Posted on 09/26/2001 1:28:29 PM PDT by Hugh Akston
In any social movement there is a vanguard and a mass. On one side, the vanguard, are groups of people who are more resolute and committed, better organized and able to take a leading role in the struggle, and on the other side, the mass, are larger numbers of people who participate in the struggle or are involved simply by their social position, but are less committed or well-placed in relation to the struggle, and will participate only in the decisive moments, which in fact change history.Is there any doubt what would happen today if a group of hijackers tried to take over a plane on a flight of Americans? Would the people cooperate with the terrorists, or would the people rise up and do what it takes to stop them? There is no doubt. Not any longer. The people would act. No ifs, ands, or buts.The Marxist theory of the vanguard, in relation to class struggle under capitalism, stipulates that the working class, the mass, needs to be militantly lead through revolutionary struggle against capitalism and in the building of Socialism. - "Basic Concepts of Marxism", Marxists.org
It is now clear to all that, in such a situation, it is all in the hands of the people. We can hope and pray that our government will protect us, but eventually, it still comes back to us. We have to defend our families and ourselves. Conservatives have preached this mantra often, as it applies just as well to the debate over gun control. In the end, there will be times when the government cannot respond fast enough to protect us. We must be able to act ourselves.
As President Bush leads forward what originally was called Operation Infinite Justice, we can take comfort that our government is acting to eradicate the enemies who have struck so viciously at our nation. Yet we cannot escape the reality that, in the end, the people have the ultimate responsibility. The government cannot do it all for us. We must do our part.
Another lesson from the terrorist attacks on September 11th is that intelligence is critical in defense. Knowing and understanding what the enemy will do, if at all possible, is of the highest importance. The attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon was able to occur because we did not fully know who the enemy was, where the enemy was, and what the enemy was doing.
The men who commandeered our passenger jets and flew them into their targets, our buildings and our people, learned from us. They infiltrated our society. They learned how our security works. They learned how we do things. They came to us for instruction on how to fly our planes. They learned from us.
What about Bin Laden?
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The Soviets did so for a number of reasons. They feared Islam as a threat, since communism insists on a lack of religion. The Soviets also desired a warm water port on the Indian Ocean; the Soviet Union had no seaports that were ice-free, year round. And expanding their influence upon the Middle East was an added incentive.
Concerned with the expanding Soviet threat, the United States supported the Afghan resistance to the Soviet invasion, starting with the Carter administration and continuing onward. In 1986, CIA head William Casey expanded our involvement several manners. He persuaded Congress to provide the Afghan resistance, the Mujaheddin, with Stinger missiles. These American-made missiles worked to counter the air dominance of the Soviets. Additionally, Congress authorized and provided funding for US advisors to train the guerillas. Casey also committed CIA support to an effort to recruit Muslims from around the world to come to Pakistan and fight along with the Mujaheddin (an effort the ISI, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, had been encouraging since 1982). By 1992, some 35,000 Muslim radicals from 43 Islamic countries in the Middle East, North and East Africa, Central Asia and the Far East would gain knowledge and experience with the Afghan Mujaheddin.
Among these thousands of recruits was a wealthy young Saudi, Osama Bin Laden. He learned from us.
In many ways Bin Laden is another example of blowback, which is the unintended results of covert intelligence operations that come back to haunt you. That is not to say that the right decisions were not made, however. The choice at the time was between accepting Soviet expansion and the spread of Communism, or taking action and risking unintended future consequences.
There are apologists on the left and on the right stating that America brought this on itself by its actions in Afghanistan. These apologists miss the point. Ours was not an initiating action, but rather a reaction to the moves of the Soviet Union. If one pulls the string to find the root causes, fixating on the United States involvement in Afghanistan is stopping at a mid-point. Examining the root cause heads right back to Marxist expansionism.
Bin Laden learned more than just guerrilla tactics, it would seem. To understand exactly what lessons he did learn, we should look to how the United States has endeavored to bring down hostile regimes. Our efforts generally have three prongs.
We try to foster political change within the nation by finding sympathetic people who can be organized and mobilized to attempt to bring about political change. We attempt to assist with armed resistance, providing them with financial backing and with weapons and training. And we strike economically, via sanctions and other methods.
These three prongs are intended to sow the seeds of dissention within the population, so as to make them yearn for a change in power. The intention is to make the people rise up against the regime, to not be complacent and accepting of the status quo.
