[Peace-discussion] Fw: Experiences Confronting Congress & Confronting the War-

[Elena Everett]

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=0A=0A----- Forwarded Message ----=0AFrom: Sara Flounders <sara@wwpublish.c=
om>=0ASent: Friday, March 16, 2007 9:35:29 AM=0ASubject: Experiences Confro=
nting Congress & Confronting the War-=0A=0AExperiences Confronting Congress=
 & Confronting the War-=0AFeel free to circulate this message on to others.=
=0A=0AYesterday I was arrested in front of the Rayburn Building, =0Aalong w=
ith other members of Troops Out Now Coalition. We =0Awere protesting the Ho=
use Appropriations Committee meeting =0Ainside on the bill to continue fund=
ing the war. The =0Ameeting was a criminal conspiracy by a Congress elected=
 to =0Aend the war. The Democrats, who overwhelming ran and were =0Aelected=
 on the basis of opposition to the Iraq war have a =0Apolitical, moral and =
constitutional responsibility to act =0Ato end the war, not vote to fund th=
e war.=0A=0AWe are in Washington DC camped directly in front of the =0Acapi=
tol all week to demand that Congress =93Cut Off the War =0AFunds=94. We hav=
e erected tents, canopies, scaffolding with =0Agiant banners. Activists, st=
udents, and vets from across =0Athe country have traveled to the Encampment=
. Thousands of =0Apeople have come by to meet with us, join us for a few =
=0Aminutes, a few hours or all week. We are mobilizing for =0Athe big March=
 on the Pentagon this Saturday, March 17.=0A=0AEnclosed are links to daily =
reports, photos, pod casts, =0Ashort videos of the Encampment at the Capito=
l organized by =0Athe Troops Out Now Coalition to demand that Congress NOT =
=0Avote the funds to continue the wars in Iraq and =0AAfghanistan. Many mor=
e reports are available on the blog =0Aat:=0Awww.TroopsOutNow.org=0A=0AOr g=
o directly to the Encampment blog at =0Ahttp://encampmenttostopthewar.blogs=
pot.com=0A=0A=0AHere are a couple of 3 minute videos of the Encampment=0A=
=0AFirst video is up on YouTube at:=0A=0Ahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DI=
9BVu9o_vqo=0A=0AAnd the same video is also on PeoplesVideo.tv at:=0A=0Ahttp=
://peoplesvideo.tv/bm/detail.php?c=3D14&i=3Dea70380647bb3276550b2ec2ba8776d=
c7e91c5ff=0A=0ADay 2 Video is available at:=0Ahttp://encampmenttostopthewar=
.blogspot.com/2007/03/encampment-women-confront-iraqi-embassy.html=0A=0ACov=
erage of yesterday's arrest is available on Channel 7 =0AWJLA in Washington=
 DC=0A  =0A  =0Ahttp://dynamic.allbrittontv.com/watchvideo.hrb?s=3Dwjla&id=
=3D1582=0A=0A=0AThe women=92s action at the Iraqi Mission protesting the =
=0Apending execution of 3 women in Iraq is available at:=0Ahttp://encampmen=
ttostopthewar.blogspot.com/2007/03/encampment-women-confront-iraqi-embassy.=
html=0A=0ATake a little time and click on some videos, check out the =0Apho=
tos and take a minute to listen to a few of the pod =0Acasts.=0A=0APosted b=
elow is an article written last week on the role =0Aof the anti-war movemen=
t in exposing and confronting =0Acongress=92s complicity in continuing the =
war.=0A=0A> >=85 > > > =85. . > > > =0A=0AFROM PROTEST TO RESISTANCE=0AAnti=
-war encampment to confront Congress=0ABy Sara Flounders=0APublished Mar 8,=
 2007=0A=0ADuring the week starting March 12, a Congress elected to =0Aend =
the war in Iraq is expected to vote to fully fund the =0Awar. Its support f=
or the war is not hidden in some =0Aenormous package with hundreds of uncon=
nected measures. It =0Ais a vote for a special supplement of $245 billion =
=0Adirectly for continuing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.=0A=0ACongressi=
onal approval will leave millions of people =0Afeeling betrayed, frustrated=
 and angry. Bush, whom many =0Aconsider a war criminal, won=92t be the sole=
 owner of the =0Awar in Iraq. There will be heavy criticism in Congress of =
=0ABush=92s tactics and of the war itself. By the Democratic =0AParty leade=
rship deciding to vote to fund the war, the =0AIraq quagmire also becomes t=
