Minneapolis, MN – On January 22, the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, a coalition of anti-war groups in Minnesota, rallied in Mayday Plaza as part of the United National Antiwar Coalition's national call for Martin Luther King Jr. week of actions against U.S. wars to mark his birthday. On the theme of “New Year, Same Wars,” the protest drew a crowd of 70 protesters, eager to hear from activist leaders across the Twin Cities representing the voices of those impacted by U.S. imperialism and endless militarism.

People lined the sidewalks, facing traffic and holding signs expressing the crowd's sentiment, “End the wars! Troops home now!” “War is not humanitarian!” The emcees welcomed everyone who took time to be a visible force and said how it is important to be out demanding the U.S. end all their endless wars.

Setting the tone of the protest, everyone joined in chanting, “Coups and sanctions cost lives! Don't believe the media's lies!”

The organizers drew parallels between Dr. King’s anti-war message during the Vietnam era and the current fight to end U.S. intervention in countries across the globe. Kim DeFranco, member of Women Against Military Madness, explained, “King knew the cost of the U.S. endless wars waged around the world. The cost was not just in dollars but in the human toll. He made the connections between the economic and social costs between the U.S. wars and working people here and in the countries the U.S. destroys.”

The rally included speakers from Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, Anti-War Committee, Veterans for Peace, Women Against Military Madness, Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar, Movement for a People’s Democracy, and Minnesota Workers United.

Within the crowd on the plaza, the Veterans for Peace’s minibus was surrounded by colorful signs “Money for the poor not for war,” “Yes to Peace, no to NATO” and “$80 billion for Ukraine – no way!”

Speaking on the ongoing violence and oppression in Palestine was Aarushi Sen from the Anti-War Committee. She shared that in 2023 to date, 17 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military and yet the “the U.S. continues to prop up Israeli apartheid.”

During his speech, Mike Madden of Veterans for Peace, in his enlivened style, threw his gloves down like a hockey player ready for a fight, a very Minnesotan demonstration of “We’ve had enough.” He then spoke about the proxy war between the U.S. and Russia and the real cost: “We supply the weapons and the Ukrainians do the dying.” His message emphasized the dire need to stop the dangerous proliferation of the U.S. war machine.

While some speakers addressed the blatant U.S. oppression of countries like Palestine, Venezuela and Iran and the proxy war with Russia, others tied the struggle at home to the actions of the U.S. military. Jae Yates of Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar spoke about the shared resources between local police forces and the U.S. military, sharing the goal of quelling uprisings and public discontent. “If the police are the first line of defense against real change in our country, then the military is the second; it not only backs the police when we challenge the state but trains and arms them.”

Monique Cullers-Doty of Black Lives Matter Minnesota and Black Lives Matter Twin Cities spoke of solidarity with the anti-war movement and the important role organizations play in supporting each other in the fight for liberation. She also called for the U.S. to change from focusing on getting involved in militarism abroad to address issues at home; “America needs to provide for everyone that is here.”

Throughout the protest people directly participated in chanting, “From inside the capitalist beast, we demand justice, we demand peace!”

Rounding out the protest, David Gilbert-Pederson, member from the Minnesota Workers United, systematically described how endless wars have a devastating impact on workers in the U.S., calling attention to the needs of the people here that are being ignored while military and police spending continues to increase. Issues like housing, hunger, education and healthcare suffer budget cuts and leave people without resources while the government justifies acts of war and violence through the vilification of people in other countries. He said, “We have more in common with the people of the countries that the U.S. attacks than we do with the capitalists waging the wars.”

The rally concluded with the emcees emphasizing the importance of “taking a great stand against endless U.S. wars and for being a visible and a loud anti-war movement.” They encouraged attendees to continue to fight in the streets for an end to U.S. militarism.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalitionMPAC #AntiWarCommittee

Minneapolis, MN – On March 19, more than 80 demonstrators gathered outside Walker Library in Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood to protest ongoing U.S. military interventions abroad, from U.S. troops deployed in Syria to the continued funding and arming of troops in Ukraine. The protest was organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition.

March 19 marked the 19th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq; however organizers made it clear that the event was not only to remember that criminal imperialist war, but to condemn the many wars that the is currently involved in. The U.S. has troops deployed in Syria, funds the Saudi war on Yemen and runs drone operations there, has recently carried out airstrikes in Somalia, and is continuing to escalate the war in Ukraine. Protesters carried signs with slogans like “Fight COVID, not Russia!” “Money for schools! Not for war!” and “No new wars for the 1%!”