Bin Laden and his terrorist organizations learned these lessons. The strikes at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon weakened us, at least temporarily. It has cast doubts upon our ability to defend our citizens. It harmed us economically. Beyond the direct costs of the buildings and the lives, we see hundreds of thousands of Americans cast out of employment by industries struggling for their very survival in the aftermath. We see incredible amounts of paper wealth vanish as the stock markets tumble. It is not surprising that in the aftermath, we have not been on the lookout for the third prong, the political thrust.
Thankfully, we Americans are a hearty lot, and have not succumbed to the chaos that has been thrust upon us. Instead of us ripping apart, we have joined together. But just as our operations in hostile regimes have not been short term in nature, the odds are that the terrorists operations were not culminated from their end with these attacks. These were just another step on a journey, which they believe will have many more steps.
The purpose of terrorism is to create fear, as well as doubt within a populace of the government's ability to protect the people. This is just an interim purpose, however. There is a reason that the terrorists wish to create fear; they wish to enact some sort of change, to encourage the people to force some sort of political change. What is the political purpose that Bin Laden wishes to achieve in the United States?
"But I am confident that Muslims and this nation of 12,000 million Muslims, will, God willing, be able by counting on the help of God to end the legend of the so-called superpower that is America. [snip]The views expressed by Bin Laden are that the United States is a nation that plunders the resources and the labor of poor Muslims. He believes that an uprising of the oppressed will eventually lead to a toppling of the world's one remaining superpower. Where will allies in this effort be found? What people and groups share enough of his views as to make an alliance possible?"The American forces should expect reactions to their actions, from the Muslim world. Any thief or criminal or robber who enters the countries of others in order to steal should expect to be exposed to murder at any time.[snip]
"But to count of these non-believers, who steal the wealth of Muslims then give back some crumbs to certain Islamic states or mini-states reflects a flawed understanding of their duties...
"...the world is governed by the law of the jungle." ABC News interview with Osama Bin Laden
One such sympathizer might be Ramsey Clark, the former Attorney General for the Lyndon Johnson administration. In 1992, Clark founded the International Action Center, which enjoys the continuing support of the ex-Trotskyist, pro-Stalinist Workers World Party. While the original teachings of Karl Marx are decidedly atheistic, Clark sees a natural alliance. "Islam has probably a billion and a half adherents today. And it is probably the most compelling spiritual and moral force on earth today. (source). "Islam is the best chance the poor of the planet have for any hope of decency in their lives. It is the one revolutionary force that cares about humanity..." (source)
The International Action Center is an umbrella group which shares its offices and its telephones with such groups as Iraq Sanctions Challenge, Peace for Cuba, U.S. Out of Korea Committee, Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Mideast, and Millions for Mumia, which works to free cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal who was convicted using evidence obtained under the powers of anti-terrorist legislation. The structure of the groups, including how frequently new ones appear and disappear, and including how much of their funding comes through charitable donations, is very similar to terrorist networks and cells.
There are ties between Clark and Bin Laden. In 1998, two American embassies in Africa (one in Nairobi and one in Dar es Salaam) were bombed. Four men were eventually captured and tried in the United States, and all were convicted. The prosecution established through phone records and wiretap transcripts that Bin Laden had direct contact with the Nairobi cell that carried out the attack.
One of the defendants, Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, signed a confession regarding his involvement in the Nairobi cell. This Saudi national was riding in the truck that carried the bomb to the embassy, but instead of becoming a martyr and dying in the subsequent blast, he fled on foot. He was treated at a hospital nearby, and was arrested. In addition to his confession, he was in possession of keys that fit into a padlock on the rear of the truck bomb. After his conviction, the defense presented Ramsey Clark as a witness as they argued against the death penalty. (More information regarding the trial can be found here).
How has Clark responded to the terrorist attacks of September 11th? On September 29th, there will be a demonstration in Washington, D.C. Ramsey Clark is leading the effort.
Shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center, a website called "Beat Back The Bush Attack" (note: they have subsequently changed their name) announced that they would be organizing a demonstration. "Now is the time for all people of conscience, all people who oppose racism and war to come together. If you believe in civil liberties and oppose racism and war, join us on September 29 in front of the White House. We urge all organizations to join together at this critical time" their announcement stated.
