Bonnie Weinstein spoke as a representative of Bay Area United Against the War at the March 15th antiwar rally in San Francisco.

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The United States Government is waging a war against the people of the world on three fronts, the War on Terror, the war on civil rights and human liberties, and the war on our economic well being.

The decimation of Afghanistan and the impending war on Iraq are part of the so-called “War on Terror,” the “War without End.”

Our government is spending trillions to build the most powerful and deadly weapons of mass destruction ever used on the planet. Our military has bases in over 100 countries with weapons of mass destruction everywhere. Our government has a long history of making deals with dictators. It spends billions arming Israel’s assault on the Palestinian people and fighting the indigenous people in the Philippines. Its military dwarfs the military might of all other countries combined!

The second front of this war is against civil rights and liberties. In the name of security the Congress enacted the Patriot Act, created the Office of Homeland Security, and proposed Patriot Act “2,” a bill that could take away the citizenship of people born in the United States. The government has routinely rounded up Middle Eastern people and held them indefinitely without legal counsel. They have created the prison industrial complex and increased money spent on prisons by over 400 percent in the last 20 years. They are federalizing our police force and training them for urban combat all in the name of fighting “terror.”

The third front of this assault has been waged on working people especially the young and the unemployed. Our government’s global military campaign will cost trillions while school budgets are slashed, libraries are closed, jobs are lost, medical care drastically reduced, little if any affordable housing is provided, and while the cost of higher education skyrockets. All of this is to fund the horrendous cost of world domination and control over oil—at the expense of the needy.

Our unified voice of protest is mandated by all of us here today! The Bay Area United Against War says:

No war against Iraq! Not in our name! We say no to racist scapegoating! No to the assault on our constitutional rights! We are united for peace and justice! We demand no blood for oil! Bring our troops home now! Money for human needs not war! We must act now to stop war and end racism!

We will not let up! We will not stop our protests!

Join us April 5th! Assemble at Mosswood Park in Oakland at 10 a.m. Then march to Frank Ogawa Plaza for a rally at 1:30 p.m.!

We want: Books not Bombs! Healthcare not Warfare! Rights not Racism! Jobs not Jails!