heir war=97not just Bush=92s war.=0A=0AWhile this =93debate=94 in U.S. ruli=
ng circles over how to =0Aproceed with the disastrous occupation of Iraq is=
 carried =0Aon in Congress, will it be possible for the millions who =0Aopp=
ose the war on Iraq to bring their own demands to the =0Atable?=0A=0AThe ca=
ll for an encampment outside the Capitol starting =0AMarch 12 opens an oppo=
rtunity for just such an independent =0Aintervention representing millions =
of workers and =0Aoppressed people.=0A=0ACongress could act=0AThe U.S. Cons=
titution grants Congress the power to provide =0Afunds for government activ=
ities. Thus Congress can fund or =0Arefuse to fund a war. As a New York Tim=
es editorial =0Aexplained on March 4, =93There is little dispute that =0ACo=
ngress could, if it had the political will, end the war =0Ain Iraq tomorrow=
 by using its power over appropriations to =0Acut off funds to the troops.=
=94=0A=0AFor four years Bush=92s congressional critics have hidden =0Abehin=
d the claim that Bush=92s lies in the build up to the =0Awar deceived them,=
 and that=92s why in December 2002 they =0Avoted to give the president full=
 authority to wage war. =0AThey claim they gullibly accepted the lie that I=
raq was =0Ahiding and planning to use weapons of mass destruction.=0A=0AThe=
 leaders of the Democratic Party would like to evade =0Aresponsibility for =
their continued complicity with the war =0Aby drawing attention to a non-bi=
nding resolution that =0Acriticized the war that passed the House. The reso=
lution =0Ais so insignificant that it was forgotten almost before it =0Awas=
 voted on.=0A=0ADemocrats have proposed a whole series of other bills =0Aai=
med at drawing attention away from their fundamental =0Abetrayal: they are =
funding the war. Every major politician =0Ahas a plan. Some proposals reaut=
horize the war with new =0Aconditions and a plan for a phased withdrawal. O=
ther plans =0Atake troops out of Iraq and redeploy them to Korea, =0AAfghan=
istan or offshore in the Middle East. There are =0Acalls for more protectio=
n, more body armor, for more =0Aequipment for the U.S. troops.=0A=0AThe vas=
t majority of these same politicians claim they =0Awill vote for funding be=
cause they care about the troops. =0AIndeed, they will carry out their patr=
iotic duty and vote =0Ato give President Bush a special, additional package=
, even =0Aabove and beyond the already monstrous Pentagon budget, =0Aspecif=
ically to continue this hated war.=0A=0AOne congressional piece of legislat=
ion, HR 508, calls for =0Aending the funding and bringing the troops home. =
Only 10 =0Apercent or 40 members of the House of Representatives have =0Asi=
gned on to it, including a significant number of the =0ACongressional Black=
 Caucus members and some of the most =0Aoutspoken congressional opponents o=
f the war. But in a =0Acongressional atmosphere of heavy pro-imperialist =
=0Apressure, this bill too includes clauses that undercut =0Awhat is promis=
ed in the title=97=93Bring the Troops Home and =0AIraq Sovereignty Restorat=
ion Act of 2007.=94=0A=0AAs the debate on how to proceed with war in Iraq g=
rows =0Amore intense, the problem for the congressional opponents =0Aof Bus=
h=92s tactics is becoming more difficult.=0A=0AAs a minority opposition, th=
e Democratic Party could =0Acriticize Bush=92s handling of the war without =
taking =0Aresponsibility for ending it. Now the Democrats=92 dream of =0Aco=
ntrolling the majority in both houses of Congress has =0Abecome their night=
mare. The Democrats are caught between =0Atheir complicity with the imperia=
list bourgeoisie and =0Atheir promises to their anti-war voter base.=0A=0AC=
an mass action expose complicity?=0ACan a dramatic intervention from the ra=
nks of the =0Agrassroots anti-war movement expose this complicity and =0Amo=
ve the opposition to the war to a new level?=0A=0AEarlier protests have att=
empted to expose the role of both =0Acapitalist political parties in imperi=