The temptation is there to dismiss this group of people as misguided kooks or irrational pacifists. This would be a mistake. The organizers of this protest are hoping for a repeat of the troubles that occurred in Seattle in November, 1999. The site's FAQ makes this clear:
Should I bring a gas mask? A helmet?The mainstream media currently is portraying the protesters of the war on terrorism as pacifists. They are not. These are the same folks that terrorized Seattle in 1999 under the umbrella group Mobilization for Global Justice, and who tried to do the same in Washington, DC in April 2000 under the name A16.Since Seattle, there have been an increasing number of major demonstrations and convergences that have been targeted with a high level of repression by the state. MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, THE DEMONSTRATIONS IN DC WILL FALL INTO THE SEATTLE CATEGORY. Everyone is advised to take this seriously and take precautions. Basically, this means ensuring that you are protected against the types of maneuvers that the cops have clearly utilized over and over against very large demonstrations. Namely, the types of things to protect yourself against are teargas, pepper spray and projectiles. So, this means you should:
- buy and learn to use a gas mask
- wear a helmet, head guard or a hard hat
- wear protective eyewear
The type of protest that occurred in Seattle in 1999 takes months of preparation and organization. Travel plans had to be made for the various anarchists. Staging areas had to be set up. Lodging for those taking place had to be arranged. The logistics behind such an endeavor would make it impossible for such an uprising to be impossible to coordinate on such a short notice.
However, the protest on September 29th was planned long ago, long before the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The domain beatbackbush.org was registered July 21, 2001. According to their website, they were going to protest the Bush administration's policies regarding the IMF and World Bank, although the phrase "Beat Back The Bush Attack" seems more fitting for the protest of the war against terrorism.
The plans for these protests hit a bit of a snag when the United States reacted with restraint not seen under the Clinton administration. To date, there has been no Bush attack to beat back; unlike Clinton, Bush has said that he has no desire "to send some $2 million missiles at a $10 tent and hit a camel in the butt" to satisfy the desire for quick retaliation. Coupled with the fact that Bush's approval ratings have soared to the 90% level, a change in approach was needed. The group behind beatbackbush.org quickly redesigned their site from leading the charge to "Beat Back The Bush Attack", to "International A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism)". They registered a new domain (internationalanswer.org) to front this effort, and both websites currently have essentially the same content.
The shifting focus of this protest shows that the people involved have one goal in mind, and it is not the stated intent, which has shifted from protesting the IMF and World Bank, to protesting President Bush's retaliation to the attacks, to now protesting racism and the coming war on terrorism. The real goal is disruption, as well as to gain publicity, and to put political pressure on the government of the United States to move away from capitalism.
The front page for both of these sites currently shows no link between their efforts and the International Action Center, merely showing Clark as the first of the "initial signers" for their declaration.
One can find who is the primary contact for an internet domain by performing a whois query against the domain names databases. A whois query on beatbackbush.org shows that the organization behind the website is called "World View", and is based in Jersey City, NJ, and lists an administrative contact of Sara Flounders Kramer. The email address given for the administrative contact is gery@riseup.net. A whois query for internationalanswer.org, though, shows the organization to be the IAC, and provides the same email address for the administrative contact. Sara Flounders (sans the Kramer surname) is listed as the administrative and billing contact for the IAC's website. Both internationalanswer.org and beatbackbush.org are hosted on machines running in Boca Raton, Florida. The contact for riseup.net, as found using whois, is Elijah Saxon, who gives his email address as being from the ucsc.edu domain (University of California, Santa Cruz, where he is probably an alumni). Saxon also has registered revolt.org, which says it is part of Global Update, which also has a domain. globalupdate.org, riseup.net, and revolt.org all indicate that they operate out of Seattle, Washington.
What is riseup.net? They provide "Tech support for the revolution" according to their main page. The vanguard, it would seem, has gone high tech. riseup.net also provides hosting for "Direct Action Networks", which function like cells for activities promoting "radical social change" and "social justice", which are the new catchphrases used to hide the true nature of their activities, which is the promotion of Marxism.
Here is how riseup.net describes themselves:
riseup.net is a project of the Red Cursor Collective, a 100% volunteer effort of activists using technology for radical social change. We provide training, web hosting, listservs, email accounts, and any kind of tech support needed by the activist community.The riseup.net page says that, currently, their "costs greatly exceed the donations we have received". If donations do not currently meet costs, yet they are operating, from where are they currently getting their funding?
