St. Paul, MN – Over 20 people held banners and signs as part of a national day of action, February 18, on the Snelling Avenue bridge over Interstate 94. The national call was issued by the United National Antiwar Coalition’s youth committee, Youth Against Empire, to show of international solidarity by demanding “No war with Iran! End the sanctions now!”

Demonstrators stood in below freezing temperatures for over an hour waving and holding banners, signs and flags on the bridge, while those passing by and below on I-94 honked their horns in solidarity with the people of Iran.

Tom Chisholm of Veterans for Peace explained the importance of why they need to continue to come out and show opposition to the endless U.S. war mongering, “All these wars are endless lies. The U.S. has been interfering with Iran since 1953, and it's all been about money and oil interests.”

Despite being in office for almost a month, President Joe Biden has not yet taken action to return to the Iran Nuclear Deal which was abandoned by President Trump in 2018. Instead, Biden kept the sanctions that include a vast economic embargo implemented while Trump was in office. U.S. relations continue to fray with Iran, putting the further risk of war on the horizon.

Sarah Martin of Women Against Military Madness said, “Today is an important action because Biden is going after Iran. He is refusing to lift the sanctions, which are illegal, and since the U.S. opted out of the Iran agreement we have no right to be dictating the terms of rejoining the agreement. So that’s why I’m here. We have to hold Biden accountable!”

The protest was organized by the MN Anti-War Committee and endorsed by Women Against Military Madness, the MN Peace Action Coalition, and the Climate Justice Committee.

#SaintPaulMN #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #UnitedNationalAntiWarCoalition

Denver, CO – On Saturday, January 20, the Denver Peace Council and Students for a Democratic Society gathered at the Colorado state capitol for a roadside protest against U.S. sanctions on Iran. The protest was called for as part of a national day of action by the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)’s youth committee, Youth Against Empire.

The action was called due to continued U.S. aggression against Iran. Despite campaign promises to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Biden administration has opted to largely continue Trump’s policies. The Trump administration had withdrawn from the deal in 2018, stating that the agreement did not go far enough to limit Iran’s weapon production. Trump, furthermore, had placed new “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran in 2018, which the Biden administration has only recently moved to lift.

Sanctions are a way to target the civilian population of a country, blocking food and medical supplies to countries in need. What makes this more significant is the presence of COVID-19. Since COVID first entered Iran, there have been a reported 1.54 million cases, leaving at least 60,000 dead. The sanctions against Iran have caused the country to go into an economic lockdown, worsening the effects of the pandemic. Lack of medical supplies and lab equipment continues to plague Iran, leading to the death of countless civilians. This makes it all the more important to demand that the Biden administration lift all sanctions on Iran, not just the ones implemented by the Trump administration.

#DenverCO #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #UnitedNationalAntiWarCoalition #IranSanctions #YouthAgainstEmpire

The coalition, comprising anti-war, peace, social justice and other groups, met in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 10.

The meeting agreed to hold a series of spring anti-war actions in Washington D.C. March 18-21. The March dates will mark 12 years since the start of the ‘shock and awe’ bombing of Iraq in 2003. The actions will culminate on Saturday, March 21 with a protest and march at the White House.

The actions, called Spring Rising: An Anti-War Intervention in D.C., will include educational forums, lobbying and as well as the protest at the White House.

A call issued for the events says in part, “A series of events will be held just as the ongoing U.S. war in Iraq – recently restarted in a new form – passes the 12-year mark since the March 2003 invasion.”

The call also says, “Spring Rising will comprise a number of events including a large rally and march, a teach-in, and lobbying. Its goal is to increase opposition to wars and militarism, and in particular to U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, as well as all U.S. drone attacks and surveillance worldwide.”

The schedule for events in Washington DC includes: Wednesday, March 18 – Peace gathering and fellowship. Thursday, March 19 – Lobbying on Capitol Hill, followed by a tour of the war machine: homes and offices of war criminals. Friday, March 20 – Afternoon and evening teach-in: Ending Current Wars, Ending the Institution of War. Saturday, March 21 – Protest at the White House, followed by a march.

Many of the endorsing groups have started to publicize the call for the March anti-war actions.

The ANSWER Coalition said in an e-mail announcement that it is “mobilizing its members, supporters and the larger movement to support these important activities that culminate in a rally and march on Saturday, March 21.”

The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) said in an e-mail announcement to its supporters, “On March 21, the anti-war movement will return to Washington, D.C. for a massive rally against U.S. wars.”