alist war and of =0Aboth the executive and legislative arms of the bourgeoi=
s =0Astate.=0A=0AOn Jan. 19, 1991, just three days after the first U.S. war=
 =0Aon Iraq began with a massive bombing campaign, a large =0Aanti-war prot=
est of tens of thousands marched from the =0AWhite House to Congress to den=
ounce the war.=0A=0AIn January 2003, just weeks before the U.S. invasion of=
 =0AIraq, a massive demonstration of hundreds of thousands =0Agathered in t=
he field in front of the Capitol. Speakers =0Aand activists denounced both =
Bush for preparing the war =0Aand the congressional role in authorizing it.=
=0A=0ACongress=92s criminal support for imperialist wars is even =0Aclearer=
 today than at the time of those past anti-war =0Ademonstrations targeting =
the Capitol, because the majority =0Aof this Congress was elected on a wave=
 of opposition to =0Athe war amid Democratic promises that Congress would a=
ct.=0A=0AWhile even after Congress has already voted to authorize a =0Awar =
it is quite correct to protest there. This time =0Apolitical activists have=
 called for a determined challenge =0Aduring the very week that Congress di=
scusses and votes the =0Afunds to continue the war.=0A=0AThe House of Repre=
sentatives is scheduled to vote on the =0AIraq and Afghanistan war appropri=
ations during the week =0Abeginning March 12. The Troops Out Now Coalition =
(TONC) =0Aand many hundreds of activists and grassroots =0Aorganizations fr=
om around the country will descend on =0AWashington, D.C., to camp in front=
 of Congress to mobilize =0Aopposition to this vote.=0A=0AThe political dyn=
amic has changed. The encampment ensures =0Athat another war vote does not =
go unchallenged.=0A=0AIndependent, militant action not tied to either polit=
ical =0Aparty is the only way that millions of poor and working =0Apeople w=
ill gain an understanding of the system that =0Aoppresses and impoverishes =
them.=0A=0AThis challenge is taking root all across the country as =0Alocal=
 activists have targeted elected officials on their =0Arole in the war. Thi=
s is not polite lobbying. There have =0Abeen sit-ins, disruptions and arres=
ts at the offices of =0Aboth Republicans and Democrats.=0A=0ARecognizing th=
at it is sometimes more possible to use mass =0Apressure at the local level=
, activists have encouraged =0Acity councils to pass resolutions demanding =
that Congress =0Arefuse to fund the war. In New York City, Councilmember =
=0ACharles Barron=92s resolution before the NYC Council and =0ACouncilmembe=
r Chuck Turner=92s resolution in Boston are =0Aexamples of the growing chal=
lenge, as is a resolution in =0ADetroit. In San Francisco, the Central Labo=
r Council =0Apassed a resolution to support the encampment and to =0Ademand=
 that Congress refuse to approve the funds to =0Acontinue the war.=0A=0ABy =
calling for the week of mass actions at Congress, TONC =0Ahas actively enco=
uraged a move beyond mass one-day, =0Abi-annual demonstrations. Mass demons=
trations play a key =0Arole in moving people initially into action. But ser=
ious =0Arevolutionary activists and determined opponents of the =0Awar shou=
ld grapple with how to move the struggle forward, =0Atoward active resistan=
ce to the war, both in the streets =0Aand within the military.=0A=0ASome of=
 the actions most remembered in the Vietnam War =0Amovement, in the Civil R=
ights movement, in the Black =0ALiberation struggle, the union movement, th=
e LGBT movement =0Aand the women=92s movement were the sit-ins, shut-downs,=
 =0Atake-overs, seizures, encampments and job actions that by =0Atheir chal=
lenge pushed the movement forward.=0A=0AAlthough there have been a number o=
f demonstrations at the =0APentagon over the years, people remember the Oct=
ober 1967 =0Aevent even today because thousands of young people refused =0A=
to leave the site. They scaled walls, stormed the stairs, =0Alit bonfires a=
nd faced down lines of U.S. soldiers and =0Afederal marshals.=0A=0ADifferen=
t forms of political action are not necessarily =0Acompetitive. All have a =
