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Your FeedbackHere's some feedback we've received through our site recently. The looting and sacking of Iraqi treasures with the foreknowledge of the US is an outrage beyond comprehension. I would hope that there would arise a worldwide hue and cry against this travesty, and that every antiquities market worldwide be scrutinized. A value needs to be placed in monetary terms to these objects, and the Iraqi people compensated immediately. - Maggie Schaefer Would it be possible to get transcripts of the speeches made at the Palm Sunday rally onto the website? I am particularily interested in what Carmen Laurence had to say. Hearing the speeches on streaming audio would be even better... Fantastic site, and it will become more important in the post-crisis grassroots building phase.
- michaelj War Crime Tribunal Update:"I was only following orders" whimpers Howard - Patou Clerc Please remember you are a federation of groups, you do not speak for all. I think it is outrageous the comments your "Leader" made about the Bombs not Books march. Everyone has their own way of resisting war, and young people do not share the same ideologies as older people. Books not Bombs are not the enemy, yet they were treated that way by the police. You are in danger of splintering a coalition by acting in such a way, you do not speak my views. Was this condemnation discussed and aggreed upon at a meeting of all the groups that are federated by the coalition. - Mark Focas My family and I were thrilled by the number of people who Walked in the first demonstration. The second Walk (Day the bombs dropped) was improved with the Marshals being there and the same for last Sunday week. Is it possible to have people strategically placed to encourage the chanting along the length of the group. It keeps the morale higher. Any music (too) would be G R E A T, but I might be asking too much. The atmosphere is wonderful -- friendly and a common purpose. To have so many people around one gives a great feeling of empowerment. Thank you for all your wonderful work in such a just cause. .- Jean Palmer Wear a black armband everywhere now !(especially great to see people with high public profiles wearing them ) As we go about our lives a black arm band serves to unite and remind us that something very frightening is happening on the other side of our world. Fabric strips, ribbon, tape -- you can use anything. Please put the above in your action / things to do section.And pass on to other organizations. - Glena your feedback page looks like an abandoned, dusty, disused display window. the same messages. no change. you want to look a little more lively there. .- Norbert Heimburger I urge you to visit the Naval War College's website -www.nwc.navy.mil/newrulesets and especially The PentagonÂ's New Map. All files associated with this site speak of organised globalisation (commercial interests), pre-emptive strikes (US-led military aggression), new world orders and structures. (Note that the Department of Defence has now been given a new arm - The Office Of Force Transformation). See also http://www.nwc.navy.mil/newrulesets/Indian%20Navy%20presentation.htm for slides. - Amanda Pahl I have interviewed a month ago, Hannah Middleton, and since then i have been following your Coalition coming events. I am pleased to know that; we in Australia are aware of the SUPER POWER GAMES, AND the most important is we are doing something about it. AS A FREE LANCE journalist reporter to Al-Arabiah, in Dubai, i am expressing your views out there to the Middle East. Keep up the good work, we will find a good ear to listen and consider your views. I like to see John Howard standing down. It will be a moment in History to celebrate -at last-Human values, not dirty politic. chadia,MBC, Al-Arabiah,sydney. - CHADIA Gedeon-Hajjar I am trying to form a squadron of cycylists to join in on the tail end of the rally on Sunday. The groups are CAW- Cyclists against war, and CAUCAI, Cyclists against unlawful cowardly attack on Iraq. If you would please add these groups to your list of peace groups, I would be very grateful. We plan on meeting at belmore Park, Sun 23/3/03, at 12 midday. Thanks for all your help Got to get the message across to all people this war is wrong, and illegal! - Tony Parker anthony_parker@agd.gov.au I'm proud of our Nation's effort to liberate Iraq from this grubby dictator. Since the end of the WW11 our world has gone socially and democratically backwards with one rotting despot after another. Your site's outlook and that of the U.N of containment of these individual rogue States has failed us all. .- David Redmond I was very dissapointed to last night see your media spokesperson strongly discourage students to be involved in the books not bombs protest to be held today the 2nd April! I thought that your organisation was one that encouraged unity between the anti-war groups. This is evidently not the case. The books not bombs organisation is clearly an organisation that should be respected and surely after the very targetted and provocative way in which the police approached the first protest there can be some more understanding shown by your organisation. Today was a very successful rally and I would hope that the Walk Against the War Coalition should publically support the efforts of all 'Books Not Bombs' protests in the future. You will not bring the troops home on your own... you must encourage unity or face losing the bigger battle. There were some 500 police today standing shoulder to shoulder... it is of great credit to the 'Books not Bombs' org. that the protest remained peaceful. .- Jeremy Stephens It is obvious that "violence" was the result of unjustified and excessive use of police force. The attempts by the NSW Police and the Carr ALP government to prevent further protests represent a serious attack on all of our civil liberties. Growing up in Queensland in the 1970s I experienced directly the consequences of when governments attempt to curtail civil liberties for their own purposes. I appeal to you to come to your senses. Work out if your loyalty is to peace and freedom or the state ALP government. Until then stop pretending to be some kind of movement that works for peace. Your actions only show that you are part of problem. .