The UNAC e-mail statement went on to say, “On Jan. 10, UNAC joined many other major anti-war organizations at a meeting in Washington, D.C. where we planned for several days of action around the date of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. It is time that we are back in the streets in a big way. Please plan to join us, organize buses and car pools and save the date. For areas that are too far from Washington, D.C., plan your own action in your area.”

The UNAC statement concluded, “End all wars at home and abroad! Join us!”

The plan for DC antiwar actions was originally proposed by Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox and the Soapbox People's Network. It has been endorsed by Amnesty International Charlottesville, ANSWER Coalition, Antiwar.com, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Baltimore Pledge of Resistance, , CND CYMRU, CODEPINK, Granny Peace Brigade of New York City, KnowDrones.com, Maryland United for Peace and Justice, Military Families Speak Out, National Association Against Police Brutality, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Network to Stop Drone Surveillance and Warfare, The No Fear Coalition, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, PAX Christi Phoenix, Peace Action Montgomery, Peace Fresno, Popular Resistance, United National Antiwar Coalition, Veterans For Peace, Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, Voices for Creative Non-Violence, WarIsACrime.org, Washington Peace Center, Witness Against Torture, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, World Beyond War, and World Can't Wait.

For more information: http://SpringRising.org/

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #UnitedNationalAntiWarCoalition #SpringRising

According to the Pentagon, there are now four destroyers positioned near Syria – the Mahan, Barry, Gravely and Ramage. The Barry was used to fire cruise missiles during the U.S./NATO aggression against Libya in 2011.

The U.S. has produced no proof that Syria was involved is last week’s alleged chemical weapon attack near Damascus.

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency, on Aug. 27, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem stated the Syrian Armed Forces did not use the chemical weapons against their own people.

“Syria has immediately agreed to the UN requests and there was no delay, and I say to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that we are not obstructing UN inspectors' work,” Minister al-Moalle added.

Anti-war groups across the U.S. are organizing to oppose an escalation of the war on Syria.

On Aug. 27, the United National Antiwar Coalition issued a statement that noted, “The issue of chemical weapons is the cover the U.S. and its allies use to justify their illegal and immoral acts of war, just as the specter of WMD’s were used as the rationale for attacking Iraq. Their real mission, as in Iraq, Libya, and elsewhere, is to force regime change in order to control energy resources and get compliant regimes in the region. The claim that a bloody military attack on a country that poses no threat to the U.S. is needed to offer humanitarian assistance is the height of hypocrisy. The result of the ‘humanitarian’ invasion and ten-year occupation of Iraq is over a million Iraqi deaths and a country in ruin.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Syria #USImperialism #UnitedNationalAntiwarCoalition #chemicalWeapons

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement on Syria from the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC).

The May 2-3 and 4-5 nighttime bombings of Syria’s International Airport, military installations in a Damascus suburb and a military supply depot reportedly killed 300 people. The bombings were initially denied but then confirmed by Israel and soon after given the stamp of approval by the Obama Administration.

The previous week President Obama and Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel threatened to escalate U.S. intervention in Syria based on the unsubstantiated charge that Syria had employed weapons of mass destruction, in this case the deadly sarin gas.

What is incontrovertible is that U.S. allies in the region – Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – have supplied hundreds of millions of dollars in lethal military aid to destabilize the Syrian regime. The U.S. itself claims to have supplied some $400 million in “non-lethal aid.” The U.S., which funds Israel’s multi-billion dollar “Iron Dome” missile program, is the chief military force in the region.

No serious observers believe that Israel, the largest recipient of U.S. aid in the world, to the tune of $4 billion annually, acts without U.S. approval – the same is undeniable with regard to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. NATO ally, Turkey.

In the case of Qatar, a nation without an army, the U.S.-established and privatized Blackwater military installation is used daily as an operational base for the U.S. war in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

The U.S. Machiavellian strategy in Syria is first and foremost to advance its economic, military and regional “interests.” The latter includes deepening the isolation of Iran, whose oil wealth the U.S. corporate elite seeks to regain.

We recognize no rights among imperial nations to determine the future of any oppressed nation on earth, not to mention the modern day neo-colonial interveners. With regard to Syria, that right belongs to the Syrian people only.

The U.S. government is presently restrained by the mass antiwar sentiment expressed in repeated polls over the past two years. The most recent Pew Research poll indicates that 62 percent are opposed to any U.S. intervention in Syria. We must add to this the fact the U.S. bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the decades long U.S. support to the Egyptian Mubarak dictatorship as well as the constant drone attacks on Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia have earned it the deep hatred of the peoples of the Middle East and beyond.

