Inside the Belly of the Beltway Beast

For Immediate Release March 17, 2008 Contact: Malachy Kilbride, 202-841-2230 Jay Marx, 202-234-2000 Washington Peace Center Endorses War Resisters Action on Anniversary of Iraq War WASHINGTON, D.C. -- One of the region's oldest peace and social justice organizations, the Washington Peace Center, will join with one of the nation's oldest pacifist organizations this week to clearly state that there should be no more tax dollars spent on the war and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. On Wednesday, March 19, the War Resisters League will set up a nonviolent blockade of the national Internal Revenue Service headquarters in downtown Washington, as part of the day of actions against the war of terror. The Washington Peace Center fully supports this action, and will continue to highlight the immoral waste of U.S. tax dollars on violence and empire while the federal government continues to ignore serious social concerns at home. According to government budget rep...

The following UPI report was one of the best I saw. 10 were arrested inside the Senate on Wednesday, and about 18 were arrested outside Congress the same day! Both were beautiful actions, and I was proud to be part of the preparation and training. Protesters disrupt Senate floor debate Published: March 12, 2008 at 6:13 PM WASHINGTON, March 12 (UPI) -- Anti-war protesters temporarily halted proceedings on the U.S. Senate floor Wednesday by yelling slogans that interrupted budget resolution debate. "We are from the National Campaign for Non-Violent Resistance," the group chanted repeatedly as Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., was speaking, The Hill reported. Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., debate floor manager for the Democrats, asked the sergeant-at-arms to remove the protesters. Capitol Police officers removed at least 10 protesters from the chamber after they shouted at lawmakers to stop funding the war in Iraq. The disruption lasted about 10 minutes. Security offic...

By Michael Kramer New York More than 200 Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) supporters attended a preliminary Winter Soldier hearing Feb. 21 at the New York Society for Ethical Culture in Manhattan. The local event was successful in building momentum for the national Winter Soldier 2008 hearings, scheduled for March 13-16 at the AFL-CIO affiliated National Labor College in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Silver Spring, Md. Winter Soldier will feature testimony from U.S. veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and will expose the criminal nature of both wars. The political unity of military veterans from different generations was in evidence as IVAW, Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace shared the stage and program. Bill Perry, who testified at the original Winter Soldier hearings in 1971, described the war crimes he witnessed while serving with 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. Fernando Braga told about the anti-Arab racism that was part of his pre-Iraq ...