Ana Vasquez spoke as a member of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59, a union which is entering its third week of striking for safer and more equitable schools. Vasquez stated that as a Salvadoran who grew up there during a U.S.-funded civil war, she “personally experienced what it is like to face U.S. imperialism.”

Vasquez drew connections between U.S. militarism, the tragic state of education and other human services in the U.S., and the oppression of minorities, stating, “The U.S. is the country in the world with the biggest military budget, the biggest military budget that any country has. Yet we cannot have money for our schools to function properly, we continue to close down schools, we continue to not pay a living wage to our workers. And we know that many of the workers in these lower-paying jobs are immigrants, immigrants that have come to this country because of the wars that the U.S. continues to wage around the world.”

MFT 59 educators are currently fighting for a $35,000 yearly salary for educational support professionals in Minneapolis. MPAC organizers noted that a single Stinger anti-aircraft missile costs $38,000 and that the U.S. is quick to fund war instead of education. Organizers raised $300 at the rally for the MFT strike fund.

After chants of, “We won’t sit back for another attack! We were here when you ruined Iraq!” Susan Banaszewski, a member of the Anti-War Committee, directly connected the U.S. invasion of Iraq to NATO’s current involvement in Ukraine. She spoke about the “no-fly zone” that was imposed over Iraq, saying, “In Iraq, our government claimed the no-fly zones would protect the Kurdish people; in reality, it became the longest U.S. bombing campaign since the Vietnam War and killed over 1000 civilians, even before the invasion in 2003.” Many people opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have adopted the slogan “Close the sky,” and are calling for a no-fly zone to be enforced over Ukraine. This may sound like an anti-war slogan, but as Banaszewski stated, “what [this slogan] is really calling for is for the United States to take an offensive military role in this conflict by shooting down Russian planes, or bombing Russian military infrastructure, to which Russia will retaliate, drawing all of NATO into a hot war with two nuclear powers.” This is an example of the pro-war propaganda that we are all exposed to on a daily basis due to the U.S. media’s pro-imperialist, ruling-class bias.

Mike Madden of Veterans for Peace built upon this idea, saying, “In the corporate media narrative, the war in Ukraine started three weeks ago on February 24. But the war did not start on February 24. Two months after the overthrow of Ukraine’s democratically-elected government, on April 15, 2014, the Ukrainian government launched military and paramilitary neo-Nazi operations against the breakaway provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. This was the start of the war.”

Madden went on to describe how although we have heard extensive reports about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we have heard nothing about the U.S.’s role in this war. “That’s because Ukrainians, when they are attacked by their own U.S.-allied government, are unworthy victims. They do not advance the narrative of ‘America good, Russia evil.’ They are not newsworthy, they are erased,” Madden stated.

The overwhelmingly pro-war messaging of the U.S. media due to the crisis in Ukraine has posed a challenge for anti-war activists. Wyatt Miller of the Anti-War Committee summarized the situation well when he said, “What unites us in the anti-war movement, and in MPAC, is focusing on what the U.S., our own government is doing.” Miller reminded the crowd that when the U.S. claims that intervention in Ukraine, or any other country, will improve the lives of working people in those countries, we have to remember the lessons of Iraq, Syria, Venezuela, Iran, Nicaragua, Somalia, Yugoslavia, or countless other military and economic interventions.

Organizers at the event announced another protest in commemoration of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which will be held on March 25 at the University of Minnesota Coffman Memorial Union at 6 p.m. Initiated by Students for a Democratic Society at the U of MN, the protest will demand an end to U.S. wars, and for money for education, not military aid.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalitionMPAC

On March 19, more than 80 demonstrators gathered outside Walker Library in Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood to protest ongoing U.S. military interventions abroad, from U.S. troops deployed in Syria to the continued funding and arming of troops in Ukraine. The protest was organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition.

March 19 marked the 19th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq; however organizers made it clear that the event was not only to remember that criminal imperialist war, but to condemn the many wars that the is currently involved in. The U.S. has troops deployed in Syria, funds the Saudi war on Yemen and runs drone operations there, has recently carried out airstrikes in Somalia, and is continuing to escalate the war in Ukraine. Protesters carried signs with slogans like “Fight COVID, not Russia!” “Money for schools! Not for war!” and “No new wars for the 1%!”