The Iraq “weapons of mass destruction” justification for this still-raging war, that has taken the lives of 1.5 million Iraqis so far, and the ongoing war in Afghanistan, wherein the U.S. puppet Hamid Karzai regime is discredited around the world, has convinced social justice activists everywhere that the U.S. imperial rulers fight for oil and military-geographic advantage and not for peace and justice.

More than ever the U.S. and the worldwide antiwar and social justice movement must demand:

• U.S./Israel Hands Off Syria!

• Bring All U.S. Troops and Mercenaries Home Now!

• Self-determination for the Syrian People!

• No to U.S. Sanctions Anywhere!

• End All U.S. Aid to Israel!

• U.S. Out of the Middle East Now!

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Israel #Syria #USImperialism #UnitedNationalAntiwarCoalition

The statement addresses what is behind U.S. intervention in Mali saying, “It has long been suspected that the northeastern region of Mali that borders Algeria potentially holds vast oil and gas reserves. The recent confirmation of oil reserves near Tessalit, a small Malian oasis town about 40 miles from the Algerian border, has fed Western hunger for control of that area.”

The statement also notes, “The second reason for the intensifying U.S. interest is that Mali borders no less than seven West and North African countries, including Algeria, Niger, Senegal and Mauritania. Controlling Mali would give the U.S. an important hub from which to influence regional developments. This has been Washington's strategy for the Continent as a whole: to use economic aid and military training to develop close relationships with key governments and their militaries – such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda – so the U.S. can use them as a network of regional proxies to control all of Africa. This was the strategy that England and France used to control the Middle East after World War I, as well as the one England used with such success in India during that country's colonial period.”

The statement concludes by saying, “The U.S. anti-war movement, which has fought so hard to oppose U.S. intervention in the Middle East and other regions of the world, must take up the long-overdue struggle to oppose U.S. intervention in Africa. We must demand the dismantling of AFRICOM. We must oppose any U.S. or European-led intervention in Mali. We must call for the withdrawal of all Western troops from the Continent. We must demand Western reparations for the unimaginable damage wrought on Africa and Africans by centuries of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonialism and neocolonialism.”

The entire statement can be read here: http://nepajac.org/unac_africa.html

#Mali #AntiwarMovement #Africa #USImperialism #UnitedNationalAntiwarCoalition

Hands off Syria and Iran! End the Drone Wars!

We Need Jobs, Education and Healthcare, Not Endless War!

The ominous signs of impending war with Syria escalate. NATO is massing troops and military equipment on Syria's borders, and preparing to install missiles aimed at Syria. U.S. warships are stationed off Syria’s coast. ‘Special operation’ units are readied. The U.S. government has been supplying arms and logistical support to a few selected Syrian paramilitary groups favored by the U.S. as “replacements” for Assad. The media bombards us with arguments that support foreign intervention, supposedly for “humanitarian reasons”. Like WMD’s in Iraq, alarms are sounded, with no credible evidence, that Assad may unleash chemical weapons, thus establishing a pretext for invasion.

These are the facts that impel us to oppose any military, economic, diplomatic, or covert intervention aimed at controlling the internal affairs of Syria or any other country:

• The Syrian people in their majority, regardless of their political positions re: the current government, have rejected calling for foreign intervention, such as occurred in Libya.

• Sanctions harm the people of Syria by causing food shortages, power outages, and blocking the distribution of goods.

• The U.S. is directly involved in arming and training a few selected Syrian militias favorable to the U.S., contributing to the escalation of violence, direct foreign military intervention, and total destabilization. The people who always suffer the most are the people not engaged in the armed struggle.

• We see the results of ‘humanitarian’ U.S. wars and occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya today, where the people, especially women and children, are worse off than before, with millions dead, injured, and/or displaced, an infrastructure and economy in shambles, and where there is no peace. A country that has a river of Iraqi, Afghan, and Libyan blood on its hands has no right to tell other countries what to do.

• The U.S. government’s goals in Syria are to gain dominance in a part of the world that holds the vast majority of the known oil reserves and to gain strategic advantage as it seeks to isolate and contain competitors like Russia and China. The U.S. has no interest in democracy or the humanitarian well-being of a country’s peoples anywhere in the world, especially in areas where the U.S. has economic or strategic interests.

• The U.S. has a long history of thwarting the emerging economies and progressive initiatives of the third world while supporting repressive regimes.