place. The Troops Out Now =0ACoalition and many others planning actions in =
D.C. during =0Athe week of March 12 to 19 have called for full support =0Af=
or the March to the Pentagon. Along with organizing for =0Aactions on the w=
eek of March 12, TONC is organizing buses =0Ain more than 20 cities for the=
 Pentagon March.=0A=0AIt would further strengthen and re-energize the anti-=
war =0Amovement if the organizers of the March on the Pentagon =0Aurged all=
 participants who were able to stay in Washington =0Afor even a few hours t=
o join the encampment at the =0ACapitol.=0A=0AWhat is needed is growing num=
bers of people in the streets =0Ain united, determined and varied forms of =
independent =0Aaction confronting the whole capitalist war machine.=0A=0A=
=0APage printed from:=0Ahttp://www.workers.org/2007/us/encampment-0315/inde=
x.html=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A =0A______________________________________=
______________________________________________=0ABored stiff? Loosen up... =
=0ADownload and play hundreds of games for free on Yahoo! Games.=0Ahttp://g=
ames.yahoo.com/games/front
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<html><head><style type=3D"text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></he=
ad><body><div style=3D"font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;fon=
t-size:10pt"><div style=3D"font-family: times new roman,new york,times,seri=
f; font-size: 10pt;"><br><br><div style=3D"font-family: times new roman,new=
 york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">----- Forwarded Message ----<br>From: =
Sara Flounders &lt;sara@wwpublish.com&gt;<br>Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 9=
:35:29 AM<br>Subject: Experiences Confronting Congress &amp; Confronting th=
e War-<br><br><div>Experiences Confronting Congress &amp; Confronting the W=
ar-<br>Feel free to circulate this message on to others.<br><br>Yesterday I=
 was arrested in front of the Rayburn Building, <br>along with other member=
s of Troops Out Now Coalition. We <br>were protesting the House Appropriati=
ons Committee meeting <br>inside on the bill to continue funding the war. T=
he <br>meeting was a criminal conspiracy by a Congress elected to <br>end t=
he war. The
 Democrats, who overwhelming ran and were <br>elected on the basis of oppos=
ition to the Iraq war have a <br>political, moral and constitutional respon=
sibility to act <br>to end the war, not vote to fund the war.<br><br>We are=
 in Washington DC camped directly in front of the <br>capitol all week to d=
emand that Congress =93Cut Off the War <br>Funds=94. We have erected tents,=
 canopies, scaffolding with <br>giant banners. Activists, students, and vet=
s from across <br>the country have traveled to the Encampment. Thousands of=
 <br>people have come by to meet with us, join us for a few <br>minutes, a =
few hours or all week. We are mobilizing for <br>the big March on the Penta=
gon this Saturday, March 17.<br><br>Enclosed are links to daily reports, ph=
otos, pod casts, <br>short videos of the Encampment at the Capitol organize=
d by <br>the Troops Out Now Coalition to demand that Congress NOT <br>vote =
the funds to continue the wars in Iraq and <br>Afghanistan. Many more repor=
ts are available
 on the blog <br>at:<br><a target=3D"_blank" href=3D"http://www.TroopsOutNo=
w.org">www.TroopsOutNow.org</a><br><br>Or go directly to the Encampment blo=
g at <br><a target=3D"_blank" href=3D"http://encampmenttostopthewar.blogspo=
t.com">http://encampmenttostopthewar.blogspot.com</a><br><br><br>Here are a=
 couple of 3 minute videos of the Encampment<br><br>First video is up on Yo=
uTube at:<br><br><a target=3D"_blank" href=3D"http://www.youtube.com/watch?=
v=3DI9BVu9o_vqo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DI9BVu9o_vqo</a><br><br>An=
d the same video is also on PeoplesVideo.tv at:<br><br><a target=3D"_blank"=
 href=3D"http://peoplesvideo.tv/bm/detail.php?c=3D14&amp;i=3Dea70380647bb32=
