If U.S.-led forces attack Iraq, antiwar activists in Philadelphia and around the country plan to blockade federal buildings and disrupt major business districts with large protests and nonviolent civil disobedience....In California, dozens of protesters plan to infiltrate Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central coast, hoping to disrupt work. A San Francisco-area collective called Direct Action to Stop the War plans to blockade the TransAmerica Pyramid, the Pacific Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve in San Francisco.... Anyone setting foot on a U.S. military installation should face serious consequences (other than a beating by the MP's): at what point in time do the laws regarding sedition & treason come into play? "My real hope is that the war doesn't start," said David Taylor of Direct Action to Stop the War. "But if the Bush administration goes ahead despite worldwide popular opinion, then our goal is to shut down the capitalist machine that drives the war."... http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/5297555.html And from the Washington Post: The organizers say the February rallies were first agreed upon at a small strategy session in Florence in November. But their roots go back to the days just after Sept. 11, 2001, when activists say they began meeting to map out opposition to what they anticipated would be the U.S. military response to the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon. You'll notice that they couldn't even wait for the WTC ruins to stop smoldering before planning their "opposition"... In Britain, according to organizer John Rees, several hundred activists first got together the weekend after Sept. 11. Most were from the hard core of the British left -- the Socialist Workers Party, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the anti-capitalist organization Globalized Resistance, along with Labor Party legislators Jeremy Corbyn and George Galloway. Within weeks, they had combined with representatives from two more important elements -- Britain's growing Muslim community and its militant trade unions. By October they had a name: the Stop the War Coalition.... So we've got Stalinists & Islamists working together. How pleasant. Campaigns to disrupt U.S. forces have also been launched. Besides the dozens of activists who have traveled to Baghdad to volunteer as "human shields" against a U.S. attack, nine Dutch antiwar activists were arrested Tuesday for chaining themselves to the gates of a U.S. military center outside Rotterdam. In Italy, hundreds of protesters occupied train stations and railway tracks for nearly a week to delay trains carrying U.S. military equipment from northern Italy to the Camp Darby military base near Pisa. Irish protesters broke through the perimeter fence at Shannon airport in January and damaged a U.S. Navy plane, causing other planes to divert their flights and refuel elsewhere. Trade union movements in Italy and France are pledging work disruptions and considering general strikes if war breaks out. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30813-2003Mar2.html
Idiocy. I propose that any of these saboteurs caught on a military base be tortured, then shot in front of any family they might have.
i respectfully disagree...but i do think they should be tried to the fullest extent of the law for their crimes.
Whatever. Hope they understand that while we are at war all of our military bases are going to be on very high alert (I'm even going to be locked down), and that security will shoot to kill. And I mean that - deadly force will be authorized (already is where I'm at).
They should be prosecuted under the current law. If they commit treason they should be prosecuted under that law. We have laws in place, use em. DD
Yah....but you only get to shoot and kill over one protest before those orders will get nixed, so make sure you get a group of them.
Hmmm...realistic goal These guys are just morons and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. You know I could understand if they started doing this if we went out of our way to bomb civilians and conquer other nations, but we aren't. We are saving them, as we did in Afghanistan. Hell we aren't even at war yet. They don't get it and they are drama queens. I am so f'king sick of these anti-war socialist/communist people who just spout rhetoric and make baseless claims. They made these same cries in Afghanistan, but since we didn't kill many civilians then they shut up about Afghanistan and started saying we were going to kill hundreds of thousands in Iraq, which just won't happen. I see these assholes on campus all the time and they are just morons. If you are anti-war and have a solid argument against war then I am all for you protesting, but so many of these people from groups like these just say crap because they like how it sounds and it really pisses me off.
And Im sure these guys don't enjoy the benefits of living in this "capitalist machine" Im against the war but if we do have a war, I sure as hell don't want these Crazos risking the lives of our soldiers.
So if the majority of the country was against de-segregation, should lawmakers abide by their wishes. Im against the war but lawmakers don't need a poll before taking on an issue. If the war goes badly (which is my biggest fear), the proponents will have hell to pay. If the war goes well, they'll be treated as geniuses. Either way, I just hope we keep casualties to a minimum.
Haven't you guys ever read or watched anything about the 60's? This isn't exactly a revolutionary idea. If they break the law, arrest them. End of story.
Of course, depending on what poll one looks at (and what the question is), a majority do support going to war with Iraq. But I would then once again agree with RIET that the majority isn't always right. As for the sabotage itself, I wonder if the government should go out and just arrest these people now on conspiracy and RICO charges.
We'll see how many civilians die once the Iraqui soldiers take refuge in the cities and among the civilians. Who will we shoot at then when we can't tell a civilian from a soldier? We always lose at guerilla warfare...no matter our technological advancements. Anyone remember vietnam? We can't fight them if we don't know where they are.
Anyone remember how fast the Iraqi soldiers surrendered in the 1st Gulf War? These guys are not motivated to fight like the people of Vietnam were. These are two completely different situations.
Plus, Viet nam was a war of containment. Had the goal been a regime change in the North, the result might well have been very different.