Many of the IAC's initiatives are funded by contributions from The People's Rights Fund, a 501c3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization. A google.com search on "Peoples Rights Fund" and Flounders (for Sara Flounders) shows that the contributions have been both frequent and varied in their purpose. Many of the contributions were directly to the IAC. Others were made to other organizations that tie back to the IAC and/or Clark.
Where does the People's Rights Fund get their money? Their website makes no mention. However, at least part of their funding comes from Fidelity Investment's Charitable Gift Fund. One can only wonder how well Fidelity has screened their recipients, if the money from this fund is being funneled to Marxist advocacy groups. One can only wonder who at Fidelity realizes that their fund was used as a conduit to funnel funds for the planning and execution of the massive demonstrations-turned-riots of November 1999 in Seattle, or the similar demonstrations in Washington, DC, of April 16, 2000 that were limited in their destructiveness by police raids the night before. These raids found riot gear, gas masks, staging locations, and involved the arrest of senior IAC members. One can only wonder how Fidelity feels about their fund being used as a conduit to funnel funds for the planning and execution of the coming September 29th demonstration against the war on terror. One can only wonder how well Fidelity would react to this information becoming widespread public knowledge.
What is particularly troubling to me is the fact that none of this is getting serious attention by the mainstream media. The New York Post and the Washington Times have written a few articles mentioning the political views of Clark and his involvement at the epicenter of the coming protests. There has been little coverage beyond this, however, and that is alarming. If a part-time free lance writer can pull the strings and find the information shown here using nothing more than a web browser as his only tool, why have the mainstream media not investigated the same, using their more formidable avenues of investigation?
Maybe eventually they will, especially if the demonstrations on Saturday turn violent. The aforementioned FAQ on beatbackbush.org ominously asks the question "Will the protests be 'violent'? " but leaves it unanswered. If the media ever does get around to pulling these strings, there are some other things for them to investigate.
Proceeds from the song, which will be released by Tommy Boy, will go towards non-profit organizations working towards defending minorities from racial attacks as well as media and educational programs promoting tolerance. Additional funds will be earmarked for initiatives offering information about the events what people can do to contribute to the relief efforts.The charitable goals listed were right in line with those espoused by groups such as the IAC and International Answer. The New York Post reported on Saturday, September 22nd that Joan Rivers pulled out of the recording, because she found out that none of the money would go to the victims of the terrorist attacks.
I'm just in shock. It's a bait and switch, and no one knows it," Rivers told PAGE SIX yesterday. Rivers - one of the first to join Diana Ross, Andre Agassi and Sheryl Crow in supporting the effort - said she found out the WTC victims would get nothing yesterday when she was about to plug the event on the E! channel and asked organizers for specifics.Reports of the release of the recording issued today now indicate that the Red Cross will receive some of the funds.She received a press release which stated: " 'We Are Family' is, in part, a response to the recent outbreak of racial attacks and intolerance towards Arabs and Muslims . . . We know that the Islamic faith is not the enemy. We are all brothers and sisters. We are all family."
"I'm not intolerant toward Arabs or Muslims," Rivers said. "But now is not the time for that. I'm boycotting." (source)
The questions that remain are 1) was the Red Cross originally intended to receive funds, or was it added to prevent a backlash against the bait and switch, 2) what other charitable organizations are going to be receiving proceeds from the sales of this recording, 3) what are the real purposes of these charities, and 4) what percentages of the proceeds will be going to each group?
Many of those involved in the attacks spent months (if not years) training in Florida for their mission.
In December, 1999, United States custom officials arrested an associate of Bin Laden by the name of Ahmed Ressam (reports can be found here and here). He was heading for Seattle.
Is it a mere coincidence that Bin Laden's people were operating (or travelling to) locations tied to the efforts of Clark to exploit the attacks for political purposes, such as Florida, Jersey City, and Seattle, especially considering that Clark had testified on behalf of one of Bin Laden's operatives?