76550b2ec2ba8776dc7e91c5ff">http://peoplesvideo.tv/bm/detail.php?c=3D14&amp=
;i=3Dea70380647bb3276550b2ec2ba8776dc7e91c5ff</a><br><br>Day 2 Video is ava=
ilable at:<br><a target=3D"_blank"
 href=3D"http://encampmenttostopthewar.blogspot.com/2007/03/encampment-wome=
n-confront-iraqi-embassy.html">http://encampmenttostopthewar.blogspot.com/2=
007/03/encampment-women-confront-iraqi-embassy.html</a><br><br>Coverage of =
yesterday's arrest is available on Channel 7 <br>WJLA in Washington DC<br>&=
nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><a target=3D"_blank" href=3D"http://dynamic.=
allbrittontv.com/watchvideo.hrb?s=3Dwjla&amp;id=3D1582">http://dynamic.allb=
rittontv.com/watchvideo.hrb?s=3Dwjla&amp;id=3D1582</a><br><br><br>The women=
=92s action at the Iraqi Mission protesting the <br>pending execution of 3 =
women in Iraq is available at:<br><a target=3D"_blank" href=3D"http://encam=
pmenttostopthewar.blogspot.com/2007/03/encampment-women-confront-iraqi-emba=
ssy.html">http://encampmenttostopthewar.blogspot.com/2007/03/encampment-wom=
en-confront-iraqi-embassy.html</a><br><br>Take a little time and click on s=
ome videos, check out the <br>photos and take a minute to listen to a few o=
f the pod
 <br>casts.<br><br>Posted below is an article written last week on the role=
 <br>of the anti-war movement in exposing and confronting <br>congress=92s =
complicity in continuing the war.<br><br>&gt; &gt;=85 &gt; &gt; &gt; =85. .=
 &gt; &gt; &gt; <br><br>FROM PROTEST TO RESISTANCE<br>Anti-war encampment t=
o confront Congress<br>By Sara Flounders<br>Published Mar 8, 2007<br><br>Du=
ring the week starting March 12, a Congress elected to <br>end the war in I=
raq is expected to vote to fully fund the <br>war. Its support for the war =
is not hidden in some <br>enormous package with hundreds of unconnected mea=
sures. It <br>is a vote for a special supplement of $245 billion <br>direct=
ly for continuing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.<br><br>Congressional ap=
proval will leave millions of people <br>feeling betrayed, frustrated and a=
ngry. Bush, whom many <br>consider a war criminal, won=92t be the sole owne=
r of the <br>war in Iraq. There will be heavy criticism in Congress of <br>=
Bush=92s tactics and of
 the war itself. By the Democratic <br>Party leadership deciding to vote to=
 fund the war, the <br>Iraq quagmire also becomes their war=97not just Bush=
=92s war.<br><br>While this =93debate=94 in U.S. ruling circles over how to=
 <br>proceed with the disastrous occupation of Iraq is carried <br>on in Co=
ngress, will it be possible for the millions who <br>oppose the war on Iraq=
 to bring their own demands to the <br>table?<br><br>The call for an encamp=
ment outside the Capitol starting <br>March 12 opens an opportunity for jus=
t such an independent <br>intervention representing millions of workers and=
 <br>oppressed people.<br><br>Congress could act<br>The U.S. Constitution g=
rants Congress the power to provide <br>funds for government activities. Th=
us Congress can fund or <br>refuse to fund a war. As a New York Times edito=
rial <br>explained on March 4, =93There is little dispute that <br>Congress=
 could, if it had the political will, end the war <br>in Iraq tomorrow by u=
sing its power over
 appropriations to <br>cut off funds to the troops.=94<br><br>For four year=
s Bush=92s congressional critics have hidden <br>behind the claim that Bush=
=92s lies in the build up to the <br>war deceived them, and that=92s why in=
 December 2002 they <br>voted to give the president full authority to wage =
war. <br>They claim they gullibly accepted the lie that Iraq was <br>hiding=
 and planning to use weapons of mass destruction.<br><br>The leaders of the=
 Democratic Party would like to evade <br>responsibility for their continue=
d complicity with the war <br>by drawing attention to a non-binding resolut=
ion that <br>criticized the war that passed the House. The resolution <br>i=
s so insignificant that it was forgotten almost before it <br>was voted on.=