Ana Vasquez spoke as a member of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59, a union which is entering its third week of striking for safer and more equitable schools. Vasquez stated that as a Salvadoran who grew up there during a U.S.-funded civil war, she “personally experienced what it is like to face U.S. imperialism.”

Vasquez drew connections between U.S. militarism, the tragic state of education and other human services in the U.S., and the oppression of minorities, stating, “The U.S. is the country in the world with the biggest military budget, the biggest military budget that any country has. Yet we cannot have money for our schools to function properly, we continue to close down schools, we continue to not pay a living wage to our workers. And we know that many of the workers in these lower-paying jobs are immigrants, immigrants that have come to this country because of the wars that the U.S. continues to wage around the world.”

MFT 59 educators are currently fighting for a $35,000 yearly salary for educational support professionals in Minneapolis. MPAC organizers noted that a single Stinger anti-aircraft missile costs $38,000 and that the U.S. is quick to fund war instead of education. Organizers raised $300 at the rally for the MFT strike fund.

After chants of, “We won’t sit back for another attack! We were here when you ruined Iraq!” Susan Banaszewski, a member of the Anti-War Committee, directly connected the U.S. invasion of Iraq to NATO’s current involvement in Ukraine. She spoke about the “no-fly zone” that was imposed over Iraq, saying, “In Iraq, our government claimed the no-fly zones would protect the Kurdish people; in reality, it became the longest U.S. bombing campaign since the Vietnam War and killed over 1000 civilians, even before the invasion in 2003.” Many people opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have adopted the slogan “Close the sky,” and are calling for a no-fly zone to be enforced over Ukraine. This may sound like an anti-war slogan, but as Banaszewski stated, “what [this slogan] is really calling for is for the United States to take an offensive military role in this conflict by shooting down Russian planes, or bombing Russian military infrastructure, to which Russia will retaliate, drawing all of NATO into a hot war with two nuclear powers.” This is an example of the pro-war propaganda that we are all exposed to on a daily basis due to the U.S. media’s pro-imperialist, ruling-class bias.

Mike Madden of Veterans for Peace built upon this idea, saying, “In the corporate media narrative, the war in Ukraine started three weeks ago on February 24. But the war did not start on February 24. Two months after the overthrow of Ukraine’s democratically-elected government, on April 15, 2014, the Ukrainian government launched military and paramilitary neo-Nazi operations against the breakaway provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. This was the start of the war.”

Madden went on to describe how although we have heard extensive reports about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we have heard nothing about the U.S.’s role in this war. “That’s because Ukrainians, when they are attacked by their own U.S.-allied government, are unworthy victims. They do not advance the narrative of ‘America good, Russia evil.’ They are not newsworthy, they are erased,” Madden stated.

The overwhelmingly pro-war messaging of the U.S. media due to the crisis in Ukraine has posed a challenge for anti-war activists. Wyatt Miller of the Anti-War Committee summarized the situation well when he said, “What unites us in the anti-war movement, and in MPAC, is focusing on what the U.S., our own government is doing.” Miller reminded the crowd that when the U.S. claims that intervention in Ukraine, or any other country, will improve the lives of working people in those countries, we have to remember the lessons of Iraq, Syria, Venezuela, Iran, Nicaragua, Somalia, Yugoslavia, or countless other military and economic interventions.

Organizers at the event announced another protest in commemoration of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which will be held on March 25 at the University of Minnesota Coffman Memorial Union at 6 p.m. Initiated by Students for a Democratic Society at the U of MN, the protest will demand an end to U.S. wars, and for money for education, not military aid.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalitionMPAC

Minneapolis, MN – “Workers of the world, unite! Not ‘workers of America unite’ or ‘workers who look like us, pray like us or love like us unite.’ It’s all workers,” said union organizer David Gilbert-Pederson of Minnesota Workers United. “We have more in common with the tailor in Tehran than the bankers who crashed our economy. We have more in common with the bus driver in Caracas than the politicians locking kids in cages.”

