September 2007: Toward an Iraq Moratorium Day

UPDATE  (J25) :  It appears search engines are bringing people looking for information on Iraq Moratorium Day to this post.  For more current and definite information about Iraq Moratorium Day, see my newer post or better yet, visit the official website of Iraq Moratorium Day and take the pledge to act on September 21!
UPDATE (M21): With the apparent decision of the Democrats to buckle to Bush on the Iraq supplemental funding bill, the need for the most inclusive and extensive antiwar mobilization possible is more evident than ever. Only we the people can stop the war.
<> According to syndicated columist Dale McFeatters:

In Washington, there’s a sense that whole issues of the war will come to a head in September…

The month was specifically referenced 15 times by Tony Snow and the White House reporters at the press secretary’s briefing last Thursday.
In September, members of Congress will be returning from their long August recess, when they will have heard an earful from constituents…

September is the end of the federal fiscal year, and soon after that the Bush administration will have to submit another war-funding bill under vastly changed political circumstances.
Most importantly, in September the U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, is to submit a report on the progress of the war and the effectiveness of the Baghdad security plan…

September is shaping up as the make-or-break month on the war for the Bush administration.

When official Washington talks about “timelines” and “benchmarks” in Iraq, it is almost always something being demanded of their client regime in Baghdad. Have they this time, perhaps inadvertantly, just set “timelines” and “benchmarks” for the domestic political debate on the Iraq War? Can the antiwar movement use statements made now to finally hold the Washington establishment’s feet to the fire? Is it time to begin organizing for a national Iraq War Moratorium Day in September?

 

September 2007, meet October, 1969?

 

October 15, 1969:

The Peace Moratorium is believed to have been the largest demonstration in US history with an estimated two million people involved.

 

In towns and cities throughout the US, students, working men and women, school children, the young and the old, took part in religious services, school seminars, street rallies and meetings.

Supporters of the Vietnam Moratorium wore black armbands to signify their dissent and paid tribute to American personnel killed in the war since 1961.

The focal point was the capital, Washington DC, where more than 40 different activities were planned and about 250,000 demonstrators gathered to make their voices heard.

 

Like the Moratorium of October 15, 1969, an Iraq Moratorium day should engage in events on both the national and local scales, with a variety of publicized actions that offer a range of levels of participation for war opponents, everything from wearing a black item (ribbon, armband, what have you) to rallies, teach-ins, house parties, conferences, conference calls, flashmobs, marches, concerts, work and school walkouts, everything up to and including sit-ins and other acts of direct action. Creative media approaches could be included, coordinated efforts to call-in to talk shows, release of antiwar web videos on YouTube etc, local and national press conferences and creative events to catch the attention of the visual media. The communciations revolution gives today’s movement a far more diverse set of actions and means of communciating the message than existed in 1969.

The plusses of a September Moratiorium Day are clear. By coordinating the date of the mobilization with the political calendar, it gives the antiwar movement an opportunity to act with the highest degree of impact on the political process. By engaging larger number of the antiwar supermajority in simple acts of protest, those of us with a higher level of involvment and commitment are freed to move from protest to resistance. Being September, students will have rteturned to school, and widespread teach-ins and demonstrations on campuses could begin broadening and deepening the antiwar potential that exists among the young. The challenges are also obvious, first of all overcoming the inertia, the fatalism, that has to date limited active participation in public efforts to stop the war. The conflicting agendas of the various strands of antiwar opinion and organizations is another hurdle, though the inclusive nature of the events offers a “let one hundreds flowers bloom” answer to taht problem.

There are four months between now and September, that’s sufficient time to organize an extremely successful event. But if it is to be, the work must begin now.

UPDATE June 7 : The work HAS begun, and we’re working hard to put in place an internet/blogosphere team to help make Iraq Moratorium Day a reality. If you’re interested in helping out or finding out more, email me at warstopper2007(ATSIGN)aolDOTcom.