<br><br>Democrats have proposed a whole series of other bills <br>aimed at =
drawing attention away from their fundamental <br>betrayal: they are fundin=
g the war. Every major politician <br>has a plan. Some proposals reauthoriz=
e the war with new
 <br>conditions and a plan for a phased withdrawal. Other plans <br>take tr=
oops out of Iraq and redeploy them to Korea, <br>Afghanistan or offshore in=
 the Middle East. There are <br>calls for more protection, more body armor,=
 for more <br>equipment for the U.S. troops.<br><br>The vast majority of th=
ese same politicians claim they <br>will vote for funding because they care=
 about the troops. <br>Indeed, they will carry out their patriotic duty and=
 vote <br>to give President Bush a special, additional package, even <br>ab=
ove and beyond the already monstrous Pentagon budget, <br>specifically to c=
ontinue this hated war.<br><br>One congressional piece of legislation, HR 5=
08, calls for <br>ending the funding and bringing the troops home. Only 10 =
<br>percent or 40 members of the House of Representatives have <br>signed o=
n to it, including a significant number of the <br>Congressional Black Cauc=
us members and some of the most <br>outspoken congressional opponents of th=
e war. But in
 a <br>congressional atmosphere of heavy pro-imperialist <br>pressure, this=
 bill too includes clauses that undercut <br>what is promised in the title=
=97=93Bring the Troops Home and <br>Iraq Sovereignty Restoration Act of 200=
7.=94<br><br>As the debate on how to proceed with war in Iraq grows <br>mor=
e intense, the problem for the congressional opponents <br>of Bush=92s tact=
ics is becoming more difficult.<br><br>As a minority opposition, the Democr=
atic Party could <br>criticize Bush=92s handling of the war without taking =
<br>responsibility for ending it. Now the Democrats=92 dream of <br>control=
ling the majority in both houses of Congress has <br>become their nightmare=
. The Democrats are caught between <br>their complicity with the imperialis=
t bourgeoisie and <br>their promises to their anti-war voter base.<br><br>C=
an mass action expose complicity?<br>Can a dramatic intervention from the r=
anks of the <br>grassroots anti-war movement expose this complicity and <br=
>move the opposition to
 the war to a new level?<br><br>Earlier protests have attempted to expose t=
he role of both <br>capitalist political parties in imperialist war and of =
<br>both the executive and legislative arms of the bourgeois <br>state.<br>=
<br>On Jan. 19, 1991, just three days after the first U.S. war <br>on Iraq =
began with a massive bombing campaign, a large <br>anti-war protest of tens=
 of thousands marched from the <br>White House to Congress to denounce the =
war.<br><br>In January 2003, just weeks before the U.S. invasion of <br>Ira=
q, a massive demonstration of hundreds of thousands <br>gathered in the fie=
ld in front of the Capitol. Speakers <br>and activists denounced both Bush =
for preparing the war <br>and the congressional role in authorizing it.<br>=
<br>Congress=92s criminal support for imperialist wars is even <br>clearer =
today than at the time of those past anti-war <br>demonstrations targeting =
the Capitol, because the majority <br>of this Congress was elected on a wav=
e of opposition
 to <br>the war amid Democratic promises that Congress would act.<br><br>Wh=
ile even after Congress has already voted to authorize a <br>war it is quit=
e correct to protest there. This time <br>political activists have called f=
or a determined challenge <br>during the very week that Congress discusses =
and votes the <br>funds to continue the war.<br><br>The House of Representa=
tives is scheduled to vote on the <br>Iraq and Afghanistan war appropriatio=
ns during the week <br>beginning March 12. The Troops Out Now Coalition (TO=
NC) <br>and many hundreds of activists and grassroots <br>organizations fro=
m around the country will descend on <br>Washington, D.C., to camp in front=