According to Livingstone, the addresses include:
Of particular interest, given the link between Ramsey Clark and associates of Bin Laden, and the fact that Ramsey's groups have been organizing protests to be conducted on September 29th long before the attacks, is the domain name "worldtradecenter929.com". Could there be a connection? Could one possible plan have been to have the World Trade Center attack happen in concert with the protests?"august11horror.com" "august11terror.com" "horrorinamerica.com" "horrorinnewyork.com" "nycterroriststrike.com" "pearlharborinmanhattan.com" "terrorattack2001.com" "towerofhorror.com" "tradetowerstrike.com" "worldtradecenter929.com" "worldtradetowerattack.com" "worldtradetowerstrike.com" "wterroristattack2001.com"
While I watch the news reports this weekend, with the inevitable reports of violence breaking out at a demonstration for peace, I will be wondering why the media did not see it coming, and I will be wondering what else they have not seen. I will be watching the attempt to form a vanguard, as I pray for the mass that is sufferring from the aftermath of the attacks of September 11th.
Clark also represented PLO leaders in a suit brought by the family of Leon Klinghoffer, the elderly vacationer who was shot and thrown overboard from the hijacked Achille Lauro cruise-ship by renegade Palestinian terrorists in 1986.
Another Clark client was Karl Linnas, an ex-Nazi concentration camp guard in Estonia (where he had overseen the murder of some 12,000 resistence fighters and Jews), who was being deported from the US to the USSR to face war crimes charges. Clark again lost the case, but again went to bat for his client in the public arena, questioning the need to prosecute Nazis "forty years after some god-awful crime they're alleged to have committed."
The Devil's Pact
In August 1990, two months after his return from the LaRouche conference in Copenhagen, with US troops mobilizing to Saudi Arabia, Clark accepted an invitation to lead the National Coalition to Stop US Intervention in the Middle East. This invitation had been extended by members of an orthodox Stalinist sect, the Workers World Party (WWP). Clark had finally found a new home. The Clark-WWP alliance has lasted to this day. A brief look at the doctrinaire sect's history: WWP is the brainchild of Sam Marcy, intellectual guru at the party's helm until his death in 1998. In 1956, Marcy led the faction in the Socialist Workers Party that supported the Soviet invasion of Hungary, attacking the popular uprising and general strike there as "counter-revolutionary." In 1959, the Marcy clique broke from the Trotskyist SWP to found the more Stalinist WWP. The new group wasted little time in cheering on the brutal Chinese repression of the indigenous culture in Tibet that year (which sent the Dalai Lama and 80,000 refugees fleeing into exile).
Vying with SWP and other parties for top dog position on the radical left, WWP always maintained a front group to suck in neophytes. During the Vietnam era this was Youth Against War & Fascism (YAWF). In the Reagan-Bush era it was People's Anti-War Mobilization (PAM)--which would be the operative group in the National Coalition in 1990.
With glasnost, WWP supported the Kremlin hard-liners who resisted Gorbachev's reforms and disarmament moves. Insisting that China remained a "workers state," WWP supported Deng Xiaoping in the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, again attacking the protesting students and workers as "counter-revolutionaries." In 1991, WWP supported the KGB coup against Gorbachev.
Yet WWP also wooed the Democratic party, supporting Jesse Jackson's presidential bid in 1984. In New York, WWP made alliances with the left wing of the Democrats to establish a foothold in key trade unions.
WWP cadre Gavriella Gemma became a secretary in Clark's New York law office in 1977. In his New Republic piece, Judis suggests that Clark fell under her spell and was won over to the WWP. When David McReynolds of the War Resisters League met with Clark in 1990 to warn him that WWP was "using him," Clark refused to listen, constantly referring to what "Gavriella said."
With Clark as the figurehead and PAM/WWP at the helm, the National Coalition provoked a split in the movement against Operation Desert Storm through its refusal to condemn Saddam Hussein or Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The other established anti-war groups (War Resisters League, CISPES, SANE/Freeze, National Organization for Women, etc.) formed the rival National Campaign for Peace in the Middle East, which condemned both Bush and Saddam. Soft-peddling their pro-Saddam line, WWP's National Coalition won endorsements from celebrities like Spike Lee and Casey Kasem, sucking in numbers even after the split. The two groups held separate marches on Washington in January 1991, allowing the media to portray a divided movement.
In November 1990, Clark flew to Baghdad to meet with Saddam, who allowed him to return with a few hostages. In February, with the bombs falling, Clark was in Basra, Iraq's southern port, witnessing the destruction. But his consistent failure to complain about Saddam's regime made it clear he was there at its invitation.
