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Mass sit down protest at Piccadilly Circus on February 15

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
This action will take place after the offical anti-war demonstration in London. People are to assemble in Green Park by Green Park tube at 5pm then move on to Piccadilly Circus. This action is organised by ARROW active resistance to the roots of war.

This action is perhaps far more important than the main demonstration as politicans arent going to listen to normal protests, petitions and lobbys of Parliament. They are only going to take notice when we take part in active civil disobedience which will cause serious disruption to every day business.
http://www.j-n-v.org/

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ...And the brave armed forces of our nations will be standing watch on the walls, allowing you to protest in this manner. I hope you are grateful to them. You sleep under a blanket of freedom, woven of many different colors of thread, some of them stained with blood, or mud or desert sand. They all come together to form a blanket of security which, I daresay, you utterly take for granted.

    I hope you are proud of your efforts in protest, which cost you precious little in terms of personal risk or loss of life, unlike those Iraqi citizens who would protest against their government today.

    I am proud of those whose work truly represents a threat of loss of life, limb and all they hold dear. Their role is one of total commitment.

    It's like the difference between a chicken and a pig in the production of a ham and egg breakfast. You, as the chicken, are "involved in the process". The soldier, as the pig, on the other hand, is "fully commited".
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    *jumps up and down* Yes.:cool:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Funny then why the Iraqi citizens arent cheering an clapping for our boys to liberate then isnt it? lol.

    G8r, you sound like a perfect Armed Services tv ad. Blah blah, we do all the work, blah blah.. your freedom is our job... blah blha. Get off it. You do the work of politicians, whome you simultaneously call the problem. Yet when any other citizen criticisizes these same politicians you get on your high horse.

    Frankly im not surprised. Can't give any quarter to the idea that its your own leaders who are sending you off like lambs to the slaughter for any reasons other than the protection of our freedom. Surely you arent that gullible.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Funny how there is an inversely proportionate relationship between the brutality of the government and the frequency of the protests against that government. How many crowds of Afghan women did you see in the street marching against the Taliban in Kabul prior to about February 2002? Those gutless women. "C'mon ladies! Show a little backbone under that burkha!"

    Your attention to detail in your spelling is a reflection of your attention to the clarity of your arguments. Excuse me if I came from a profession where inattention to such small things can lead to death. Mine, specifically. BOOO death!

    First of all, my oath was to the constitution, a somewhat more constant and praiseworthy entity than some feckless politician. However, in our republic, the politicians I "worked for" served at the will of the people who elected them. Ergo, in our constitutional democracy, I worked for the people. I never once called the politicians in our country a "problem". They are a reality which our armed forces recognize as a mere symbol of the people of the nation. Recall that I never once criticized your right to protest. Civil disobedience was the first course of action our founding fathers took in the process of creating this country. Our institutions of government encourage it, and we will defend people's right to do so. That does not place those people above criticism when their views are wrong. In my opinion.

    And of course I don't believe we were, um...how did you put it? "led to the slaughter" to nobly advance the cause of freedom. I'm even too cynical for that. We have intense national self interest at work in our response to Iraq. That self interest is *(GASP*) partly economic BOOO economics! BOO companies that make money! BOO companies that employ people so they can feed their family and give them a quality of life! YEA UTOPIA where we all sit in a commune and just love each other. Give me a break. Don't call me naive or "gullible" without calling yourself the same thing.

    It must be painfully obvious to you by now that soldiers like myself and GreenHat and others here are unthinking, knuckle-dragging, troglodytes. We are mere puppets, pawns, tin soldiers, automatons who put on Holst's "Mars" and go marching off to war. We are not rational, thinking beings, who are concerned about the motivations of their government, who don't wonder why things are the way they are. :rolleyes

    Contrary to your misguided perception, on the basis of your implied sneer at our intelligence in viewing the world's events, the US Armed Forces are some of the most down-to-earth reflections of the society that any armed force has ever had. Our combat troops tend to have some of the highest test scores of all people entering military service, relecting great intelligence and common sense. They are very well-informed too. We do get cable on the TV in the barracks, you know.