Gilbert-Pederson spoke to a protest on Lake Street, July 13, of over 80 people gathered to oppose recent U.S. war threats against Iran and Venezuela. Organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, the protest featured speakers from a variety of labor, international solidarity and anti-imperialist groups, and called attention to murderous new U.S. sanctions against Cuba as well as Iran and Venezuela.

In a speech, Mary Beaudoin of Women Against Military Madness said, “We are at war on Iran right now. The U.S. is engaged in a ‘hybrid war,’ meaning it’s waging a war with a variety of tactics. The U.S. is encouraging a terrorist group, the MEK, which wants regime change in Iran. And in January, the U.S. State Department was caught funding the Iran Disinformation Project, which has been promoting war in Iran to the media, and smearing Americans who expressed opposition to war in Iran.”

“But by far sanctions on Iran have done the most harm. Sanctions are an act of war,” she continued. “They have crippled Iran’s economy, and made it impossible to import items for agriculture, industry and health care, which are needed to keep its infrastructure functioning. Iran is under siege, and the dying has begun.”

Recent weeks saw rising tensions between Iran and U.S.-aligned forces in the Persian Gulf. An escalating back-and-forth of threats against oil shipments through the narrow Strait of Hormuz – just off Iran’s southern coast – has stemmed from the unilateral U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran and the imposition of extreme sanctions. The crisis reached new levels last week with the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker by UK authorities as it passed by Gibraltar, allegedly at the behest of the Trump administration.

Despite the news cycle’s focus on war threats against Iran, the Minneapolis protesters were also keen to point out that similar acts of U.S. aggression continue against Latin American countries.

“The Center for Economic & Policy Research estimates that over 40,000 Venezuelans have died because of U.S. sanctions,” explained Tracy Molm of the Anti-War Committee, who in April traveled to Venezuela with a Freedom Road Socialist Organization delegation. “It’s important to note that sanctions overwhelmingly affect the most vulnerable in society, denying people desperately-needed medicines and supplies like cooking gas, making daily life very difficult in the countries targeted.”

“The latest round of sanctions on Venezuela are aimed at the CLAP, a government food distribution program. The CLAP program provides food to 6 million Venezuelans,” Molm continued. “If sanctions were the ‘humanitarian solution,’ why would the Trump government target food programs? That’s because sanctions aren’t humanitarian at all. They are a tool of warfare!”

Joe Callahan of the Minnesota Cuba Committee called out the Trump administration for re-imposing the U.S. blockade on Cuba, in part for the socialist country’s longstanding humanitarian missions in Venezuela and around the world. “Mike Pompeo and others have tried to blame Cuba for the failure of the coup attempts in Venezuela. To be sure, Cuba is closely allied with Venezuela. There are tens of thousands of Cuban doctors there, and the Cuban government has strongly denounced U.S. aggression against Venezuela. But of course the real reason for the failure of the coup attempts in Venezuela was the lack of support of the Venezuelan people and military,” he said.

Demonstrators chanted and held signs, got supportive honks from passing motorists, and a number of pedestrians joined in support.

#MinneapolisMN #International #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #Labor #OppressedNationalities #Venezuela #Iran #US #MiddleEast #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #sanctions #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalitionMPAC #DonaldTrump #MinnesotaWorkersUnited

Minneapolis, MN – The streets were full of working-class solidarity on Saturday, February 23, when well over 100 people, including trade unionists, Latin America solidarity groups and anti-war activists gathered under the banner “U.S. hands off Venezuela!”

The event was part of a global day of action to protest the ongoing U.S.-backed coup attempt against the democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro. Protesters occupied multiple intersections in the high-density Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis, distributing fliers and speaking with pedestrians about the situation in Venezuela.

The demonstration took place as the coup attempt took a turn closer to an invasion, involving a high-profile attempt to storm the Venezuelan border from Colombia. U.S. and U.K. media spent much of the day highlighting groups seeking Maduro’s overthrow, who claim to bring U.S.-sponsored ‘humanitarian aid’ into Venezuela from Colombia.

In a speech, Gerardo Cajamarca, an organizer with SEIU who is an asylee trade unionist from Colombia, rejected that narrative, saying, “Right now what is happening on the border of Colombia and Venezuela is coordinated by an interventionist group. It is very important that you, as United States citizens, tell your government not to go forward with this intervention. Latin Americans have the right to choose autonomy, to choose solidarity, to choose our own economic system.”

