Nonviolent action against the occupation of Iraq

international | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Thursday March 09, 2006 21:07 by Mark Chapman - Justice Not Terror Coalition jntcx at bonbon dot net c/o Peace house, 224 Lisburn Road, Belfast +44 771 511 0517

On March 18th it will be 3 years since the (second) US and UK led invasion of Iraq. Around the world 11 million members of the public protested and continue to protest against this aggressive and illegal military action by the West.

Iraqis go about their daily lives under the shadow of a hostile foreign military presence.

Global Call to Nonviolently Resist the Occupation of Iraq

On March 18th it will be 3 years since the (second) US and UK led invasion of Iraq. Around the world 11 million members of the public protested and continue to protest against this aggressive and illegal military action by the West.

Parliament and the public in the UK were misled and duped by Tony Blair and his Cabinet into believing that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction and could use them in 45 minutes. Regime change and the control of Iraq’s oil can now be clearly seen as the reasons for this brutal attack and continuing occupation.

The US Administration has been held up to ridicule for its grand claim of bringing democracy to Iraq as the country teeters on the brink of all out civil war. An estimated 100,000 Iraqis have been killed since March 18th, 2003 and the count of 2,305 US and 103 UK war dead grows by the day.

Clearly the occupation of Iraq is prolonging and exacerbating the instability in the country. The peace movement is supporting the call from inside Iraq to end the occupation and this is being supported by the Call to Nonviolent Action Against the Occupation of Iraq. (www.aglobalcall.org)
This Call has been led by Nobel Peace and Literature Laureates, Cindy Sheehan and other peace and human-rights activists, religious leaders of various traditions, prisoners of conscience, former government ministers, poets, authors, journalists.

"The USA and UK, for their own economic interest and domination of the Middle East, used the politics of revenge and the old ways of militarism, war, invasion and occupation of Iraq," says Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire. "Such actions bring forth counter violence, and have for the foreseeable future made the world a more dangerous place for us all. The occupation of Iraq should end, and an enquiry into those responsible in the UK and USA administrations, who illegally took the world to war, should begin."

The Justice Not Terror Coalition in Belfast is co-ordinating nonviolent resistance actions to the occupation of Iraq throughout 2006. These are planned for March 18-20, May 1 (International Day of the Worker), August 9 (anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki), September 11 (anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the U.S.) and December 10 (International Human Rights Day).

Justice Not Terror Coalition.
jntcx@bonbon.net
0771 511 0517

Signed

Mairead Corrigan Maguire Shannon Little
Nicola Creighton Deborah O Neill
Kevin Cassidy Melissa Magee
Belinda Loftus Alex Brown
Jackie Maguire Ann Patterson
Mark Chapman Sandra Rutherford
Damien Moran Lelia Newman
Paul Arthur Gerry Grehan
Mairead McKeown Justin Morahan
Lindsay Steven Stephen Caves