While activists may hold different views of Syria’s internal political system, we must all agree that the U.S. government has no right to impose its will on other countries, especially those formerly colonized and exploited by the West. In all cases, we must support the right of nations to self- determination – that is to be able to decide on and resolve internal conflicts free from any foreign intervention.

The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) demands:

No U.S. or NATO intervention in the internal affairs of Syria!

No War! No Sanctions! No Intervention!

Self-determination for the Syrian people!

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Iran #Syria #NATO #USImperialism #UnitedNationalAntiwarCoalition

Tampa, FL – Joe Iosbaker, a spokesperson for the largest anti-war coalition in the U.S., the United National Antiwar Coalition, spoke at a press conference here, August 24, stating that the peace movement will be joining the mass march on the Republican National Convention. “The Republicans have never met a war they didn’t like,” said Iosbaker. “They support all the wars the U.S. government is waging right now. We are going to march on the RNC and say no to the wars being waged on behalf of the 1%.”

Jared Hamil, a spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the RNC, talked about plans to deal with Tropical Storm Isaac, and stressed that the march on the RNC will take place rain or shine.

Marisol Marquez of Students Working for Equal Rights stated, “Racist hate laws like Arizona’s SB1070 are a direct reflection of how the parties of the 1% are not serving for the people. The ‘legitimate rape’ comments from the Republicans just days ago, were so obviously anti-me, anti-women’s groups that make up our Coalition, like Code Pink and Pinellas Now, and generally anti-women. The parties of the 1% will stop at nothing unless we do something to oppose their oppressiveness. So on Monday, August 27, at 10:00 a.m. I will be joining the Coalition to March on The RNC to say no to their hateful agenda as well as to demand good jobs, healthcare, affordable education, equality and peace.”

#TampaFL #AntiwarMovement #RNC2012 #UnitedNationalAntiwarCoalition #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNC #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

Chicago, IL – “Not another Libya! Hands off Syria!” chanted the crowd as they picketed against war June 26. The protesters mobilized in response to the events of recent days, such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s lie about Russia sending attack helicopters and then Turkey’s convening of a NATO meeting after a Turkish fighter jet was shot down over Syrian territory.

Joe Iosbaker of the United National Antiwar Coalition told those gathered, “We’re here to oppose the U.S. and NATO’s threats of war against Syria and Iran. Today, NATO met and we are told to ‘be relieved’ that they didn’t call for immediate bombing.” Turkey had asked for a military response against Syria. “But there’s more to the story,” Iosbaker continued. “Turkey is amassing tanks at the Syrian border and has stated that there will be war if Syria dares to again defend their air space.”

The protest was called by an ad hoc group of activists and groups, including a large number from the Occupy movement. Occupy Rogers Park was an endorser of the picket.

Standing in front of the national headquarters of President Obama’s re-election campaign, Sister Kathleen Desautels of the 8th Day Center for Justice read a poem by a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay. She urged President Obama to listen to the poetry and recognize the humanity of those who the U.S. wages war on, imprisons and tortures.

A small group tried to disrupt the protest, calling for the overthrow of the Syrian government. Two people, including a member of News and Letters, at first tried to ‘mic check’ protest leaders as they spoke during a brief rally. When the disruptors failed to get any support, one of them forced his way into the middle of the speakers, thrusting his sign over their heads on the narrow raised platform. Joe Iosbaker explained to the crowd, “If anyone here believes that intervention by the U.S. will aid the people of Syria, they’re wrong. The U.S. isn’t threatening war with Syria because they care for the Arab people. The U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has cost the lives of one million, mainly Arabs.” He concluded, “Go tell the Iraqi people that the U.S. government cares for Arab lives.”

What explains U.S. intervention in Syria? Hatem Abudayyeh of Chicago, and a member of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, stated, “the U.S. wants to attack Syria because it has historically been independent and anti-imperialist, a supporter of national liberation struggles in Palestine and Lebanon, and closely allied with Iran. The U.S. does not care about the Syrian people’s will.” He added, “The U.S. wants to consolidate control of Middle East oil and other natural resources for the 1% that dictates foreign policy.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Syria #NATO #antiimperialism #UnitedNationalAntiwarCoalition

Hands off Syria and Iran! End the Drone Wars! We Need Jobs, Education and Healthcare, Not Endless War!

The ominous signs of impending war with Syria escalate. NATO holds a special meeting to respond to the downing of a Turkish fighter plane and issues threats of future action.

The U.S. media bombards us with alleged crimes of the Assad government, while the Syrian government claims all the unrest stems from an opposition armed, financed, and directed by the CIA, NATO, and neighboring Arab states to take over Syria.