- Dr Ben Reid Lecturer in Development Studies University of Newcastle Let's hope our voice is heard because it's not Australia that chooses war-it's Howard. - Katerina All right, let me see if I understand the logic of this correctly. We are going to ignore the United Nations in order to make clear to Saddam Hussein that the United Nations cannot be ignored. We're going to wage war to preserve the UN's ability to avert war. The paramount principle is that the UN's word must be taken seriously, and if we have to subvert its word to guarantee that it is, then by gum, we will. Peace is too important not to take up arms to defend. Am I getting this right? Further, if the only way to bring democracy to Iraq is to vitiate the democracy of the Security Council, then we are honor-bound to do that too, because democracy, as we define it, is too important to be stopped by a little thing like democracy as they define it. Also, in dealing with a man who brooks no dissension at home, we cannot afford dissension among ourselves. We must speak with one voice against Saddam Hussein's failure to allow opposing voices to be heard. We are sending our gathered might to the Persian Gulf to make the point that might does not make right, as Saddam Hussein seems to think it does. And we are twisting the arms of the opposition until it agrees to let us oust a regime that twists the arms of the opposition. We cannot leave in power a dictator who ignores his own people. And if our people, and people elsewhere in the world, fail to understand that, then we have no choice but to ignore them. Listen. Don't misunderstand. I think it is a good thing that the members of the Bush administration seem to have been reading Lewis Carroll. I only wish someone had pointed out that "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" are meditations on paradox and puzzle and illogic and on the strangeness of things, not templates for foreign policy. It is amusing for the Mad Hatter to say something like, he must make war on him because he is a threat to peace,' but not amusing for someone who actually commands an army to say that. As a collector of laughable arguments, I'd be enjoying all this were it not for the fact that I know--we all know-that lives are going to be lost in what amounts to a freak, circular reasoning accident. - Submitted by Marie Baird As this war is for economic reasons I believe that the way to stop it is to CALL FOR A WORLDWIDE RESTRICTION FROM BUYING AMERICAN PRODUCTS This includes going to see American movies, eating at McDonalds, drinking at Starbucks etc. It does not even have to be a total ban. IT should be enough that every person that opposes the war halves their usage of american products. It is also a good way for people who for some reason do not attend the rallies to join the movement. Just think if 50% of the people do not support the war, and they half their usage of American products, American business should have a 25% drop in sales. THey will have to start lobbing for peace to save thier bussiness. Another good think about it is that you cannot be prosecuted from not buying something. - Bozena Sawa Why is your news not up to date? Dont you want to report the good news about Iraq and how it has been freed by the great satan etc. You hypocritical bunch of gutless pricks. There is no way this result would have happened in a million years without a war and anyone who says different is out of touch with reality. I hope it rains on whats left of your crappy little parade of fools. - j clarke In case you idiots haven't noticed, the overiding emotion of the Iraqi populace was jubulation that their country had been liberated from a tyrant who gouged out eyes, raped, tortured, killed and miamed anyone who opposed Saddam Insane in any way! The worst thing you clowns will experience is Bush won't invite you to his latest cocktail party! What would it have taken to get your attention as to the threat Saddam Insane presented --one or more missles aimed at this or another country laden with Sarin, some biological agent or worse yet A NUKE
- peter zaff It was written that Ismael, whom many Arabs claimed as their ancestor, was separated from his half-brother Isaac, whom the Israelites traced as their ancestor, so that he will not share any of the inheritance and the blessings which the latter will receive from Abraham, their father. The little boy Ismael and her mother ended wandering in the desert and led a wild life, but God did not totally abandoned them when they were distressed. The price of the separation however, was peace, even though the two little boys can no longer play together again. Now it is difficult to distiguish the modern Israelites from the Arabs, by blood. But we Christians and the remnant of the Jews may regard these remnant descendants of Ismael as lesser children of Abraham without any intention to offend, on the condition of respecting this wall of separation which in these days mean avoiding interference in their problems and respecting their belief which is more of being a way of life rather than a religion. This separation was disturbed in a lesser way after the death of Abraham. The Israelites flourished in Egypt(now an Arab republic) but ended up as slaves. They established their nation in Chanaan but they can't mingle with the people there whom they killed. And in their failure to exteminate them completely resulted in their exile to Babylon (modern Iraq) and became slaves. And shortly after the death of Christ, some apostles preached in those areas but later the lesser children of Abraham became more separated by becoming Muslims. Then came the Arabs'conflicts with the west where the Jews found haven. First was with the Crusaders, then the British design of the region that caused most of the conflicts there, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, including the establishment of Kuwait as a separate country, to fit the western interests. The Near East and the Middle East may be better off now peacefully if without these western interferences. The west may mingle with them peacefully only if invited, getting their oil fairly, and not interfering with their government and ways of life. In the World Trade Center tragedy, the only thing blamed by the Arab world exposed by the media was the American foreign policy which disturbed this separation. And the ultimate reason of Bin Laden was the presence of U.S. bases in S. Arabia which he considered as direct interference. Freedom must be earned. That is what the Americans kept on saying. Perhaps that is what they've got out of the Iraqi war. And the Iraqis did not earn their own freedom, so their liberation which is the only thing left for the Americans to justify the war, is in vain. - Daniel Cabanilla |
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© Walk Against the War Coalition 2003. |
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