March 15 2009: Stop the Wars at Home and Abroad: Keep Oregon's Guard Home from Iraq and Afghanistan

Contacts: Dan Handelman, Peace and Justice Works (503) 236-3065, iraq@pjw.info
William Seaman, Portland Peaceful Response Coalition (503) 344-5078, pprc@riseup.net

Event: March and rally: "Stop the Wars at Home and Abroad: Keep Oregon's Guard Home from Iraq and Afghanistan"
Date: Sunday, March 15th, 2009
Time: 1:00 PM
Place: Steps of the State Capitol & Capitol Mall, downtown Salem, Oregon.

Peace Rally and March Planned
at Capitol in Salem Sunday, March 15, 2009
Across Oregon, peace and social justice groups mobilize to mark 6th anniversary of Iraq war and push state legislators to keep Guard home

Dozens of peace and social justice organizations across the state are gearing up for a big action in Salem this March to call for an end to the US war in Iraq and to urge Oregon State legislators to stop the Spring deployment of the National Guard to Iraq.

The action, titled "Stop the Wars at Home and Abroad: Keep Oregon's Guard Home from Iraq and Afghanistan" is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 15th, at 1:00 PM, with a rally at the steps of the Capitol, followed by a march through downtown Salem. The full call to action for the event is listed below.

"This will be a great opportunity to show both the Obama administration and the Legislature that lots of Oregonians still want peace and are willing to work for it," said Peter Bergel, Director of Oregon PeaceWorks, one of the over 40 organizations co-sponsoring the March 15th action at the state Capitol.

The timing corresponds with the Rural Organizing Project's Annual Rural Caucus & Strategy Session which is held March 15th and 16th in Salem. The ROP gathering includes a statewide strategic session on Sunday, March 15th, taking place before and continuing after the peace march and rally, and a legislative visit day on Monday, the 16th, with the goal of informing legislators of Oregon's priorities for the 2009 legislature.

"Sending half the Oregon guard to Iraq is a big hardship for them and for Oregon," said Curt Bell, a member of the PDX Peace Coalition, another co-sponsor for the March 15th peace rally. "Some of them might not come back and they are needed here at home." Bell emphasized that the United States should be bringing troops home from Iraq, not sending more. "The authorization to send the Oregon Guard to Iraq and Afghanistan this spring is not constitutionally valid and our state legislature needs to step up and say no to deployment."

"We face severe economic dislocations in the coming months, with millions losing their jobs, their health insurance and their homes," said William Seaman, a volunteer with Portland Peaceful Response Coalition, "Our continued presence in Iraq and Afghanistan is the problem, not the solution to the ongoing violence there, and the astronomical spending on these wars and occupations would bring greater security worldwide if it were directed to creating jobs, rebuilding our collapsing infrastructure, and helping to put the country's economy back on track."

"The selection of our state capitol as the location for this protest was very deliberate," said Leah Bolger of Veterans for Peace Chapter 132 in Corvallis. "Congress has ignored the public call for a return of our troops from Iraq--now the people are turning to their state legislature to demand that they step up and challenge the illegal deployment of our National Guard troops. We want our country to stop spending $12 billion a month on Iraq and use that money to take care of human needs here at home," added Bolger, who also serves as National Vice-President of Veterans for Peace and is co-coordinator of the Campaign to Keep Oregon's Guard in Oregon.

Co-sponsors for the March 15th action in Salem include Peace & Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group (503-236-3065), Portland Peaceful Response Coalition (www.pprc-news.org), East Timor Action Network/Portland, War Resisters League-Portland (503-238-0605), PDX Peace Coalition (www.pdxpeace.org), Metanoia Peace Community-United Methodist Church, Rural Organizing Project, Oregon Wildlife Federation, Peace Justice and Environment Committee of the Portland Mennonite Church, Progressive Responses--a program of Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC), Oregon PeaceWorks (503-585-2767-Salem), Families for Peace, Veterans for Peace Chapter 132 (Corvallis), American Friends Service Committee, Portland Alliance (media cosponsor), Alliance for Democracy - Portland Chapter, Portland Solidarity (portlandsolidarity@post.com), Silverton People for Peace, Veterans for Peace Chapter 72 (Portland), Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights (www.auphr.org), Veterans for Peace Chapter 141 (Bandon), Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Yamhill Valley Peacemakers, Willamette Reds, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom-Portland Chapter, Street Roots, and KBOO Community Radio 90.7FM Portland/100.7FM Corvallis/91.9FM Hood River (www.kboo.fm).

Endorsers include Love Makes a Family Inc, Code Pink Portland, Tikkun Olam committee of P'nai Or, Women in Black, Rogue Valley Veterans for Peace Chapter 156 (Grants Pass), West Hills Friends Church, Freedom Socialist Party (503-240-4662), Stand for Peace (Cottage Grove), Central Oregon Peace Network (Bend), Institute for Peace and Justice at Linn Benton Community College, Oregon Green Energy Coalition, Radical Women, Portland Jobs with Justice, Eugene PeaceWorks and others.

For more information, please call Peace & Justice Works at 503-236-3065.

The full call to action for the March 15 event:

Stop the Wars at Home and Abroad: Keep Oregon's Guard Home from Iraq and Afghanistan

-- Money for jobs, education, healthcare and housing, not war!

-- End the Siege of Gaza! A Just Peace for Palestine-Israel!

-- Say NO to Scapegoating! Protect Immigrant Rights!

Our country needs a renewed and vigorous commitment to human rights, implementing UN resolutions treating rape as a war crime and supporting women as peace-builders. Never again the scourge of torture. Never again the secret prisons and renditions, the knock on the door in the dead of night. Those responsible for the crimes must be brought to justice. And the Oregon Guard must stay in Oregon!

As our country and our world slide deeper into recession, half of the Oregon Guard have been ordered to Iraq in an immoral war that Oregonians oppose. The Oregon Guard's place is at home, providing service for communities threatened by natural disasters.

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Page posted February 14, 2009, last updated March 13, 2009

Peace Rally and March Planned at Capitol in Salem Sunday, March 15, 2009 Across Oregon, peace and social justice groups mobilize to mark 6th anniversary of Iraq war and push state legislators to keep Guard home

Peace Rally and March Planned
at Capitol in Salem Sunday, March 15, 2009
Across Oregon, peace and social justice groups mobilize to mark 6th anniversary of Iraq war and push state legislators to keep Guard home