The ‘facts’ we get are mainly unsubstantiated, sometimes proven to be fabrications and/or overblown. It is hard to sort out the truth about what is happening on the ground in and around Syria today. There are ‘facts’ we do know, however:

• Sanctions harm the people of Syria causing food shortages, power outages, and block the distribution of goods.

• The U.S. is directly involved in arming and training Syrian militias. Supplying arms to opposition militias in Syria contributes to the escalation of violence, the possibility of civil war and/or direct foreign military intervention, and total destabilization. The people who always suffer the most are the citizens not engaged in the armed struggle.

• The U.S. has no interest in democracy or the humanitarian well-being of any citizenry anywhere in the world, especially in areas where the U.S. has economic or strategic interests. We see the results of ‘humanitarian’ U.S. wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan today, where the people, especially women and children, are worse off than before, with millions dead, injured, and/or displaced, an infrastructure and economy in shambles, and there is no peace.

• The U.S. government’s goals in Syria are to gain dominance in a part of the world that holds the vast majority of the known oil reserves and to gain strategic advantage as it seeks to isolate and contain competitors like Russia and China.

While activists may hold different views of Syria’s internal political system, we must all agree that the U.S. government has no right to impose its will on other countries, especially those formerly colonized and exploited by the West. In all cases, we must support the right of nations to self-determination – that is to be able to decide on and resolve internal conflicts free from any foreign intervention.

The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) demands:

No U.S. or NATO intervention in the internal affairs of Syria! No War! No Sanctions! No Intervention!

#Syria #AntiwarMovement #antiimperialism #UnitedNationalAntiwarCoalition #MiddleEast

Emergency Protests Against the Growing Threat of War

Hands Off Syria and Iran!

End the Drone Wars!

We Need Jobs, Education and Healthcare, Not Endless War!

The growing threats of war against Syria are alarming. Recently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Russia not to get in the way of US backed efforts to force out the government of President Assad. The corporate media is making every effort to overwhelm us with calls for another “Humanitarian War”. The drum beat of aggression against Iran grows daily as well. The coup by the U.S. funded and trained Egyptian military, overturning the first popularly elected government in recent history is another ominous warning. The threat of new war is real while US drone attacks are an expanding form of anonymous war.

During the period from June 23 through July 1, there will be demonstrations, vigils and forum around the country to protest the growing threats of war. Please join the protests in your city or organize one in your city. Send information about your action to UNACpeace@gmail.com

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Iran #Syria #antiimperialism #UnitedNationalAntiwarCoalition

Fight Back! interviews Joe Iosbaker, the Chicago spokesperson for the United National Antiwar Coalition and a leader in the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda, on the massive May 20 protest at the NATO Summit. Fight Back!: Please talk some about what happened at the march on the NATO Summit and who was there. Joe Iosbaker: 15,000 people rallied and marched against the war makers’ summit on a scorching hot day here in Chicago. It was a very broad gathering, involving the Iraq Veterans Against the War, National Nurses United and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. We had music by Tom Morello, Rebel Diaz, David Rovics and Outer National. Carlos Montes came from Los Angeles, straight from the political persecution trial he is facing. Students came from Utah, Florida and all over the Midwest.

There were over 40 speakers. We had leaders of the anti-war movement in the U.S., Germany and Mexico. Representatives spoke from the movements of various oppressed nationalities: Filipinos, Palestinians, Puerto Ricans, and African Americans, including a taped message from Mumia Abu Jamal. They came from the immigrant rights movement; from the Muslim community and from among faith based activists, environmentalists, and LGBTQ activists. We had Afghans and Pakistanis. We had trade unionists, and of course, the Occupy movement.

After we rallied in the park, we then marched almost three miles to the location of the summit, McCormick Place. There 40 veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars mounted a stage and one by one, returned the medals they had been given for their service in the U.S. military. The young men and women all swore they wouldn’t fight again in wars for profit under NATO or U.S. flags. The bitterness expressed by the vets was the most moving part of the day.

Fight Back!: What was the political message of the protest? Iosbaker: The message had two parts to it: against war and against the attacks by the rich on the rest of us.

This was expressed in several ways. We raised several slogans, “Jobs, Housing, Healthcare, Education, Our Pensions, the Environment, Not War!” “No to NATO War makers! No to War and Austerity!” These slogans showed first, that we were marching against the wars by NATO and the U.S. against the people of Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan, and threatening against Syria. And second, we know that