    One more thing: They ARE duty bound to do what they swore they would do. And they will.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by G8rRanger
    One more thing: They ARE duty bound to do what they swore they would do. And they will.
    Well any war on Iraq will definitly produce extreme carnage and destruction on a scale not seen since the last Gulf War when tens of thousands of Iraqi people were killed and horrically maimed as well as hundreds of tons of depleted uranium shells ( a radioactive, cancer causing weapon ) were used! Also since the last Gulf War over one million people have died becuase of US imposed sanctions.

    Another war on Iraq will compound the suffering of the Iraqi people as well as causing tens of thousands more deaths and injuries and probably showering the country with more deadly depleted uranium! The soldier who go to fight in this war will be war criminals nothing less! Every soldier who has a consience should refuse to fight in this brutal unjust war!
    http://www.socialistworker.co.uk
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Clandestine
    Funny then why the Iraqi citizens arent cheering an clapping for our boys to liberate then isnt it? lol.

    :banghead:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Clandestine
    Funny then why the Iraqi citizens arent cheering an clapping for our boys to liberate then isnt it? lol. [/B]

    :lol: indeed.

    Do you realise how moronic that sounds?

    Funny how those under threat or torture and death don't mouth off at the oppressors?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Back onto the main topic of this thread. I think that sit down protest at Piccadilly Circus is an excellent idea and reall y will make a big impact if enough people go there so that we can block surrounding streets as well and bring a large part of one of the busiest capital cities in the world to a halt!

    The mainstream anti-war movement are not going to stop this war with their petitions, A to B marches and lobbies of Parliament. Only real direct action will stop this war.
    http://www.j-n-v.org/
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Perhaps it might sound moronic devoid of any historical context, but ill still wager that sentiment in the Islamic general public, within Iraq and the entire region is not welcoming another US invasion. Especially one which this time round looks to be a long term occupation of a sovereign state and the imposition of yet another puppet regime.

    So when this new installed government (which you could only consider democratic and representative of the people if you lived in the Twilight Zone) decides not to continue slurping out of our hand, do we invade again and put someone else in? How many times before this kind of domination is viewed by the world as illegitimate and contrary to all principles of international law?

    Having said that, the question of whether Saddam himself should be ousted is fairly commonly agreed on, but with an invasion force of 250,000 and the most sophisticated weaponry the world has seen? The terms "overkill" and "arrogant abuse of might" spring to mind.

    In the end, what will be will be and our arguments here wont change that fact. I will simply wait for the inevitable repercussions of the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld doctrine of warfare diplomacy to be shown as the leading factor in a region (if not a world) plunged even more deeply into chaos, insecurity, and violence in years to come. Then we shall see who will be saying " I told you so".
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Clandestine
    Having said that, the question of whether Saddam himself should be ousted is fairly commonly agreed on, but with an invasion force of 250,000 and the most sophisticated weaponry the world has seen? The terms "overkill" and "arrogant abuse of might" spring to mind.

    What, you expect it to be done with one man and a pea shooter?

    ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Clandestine
    Perhaps it might sound moronic devoid of any historical context, but ill still wager that sentiment in the Islamic general public, within Iraq and the entire region is not welcoming another US invasion. Especially one which this time round looks to be a long term occupation of a sovereign state and the imposition of yet another puppet regime.

    Do you think that with a man like Saddam in charge, that the Iraqis would even dare to object him?

    Same goes for Iran, those people are eagerly waiting for their liberation.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The problem Jacqueline is consensus. Do we think that as an international community we should intervene wherever there is a despot in power or the people of that country are suffering?

    This is a good argument but you could be walking into a moral and legal minefield. Is it correct to invade a sovereign nation to rid their people of ruthless leaders and end their suffering? Should we move into countries like Zimbabwe or Burma now and force democracy in? And most important, who determines what government is 'evil' and what isn't? I could see disagreement in many countries like Pakistan, Cuba or even democratically elected countries like Israel where you get half the world saying something must be done and the other half saying leave them alone. Even in Iran, whether we like it or not, a sizeable part of the population embraces the fundamentalist view of the clerics.

    Personally I would like to see despots like Mugabe out but I don't know if I could justify using force to remove him.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not many despots leave of their own free will though, do they?
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