With Clark's name-recognition and homespun, avuncular image, WWP had the opportunity to form a new front group to win over naive liberals. This was the International Action Center (IAC), which remains the top vehicle for Clark's ego and WWP's play for hegemony over the fragmented remnants of the left.
IAC/WWP's politics went from bad to worse as Yugoslavia descended into chaos. It soon became obvious that Clark's legal work now closely followed the WWP line. In 1992, Radovan Karadzic, the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, was served with federal subpoenas when he touched down in New York for UN meetings. The National Organization for Women and the Center for Constitutional Rights, acting on behalf of Bosnian refugee women, were charging him with ordering mass rape and war crimes. Clark, of course, immediately came forward to represent Karadzic. Clark also made junkets to Serb-occupied Bosnia to schmooze with Karadzic (as did various Russian neo-fascists like Vladimir Zhirinovsky).
The "Red-Brown Alliance" was seen on the streets of New York during the 1999 NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia, when Clark led rallies which brought WWP communists together with right-wing nationalists and Orthodox priests from the Serb immigrant community. Serbian flags were proudly waved at these New York rallies, while meetings at IAC's 14th Street offices degenerated into mass chants of "Serbia! Serbia! Serbia!" This at a time when Serbian police and paramilitaries were forcing 800,000 Albanian refugees to flee their homes in Kosovo at gunpoint. Again, WRL and other anti-war groups broke away to form their own coalition that rejected both NATO's bombing and Serbian aggression against the Kosovo Albanians. But this time it was only IAC/WWP which held a national rally in DC.
In October 1999, Clark met with Yugoslavia's President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, and said everything the dictator wanted to hear. Milosevic, by then facing war crimes charges before the UN tribunal, called his guest "brave, objective, and moral."
The case against Radovan Karadzic languished since the UN launched war crimes charges against him, forcing him into hiding in Serbia. Clark, meanwhile, represented a Rwandan Hutu militiaman fighting his extradition from the US back to Rwanda to face genocide charges. The WWP line simultaneously (and predictably) tilted to the genocidal Hutu militias as the UN wrote up war crime charges against their leaders for ordering the slaughter of half a million Tutsi civilians in 1994.
Anti-war march OK, raises security doubts
By Brian DeBose
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The permits were issued Friday to the International Action Center — just hours after President Bush declared war on terrorists in a nationwide broadcast — and caught some law enforcement officials off guard
... The action center, which bankrolled a group that was part of last year's raucous and at times violent IMF-World Bank meeting in the District, said it decided to turn a protest of international banking into an anti-war demonstration, after this year's IMF meeting here was cancelled for security reasons.
If the protesters show up in the numbers written on the city permit application — at least 5,000 people from the International Action Center (IAC), and up to 3,000 people from the Green Party — they will be met by "a big contingent of trained officers," said D.C. police spokesman Sgt. Joe Gentile.
Sarah Sloan, a staff coordinator employed by the Action Center, said the IAC has enough money to stage a peace march and rally for at least 10,000 protesters.
She said the organization, which claims former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark on its list of supporters, is "adequately" funded. It also retains several pro bono lawyers in the District who obtained the permits and who would help the Action Center fight in court to keep them if police agencies try to void them on grounds of national security.
"In light of the recent attacks, and the cancellation of the IMF meetings, we thought it important to refocus our protest and deal with the backlash against Arab-Americans, and this so-called war — nothing more than a bombing expedition that will kill tens of thousands of civilians," Miss Sloan said.
Miss Sloan said the Action Center's newly funded anti-war organization will continue to the District as planned, saying the organization's attorneys had assured its members that their protest and march is lawful.
"With our attorneys from the Partnership for Civil Justice, we received the permits and we will gather at the park from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, then march to the Capitol and hold another rally until 6 p.m.," Miss Sloan said.
UPDATE ON PERMITS FOR SEPT. 29 MASS MARCH IN WASHINGTON D.C. -
ALL PERMITS OBTAINED FOR SEPT. 29 MARCH & RALLY /ASSEMBLY LOCATION CHANGED
9/26/01--The national march on September 29 in Washington DC in opposition to war and racism will assemble for a rally at Freedom Plaza – 14th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The rally will be followed by a march to the Justice Department, the Navy Memorial (both located on Pennsylvania Avenue) and conclude with a rally in Upper Senate Park across from the Capitol building.
