Minneapolis, MN - More than 125 community and student activists attended A Conference for Iraq, Information to Resist Another Quagmire. The keynote address was given by Sami Rasouli, a long-time peace activist who has returned home to Iraq, to try to rebuild peace, in the face of U.S. occupation.

“The war on Iraq has been raging for nearly three years, and there is no end in sight. Looking at the long battle ahead, the anti-war movement needs a deeper understanding of how events are unfolding in Iraq and what we can expect in the coming months and years,” says Jessica Sundin a conference speaker and member of the Anti-War Committee who traveled to Iraq in 1998.

Throughout the day, speakers emphasized the importance of supporting Iraqi sovereignty and self-determination. Lively discussions focused on how to build the anti-war movement, especially on high school and college campuses. Workshop sessions included: Sovereignty, Oil and War: U.S. Empire versus Iraqi Independence; Resistance Movements in Iraq; ‘Democracy’ Under Occupation and The Faces and Frontiers of Activism – Youth and Student Organizing Against the War.

Erika Zurawski, a conference organizer with the University of Minnesota Anti-War Organizing League (AWOL) commented, “The public opinion against this war is increasing every day. As we’re seeing more poor people, and especially people of color recruited into this war for profit while college is more and more a distant possibility. We must continue to speak out and organize against this war.”

The Anti-War Committee and AWOL are working with other local peace groups to organize a major anti-war demonstration on Saturday, March 18, when protests will take place across the world to mark the third anniversary of the war on Iraq and demand an end to the occupation.

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