In recent weeks, the International Red Cross and the United Nations had refused to participate in the U.S. plan to storm the Venezuelan border with so-called ‘aid.’ Both organizations explicitly rejected the ‘humanitarian’ label for the plan touted by U.S. officials, instead calling it politicized and concealing military objectives.

At the Minneapolis event, Cajamarca also noted the hypocrisy of Colombian President Ivan Duque’s invocation of ‘humanitarian aid’ as cover for the coup attempt in Venezuela. “Yes, there is humanitarian need; yes, there is genocide – in Colombia!” he said. “They are murdering social leaders every day in Colombia. Corporations like Coca-Cola and Chiquita sponsor paramilitary groups. This is a model that is linked with narco-trafficking and with corporate power.”

“Using aid as a political weapon is nothing new,” stated April Knutson of Haiti Justice Committee of Minnesota. “In fact, there is an organization that is very much involved in the Venezuela situation right now called USAID. And they are an arm of the U.S. government, the U.S. military, and the CIA. They are often involved in regime change around the world, and in the Caribbean, and in Central America and South America. In fact, they toppled the democratically elected president of Haiti twice. President [Jean-Bertrand] Aristide was toppled by the CIA and USAID.”

Stephanie Taylor, vice president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3800, said, “As workers in the United States we are here today to stand with you all and oppose any U.S. intervention in Venezuela. First, because we know the brutal history of U.S. intervention and colonialism in Latin America. It has propped up dictators, overthrown democratically-elected leaders, illegally funneled drug money and weapons into war-torn regions, and trained death squads and despots at the U.S. School of the Americas. Second, because Maduro, a former unionized bus driver and union activist, is carrying forward Hugo Chavez’s intentions of putting the working class at the steering wheel of governing the country.”

On February 19, AFSCME Local 3800 passed a resolution to denounce any U.S. sanctions, support for a coup, or other interference in Venezuela, mirroring similar moves by labor groups around the country and the world, including the San Francisco Labor Council, U.S. Labor Against the War, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Canadian Labor Congress, and the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).

The anti-war movement was out in force as well. “We must dispel State Department lies about Venezuela,” said CJ McCormick of the Anti-War Committee. “Maduro's election was fair until the United States saw a window for intervention. It's the U.S. that installs dictators, not the Bolivarian Revolution, and no country which has suffered U.S. regime change has ever become more democratic. It's the CIA's playbook to falsely claim a foreign leader is un-democratic in order to justify invasion.” McCormick added, “And this isn't even about democracy. It's about oil!”

The action was organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and endorsed by a long list of progressive groups.

The coalition plans to hold an emergency response protest if the U.S. sends in troops. In the meantime, the next protest has been called for by the MN Anti-War Committee for March 15 at 5:30 p.m. in front of Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office, 1200 S. Washington Avenue in Minneapolis, to draw attention to that presidential candidate’s support for the Trump administration’s coordination of the coup in Venezuela.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Labor #Venezuela #US #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #SEIU #AFSCMELocal3800 #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalitionMPAC #DonaldTrump #HandsOffVenezuela

Minneapolis, MN – Over 30 people joined a Minneapolis protest on October 5 to mark 17 years of the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

The protest, organized under the call of Stop the U.S. War in Afghanistan, was held in front of the offices of Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar.

The event was initiated by Minnesota Peace Action Coalition.

Jennie Eisert, a member of the Anti-War Committee, spoke at the rally, saying in part, “Afghanistan, along with Iraq, and the other wars that the U.S. government has endlessly inflicted on the world has shaped an entire generation. A child, born on this date in 2001, is now old enough to fight in Afghanistan and has grown up in an environment without privacy rights, in a time that has ‘normalized’ Islamophobia, hate and endless U.S. wars and occupation.”

Eisert went on to say, “What have been the costs of this endless war and occupation in Afghanistan? The U.S. government and other ‘official’ Western sources admit to at least 32,000 Afghan civilians being killed and another 30,000 being wounded directly related to the U.S. invasion. Another source, The Cost of War Project, more credibly claims that the U.S. invasion is responsible for at least ten times that number of deaths, 360,000 people killed in Afghanistan because of the U.S. invasion.”