The change in the assembly site from Lafayette Park in front of the White House to Freedom Plaza at 14th and Pennsylvania prevents an eleventh-hour effort by the Bush administration to disrupt the demonstration. The Bush administration used the Secret Service to announce a ban on demonstrators using Lafayette Park for peace and anti-war protests during the next thirty days. The International A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) obtained all of the necessary permits last Wednesday for a rally at Lafayette Park and on the sidewalk in front of the White House, which would be followed by a march down Pennsylvania Ave. and concluding at the Capitol.
The Secret Service and the National Parks Service notified I-A.N.S.W.E.R. late today, Tuesday, September 25, that they were revoking the permits in Lafayette Park and the Ellipse. The Secret Service is unconstitutionally using the pretext of security for political purposes, just as Richard Nixon tried to use the Secret Service to bar demonstrations in front of the White House during the Vietnam War.
One of our main messages to anti-war activists right now is this: Our mass anti-war mobilization on the 29th in the DC has not been stopped. Thousands of people will take Freedom Plaza on Sept. 29th, and this will allow the mass organizing for Sept. 29 to go on unimpeded and without uncertainty in these last critical days before the demonstration.
The Sept. 29 march and rally has gained great support from across the country. Thousands of people are coming from as far away as California, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Maine and everywhere in between, including thousands from New York City.
P.S. The ban on demonstrations by Secret Service is for a 30-day period and the language of the banning order would allow the Secret Service unfettered discretion in renewing the ban on demonstrations for months and years to come. The I-A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition will carry out a legal challenge in the near future to the Secret-Service-imposed ban on demonstrations at Lafayette Park and the White House sidewalk.
DC BUS DROP OFF AND PICK UP INFORMATION
These locations may change, based on further discussion with the police, so please check website before leaving for DC.
Gathering Site and Bus Drop Off Location:
Freedom Plaza -- 14th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW.
End Rally and Bus Pick Up : Upper Senate Park across from the Capitol building. Constitution and New Jersey
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@action-mail.org
En Espanol: el_iac@yahoo.com
web: http://www.iacenter.org
CHECK OUT SITE http://www.mumia2000.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
ALERT! DC TO BE INFILTRATED ON SATURDAY WITH ANTI PEACE FACSISTS.
It's been years since I paid attention to Ramsey Clark, but after readng this, I took a quick peek on other sites having to do with him.
He was the legal advisor to Lori Berenson's parents... you know, the girl who was convicted of aiding and abetting terrorists in S. Amaerica.
In Dec. 2000 he gave a speech to the IAC regarding "Plan Columbia," which I never heard of before and don't care much about, but he said this, at least in his first draft of the speech:
"And we catch a random bomb once in a while in Dar es Salaam or Nairobi or the World Trade Center, and go berserk. But it was our mischief."
Speech by Ramsey Clark at IAC Event on Plan Colombia
I was young when he was AG for LBJ, but I remember my father getting livid every time the man talked. Now I see why.. thanks for filling in the blanks.
Noting that the Congress is cutting back on every social program, Clark said the Pentagon receives more than one-third of all U.S. expenditures. The advocate for world peace said that what the U.S. released on Iraq has no precedent. “We deliberately inflicted genocide on a national racial group to destroy it in whole or part,” he stated. He went on to point out it is a crime to bomb chemical plants and spread chemicals and that it is likewise a crime to bomb nuclear plants. “On top of this we send the Marine who wiped out Iraq’s infrastructure to head the inspection team and we get mad when Iraq resists.”
She was such an idiot and so whacked out that even Colmes was criticizing her.
But as is shown in Hugh's EXCELLENT report, these fools are not to be taken lightly. Intentionally or not, they are giving aid and comfort to our enemies in a time of war. I think there is a word for that.
Here is part of Clark's letter to Kofi Annan on January 28, 1998.
The Security Council and the General Assembly should immediately admonish the United States that it must not commit any armed assault, or other grave threats to peace, against Iraq. It should condemn the repeated uses of false propaganda employed to create fear and hatred toward Iraq such as the recent false claims that photographs proved Iraq tested chemical weapons against prisoners.
This guy should leave since he doesn't like us, and take all his thumb-sucking sychophants with him.
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