Milwaukee – 150 people protested here, March 19, to demand an end to the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Chicago, IL – 1000 people rallied and marched here March 19 to mark the eighth anniversary of the war in Iraq. A large contingent was organized by the Committee Against Political Repression (CAPR), which included many of the 23 persons subpoenaed to a grand jury for because of their anti-war and international solidarity efforts. Chants and signs carried the message that activism is not a crime. Seven of those subpoenaed are Palestinians. A large group of youth, mostly Arabs, carried a 60-foot long Palestinian flag behind the CAPR banner to show the unity of the Arab and Muslim communities with the fight to resist FBI and grand jury repression.

Minneapolis, MN – Anti-war events will be held in over 50 cities across the U.S. on March 19, calling for an end to the U.S. war in Afghanistan, an end to the continued U.S. occupation of Iraq and for a redirection of resources from war to human needs.

On Dec. 22, the U.S. House and Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. The bill authorizes $725 billion for next year’s Defense Department budget, including nearly $160 billion of what the Pentagon calls “overseas contingency operations” – Congress’s name for the U.S. wars and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Minneapolis, MN – Activists in the Twin Cities anti-war movement responded to President Obama’s Aug. 31 nationally televised speech on the U.S. war in Iraq at a press conference immediate following his address. Representatives from Military Families Speak Out, Women Against Military Madness, the Anti-War Committee, the Twin Cities Peace Campaign and others said that the U.S. occupation will continue and that the anti-war movement needs to continue the effort to get U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

_Interview with anti-war leader Meredith Aby _

Fight Back!: Many are saying that the occupation in Iraq is coming to an end. What is your view?

Albany, NY – The National Conference to Bring the Troops Home Now met in Albany, New York, July 23-25. Around 700 activists from across the country came together to discuss and debate how to build the anti-war movement and to plan for coordinated days of protest.

_Whistleblower fears for his life _

In April 2010, a video leaked from top secret military files revealed a 2007 U.S. Army helicopter assault on Baghdad where eighteen civilians were murdered, including two journalists from the news agency Reuters. The video created international uproar over the brutality of U.S. war on Iraq and infuriated the Pentagon.

Reuters journalists and children among the dead and wounded

The organization WikiLeaks released a leaked video today showing footage of U.S. soldiers indiscriminately gunning down Iraqis from an Apache helicopter gunship. In the video, U.S. soldiers are heard laughing while shooting down over a dozen Iraqis, including two Reuters journalists. After the initial shootings, a van stops by to pick up one of the survivors who is crawling away. As Iraqis load the wounded man into the van, the U.S. soldiers open fire again, killing more Iraqis and wounding two young children who were inside the vehicle.

Milwaukee, WI – One hundred people marched here, March 19, to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.