in the United
States came together to condemn the invasion of Iraq as a
war for empire.

Iraq possesses 10 percent of the world's known oil
supplies. The U.S. is moving quickly to plunder the land
and especially the natural resources of Iraq for the
benefit of U.S.-based oil and banking corporate elite.

The Bush administration was engaged in a strategy of
endless war that would further target Syria, Iran,
southern Lebanon, Palestine, North Korea, the Philippines,
Colombia, Zimbabwe, and others countries that sought to
achieve national liberation and independence or sovereign
control over their own resources.

Although the U.S. corporate-dominated media has proclaimed
that the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq and accompanying
slaughter of Iraqis is a victory, people all over the
world took to the streets today proving the continuation
the massive peace and social-justice movement that swiftly
emerged in recent months as a direct response to the Bush
administration's war drive.

Demonstrations against the war took place in the following
countries:

Argentina, Australia (April 13), Austria, Bangladesh,
Belgium, Brazil, Burma (Myanmar), Canada, Chile, Crotia,
Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ecuador,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haifa,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan,
Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Mexico, Marocco, Mongolia,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan,
Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico,
Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sudan,
Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Turkey, UK, U.S.,
Uruguay (April 11), Venezuela, Yemen.

Below are links to articles about and photographs of the
demonstrations:

- Washington Post article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14311-2003Apr12.html

- Agence France-Presse (AFP) article on DC demonstration
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030412/ts_alt_afp/iraq_war_us_imf_demos_030412181608

- Agence France-Presse (AFP) article on demonstrations
around the world
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030412/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_war_demos_030412224853

- Photo Gallery - DC and international demonstrations
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?p=news&g=events/wl/102602iraqprotests&i=index&e=1&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=1&m=&c=

********************