 of Congress to mobilize <br>opposition to this vote.<br><br>The political =
dynamic has changed. The encampment ensures <br>that another war vote does =
not go unchallenged.<br><br>Independent, militant action not tied to either=
 political <br>party is the only way that millions of poor and working <br>=
people will
 gain an understanding of the system that <br>oppresses and impoverishes th=
em.<br><br>This challenge is taking root all across the country as <br>loca=
l activists have targeted elected officials on their <br>role in the war. T=
his is not polite lobbying. There have <br>been sit-ins, disruptions and ar=
rests at the offices of <br>both Republicans and Democrats.<br><br>Recogniz=
ing that it is sometimes more possible to use mass <br>pressure at the loca=
l level, activists have encouraged <br>city councils to pass resolutions de=
manding that Congress <br>refuse to fund the war. In New York City, Council=
member <br>Charles Barron=92s resolution before the NYC Council and <br>Cou=
ncilmember Chuck Turner=92s resolution in Boston are <br>examples of the gr=
owing challenge, as is a resolution in <br>Detroit. In San Francisco, the C=
entral Labor Council <br>passed a resolution to support the encampment and =
to <br>demand that Congress refuse to approve the funds to <br>continue the=
 war.<br><br>By
 calling for the week of mass actions at Congress, TONC <br>has actively en=
couraged a move beyond mass one-day, <br>bi-annual demonstrations. Mass dem=
onstrations play a key <br>role in moving people initially into action. But=
 serious <br>revolutionary activists and determined opponents of the <br>wa=
r should grapple with how to move the struggle forward, <br>toward active r=
esistance to the war, both in the streets <br>and within the military.<br><=
br>Some of the actions most remembered in the Vietnam War <br>movement, in =
the Civil Rights movement, in the Black <br>Liberation struggle, the union =
movement, the LGBT movement <br>and the women=92s movement were the sit-ins=
, shut-downs, <br>take-overs, seizures, encampments and job actions that by=
 <br>their challenge pushed the movement forward.<br><br>Although there hav=
e been a number of demonstrations at the <br>Pentagon over the years, peopl=
e remember the October 1967 <br>event even today because thousands of young=
 people refused
 <br>to leave the site. They scaled walls, stormed the stairs, <br>lit bonf=
ires and faced down lines of U.S. soldiers and <br>federal marshals.<br><br=
>Different forms of political action are not necessarily <br>competitive. A=
ll have a place. The Troops Out Now <br>Coalition and many others planning =
actions in D.C. during <br>the week of March 12 to 19 have called for full =
support <br>for the March to the Pentagon. Along with organizing for <br>ac=
tions on the week of March 12, TONC is organizing buses <br>in more than 20=
 cities for the Pentagon March.<br><br>It would further strengthen and re-e=
nergize the anti-war <br>movement if the organizers of the March on the Pen=
tagon <br>urged all participants who were able to stay in Washington <br>fo=
r even a few hours to join the encampment at the <br>Capitol.<br><br>What i=
s needed is growing numbers of people in the streets <br>in united, determi=
ned and varied forms of independent <br>action confronting the whole capita=
list war
 machine.<br><br><br>Page printed from:<br><a target=3D"_blank" href=3D"htt=
p://www.workers.org/2007/us/encampment-0315/index.html">http://www.workers.=
org/2007/us/encampment-0315/index.html</a><br><br></div></div><br></div></d=
iv><br>=0A=0A<hr size=3D1><a href=3D"http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/index;_yl=
c=3DX3oDMTFvbGNhMGE3BF9TAzM5NjU0NTEwOARfcwMzOTY1NDUxMDMEc2VjA21haWxfdGFnbGl=
uZQRzbGsDbWFpbF90YWcx?link=3Dask&sid=3D396545367">Food fight?</a> Enjoy som=
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luZQRzbGsDbWFpbF90YWcx?link=3Dask&sid=3D396545367">Yahoo! Answers Food & Dr=
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