Organizers announced plans for a Minneapolis protest to be held Sunday, October 21 in solidarity with the Women's March on the Pentagon.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Afghanistan #PeoplesStruggles #AfghanistanWar #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalitionMPAC

Minneapolis, MN – 75 people protested in front of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office near the intersection of Washington Avenue and Interstate 35W in Minneapolis to denounce Trump’s increasing attacks on Syria, Iraq, and the threats against North Korea. The protest came days after the Trump administration launched air strikes against Syrian military air base.

The protest occurred after a group of organizers met with two aides from Senator Klobuchar’s office. Marie Braun, representing the Twin Cities Peace Campaign, told the crowd about their efforts to pressure the senator, “The aides said that the senator is against the appropriation of a $54 billion increase to the military budget. She agrees that this money should be spent on human needs instead. She does not support the proposed cuts. However, she supports the strike on Syria. She believes that the strike was proportional.” The crowd booed loudly and Braun continued, “She believes it was Assad who used the chemical weapons. She says that they have proof and of course they always claim they have proof. So we raised the question about investigating this. The worst thing we could do is to go to war over a false flag operation like we have done so often in the past.”

Sami Rasouli, an Iraqi-American currently living in Iraq, reported to the crowd about his concerns that Americans are being fed another pretext as a justification for war. Rasouli said, “They needed lies when they sent Colin Powell to the UN to make his case which was a false flag operation. He justified the invasion and of course you know what the outcome was. The U.S. is dismantling the Middle East. The U.S. is playing the major role and keeps killing innocent people including children. These wars of destruction are launched by lies. So we have work to do to end these wars in the Middle East.”

Mary Beaudoin, a member of Women Against Military Madness, told Fight Back!, “There is a lot of terrible propaganda about Syria. People believe that this was actually a chemical weapons attack by [Syrian President] Assad. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s illogical. Previous claims, like the one in 2013, have been disproved. Syria has removed their chemical weapons. The U.S. has been trying to increase its intervention in Syria for years.”

Austin Jensen, a member of the MN Anti-War Committee, agreed, “It’s disgusting that Trump has decided to bomb a region that has been impacted by civil war for the last six years. U.S. involvement is not going to help in any way! We are also really concerned by the hostility with North Korea right now. This could be easily avoided by not trying to intimidate them.”

The protest was initiated by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC).

#MinneapolisMN #International #AntiwarMovement #Korea #US #MiddleEast #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #HandsOffSyria #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalitionMPAC #DonaldTrump

On Thursday, April 6, the Trump administration launched air strikes against Syria government military facilities. These strikes, carried out in response to allegations of Syria chemical weapons use, only make the world a more dangerous place.

Per a statement from protest organizers, “U.S. military intervention is not intended to help people, or to resolve internal conflicts of small nations in a humanitarian manner. U.S. intervention only serves the interests of the U.S. elite, who care nothing of Syrian people or the people of the Middle East.”

The statement continues, “The U.S. government has carried out an endless series of wars and interventions for 14 years in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. This new escalation will only lead to more dead, injured and displaced.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #US #PeoplesStruggles #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalitionMPAC #DumpTrump #DonaldTrump

Minneapolis, MN – An anti-war protest will be held on Aug. 9 in Minneapolis to speak out against the new U.S. military intervention in Iraq. The rally is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m., on May Day Plaza, which is located at the intersection of Cedar Avenue and South 3rd Street.

The protest comes after the Aug. 8 announcement that the U.S. has launched air strikes against targets in Iraq. These air strikes come after President Obama sent 300 U.S. Special Forces troops to Iraq as ‘advisers’ earlier this summer. The U.S. has also increased drone flights over Iraq in recent weeks.

The Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) is organizing the Saturday protest.

MPAC issued a statement that says in part, “The Obama administration and the Pentagon have launched a new round of military intervention in Iraq. This will not end well for the people of Iraq or the people of the U.S.”

“It was the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq that destroyed the country and brought about the current crisis. There is nothing the Pentagon can do with more air strikes and destruction to undo that or to bring about peace. The people of Iraq must determine their own future,” the MPAC statement continues.

The Aug. 9 protest has been initiated by Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and supported by a range of peace and anti-war groups in the Twin Cities area including Anti-War Committee, Twin Cities Peace Campaign, Veterans for Peace and Women Against Military Madness.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Iraq #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalitionMPAC