Brooklyn Asks - "Which Way Afghanistan?"

Feb 9, 2010

A large crowd of Brooklyn residents filled the Park Slope United Methodist Church last night. It was one of the city's coldest winters in recent memory but that didn't stop people from turning out to discuss the escalating war in Afghanistan and its impact on the world, the country and, more immediately, on life in their own city and neighborhoods.

A large crowd of Brooklyn residents filled the sanctuary at the Park Slope United Methodist Church.

Initiated by the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID) and supported by Brooklyn For Peace along with a dozen or so of the borough's peace and justice organizations, the forum featured Congress member Jerrold Nadler and reporter Anand Gopal who had been embedded with the Taliban and had dispatched many reports from that beleaguered country.

The flyer for the meeting.

The meeting was opened by CBID chair, Lucy Koteen, who welcomed people and described the work of her organization, which is one of Brooklyn's most active Democratic reform clubs with a long history of progressive activism. She then turned the meeting over to Brooklyn For Peace's Vice Chair, Rusti Eisenberg, who introduced the two speakers. Eisenberg is one of the founders of Brooklyn For Peace and a professor of history at Hofstra University.

CBID Chair, Lucy Koteen, opens the Afghan forum meeting. Seated, left to right, Rusti Eisenberg, journalist, Anand Gopal, Congress member Jerrold Nadler.

BFP Chair, Rusti Eisenberg, introduces the speakers.

Representative Nadler read the statement he had made to Congress in opposing President Obama's announcement of escalation and took to task the notion that our country should use massive military occupation of foreign lands in order to deal with what even the CIA has said is "a hundred or so Al Queyda" remaining in Afghanistan. He deplored the fabulous expense of dependence on military solutions which, he said, is wreaking havoc on our ability to solve the huge problems we confront at home. In the long run, he pointed out, using military occupation of countries produces the opposite of what we hope to accomplish since it inspires hatred of the U.S. and helps to fill the ranks of extremist organizations aimed at doing harm to the United States.

Nadler -- these endless, expensive military adventures make it impossible to solve pressing problems at home.

As if to prove Nadler's point, the next speaker, journalist Anand Gopal, related an experience he reported on when he was embedded with the Taliban as a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor. He had interviewed a young, teenage Afghan boy imprisoned for an attempted suicide bombing. The boy's experience, as related by Gopal, horrified the audience and was symbolic of the problems resulting from the massive U.S. military presence in Afghanistan ---

Walking home one day, the young man witnessed a crowd in front of his house or what used to be his house. It had been reduced to rubble from a U.S. bomb attack. Sifting through the rubble for a trace of his family of sixteen (all sixteen innocents had perished in the attack) he came across the severed head of his mother.

This propelled the young man into a traumatized, almost catatonic state, and for days he wandered the town aimlessly, clutching his mother's head in his arms. No one could persuade him to let loose of the head and permit it to be buried. Finally, a village elder convinced him to relent and to take up arms with the insurgents in order to avenge his horrific loss.

The young man was thus thrust into the arms of the Taliban -- he was recruited to the bombing attempt only to land up in a Afghan government dungeon.

This tale, which Gopal said is not uncommon, dramatically brought home the counter-productive results of the U.S. war. While the administration says its war is fighting terrorism and terrorists to make American safer, the horrific civilian casualties (the drone attacks that are glorified by the Pentagon are said to have a civilian-to-terrorist kill ration of 55 to 1!) are actually driving Innocent victims into the hands of the Taliban and other extremists and thereby making us more endangered.

Gopal - Massive U.S. military action in Afghanistan only serves to build hatred of America and fill the ranks of the terrorists.

A dramatic high point of the evening was the presence of large numbers of guests from Brooklyn's South Asian community. Bobby Khan, activist and director of the Coney Island Avenue Project spoke, and while attacking the extremist elements in the Taliban, he also opposed the war for the misery and devastation it is bringing to the people of Afghanistan. U.S. bombs dropped from pilotless planes will not solve the problems of the Afghan people he said and said it is the Pakistani authorities and intelligence agents who are largely to blame for the spread of the Taliban's insurgency. He introduced one guest who had lost his young son to the Taliban's murderous attacks.

Bobby Khan (left) of the Coney Island Avenue Project brought guests from Brooklyn's South Asian community.

Guests from Brooklyn's South Asian community.

After the speakers, Lucy Koteen turned the meeting over to questions from the audience. Nadler, in answer to one question, made a passionate defense of civil liberties which, he said, are very endangered by the war atmosphere. Throughout American history, he said, whenver there has been war, civil liberties has been brushed aside and he said the same thing is happening today. A leading Democrat, he nevertheless decried the current administration's continuation of some of the more onerous authoritarian practices inherited from the Bush regime and said the Bill of Rights could well become a "dead letter" unless Americans stand up to defend it right now.

Doug Biviano, a candidate for City Council in Brooklyn's 33rd district in the last election, asks Congress member Nadler a question.

As the meeting adjourned, both Koteen and Eisenberg said that discussion is good but not enough. Right now, they said, it's only action and pressure from the grass roots that can save the day and end the war. Esienberg asked people to involve themselves in the peace movement, to join protests against the war and to continue pressure on Congress which will soon be asked for even more money to continue that war. Only that can help bring a quick end to the war in Afghanistan she said.

To get active visit the Brooklyn For Peace Website. or write to info@brooklynpeace.org

Two Things You Can Do To Help STOP These Wars

1Oct 13, 2009

It seems like yesterday that folks were gathering in cities throughout the U.S. - marking the anniversary of five years of war in Iraq. (see my post from that event. But that was already a year-and-a-half ago. Here we are still engaged there - still losing soldiers, still occupying a country that never did anything to harm our country or our people. Here we are, six-and-a-half years later and five million Iraqi refugees later - not to mention tens and hundreds of thousands dead and a country divided and utterly destroyed. Like the song says - "War ... What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Say it again!

Listen to Joan Osborne sing War!

Last week we marked another gruesome anniversary - eight years of war in Afghanistan. In response to the horrific attack on the World Trade Center, Bush decided to punish the Afghan people by invading and occupying that country. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops were sent to capture and punish several hundred terrorists, hiding out in the hinterlands. Never mind that, in eight years, the villains have never been found or caught ... Bush had bigger fish to fry in Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with 911 but that did have the world's 2nd largest oil reserves!

Mission Accomplished!

January, 2009 - enter a new President who inherited the Boy Wonder's stupendous mess created in eight years of hideous aggression, malfeasance and ineptitude. Obama would end the war in Iraq, he promised, and bring the troops home - hopefully this will be done and soon - yet to this day a full complement of U.S. troops remain in Iraq. On Afghanistan, Barack Obama painted himself into a corner from which he's now finding it hard to extricate himself. Declaring Afghanistan the "right war" (is there such a thing?) and trying to prove that Democrats could indeed be "strong" on national security, he vowed to conduct that war in a "smarter" way than Bush had done in Iraq. Well, truth be told, smart would be not succumbing to the war hawks and war profiteers in the Pentagon, the war corporations and the Right. Giving in to that crowd would not be smart but really, really dumb! Just ask Linden Johnson whose Great Society drowned, submerged by the Vietnam war.


Afghanistan is a morass in the making. Alexander the Great, the British and the Russians can tell you something about that. They failed miserably, with endless suffering to all involved, to occupy and dominate this aptly-named Graveyard of the Empires. The point? - that there is no military victory to be had in Afghanistan. Just more and more misery and death and destruction for the Afghani people. More young American lives to be cut short. More of our national treasure squandered while urgent problems at home go unattended. Isn't it amazing that the conservatives in both parties can wring their hands and rail about the unaffordable and extravagant expense of health care for our citizens? But, mind you, not an utterance from these same penny-pinching blowhards on, what Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize recipient and Professor of Economics at Columbia, calls the three trillion dollar wars!

Our President has also been given a Nobel prize -- for peace!
We ought to dismiss outright the mad rantings emanating from the bowels of the insane Right regarding that award and congratulate the President, but also congratulate ourselves for electing him in November of last year and putting an end to eight years of extremist damage and destruction brought to us by Cheney and Bush. But let us also realize, as did the Nobel committee so wisely understand, that peace has not yet been achieved and it will be up to the American people, once again, to demand the fulfillment of the promise that was made. And, yes, even though he said that Afghanistan was the "right" war, I believe that the President is having serious second thoughts about proceeding in the direction that the Pentagon generals have demanded. This is not a dumb President after all (unlike his predecessor) - he is well read and knows, full well, what escalation in Afghanistan portends for his Presidency, not to mention for the progressive goals that he enunciated during his campaign. He will need all the support that we can muster to push him and support him when he stands up to the warmongers. The cacophonous bellowing that will emanate from these war boosters, should Obama back away from pursuing an elusive military victory (whatever "victory" means), will be vicious, strident and unending. But we must remember one thing - They lost! We won! There's no reason to be depressed or defeatist. Let's stand up, as the majority that we are, and demand peace and the benefits of peace. That was what that election was all about - let's remember that and act on it.


Here are two events (I guess you were wondering when I would get back to that) taking place this week that can help build the demand for peace right here in little old Brooklyn. Both are being sponsored by my favorite organization, Brooklyn For Peace.

If you're in Brooklyn, please come out and join in.

But if you can't make it, consider making a generous donation to Brooklyn For Peace as it celebrates its 25 year anniversary. You can contribute easily online right here.
Twenty-five years of working for peace -- now that's an accomplishment you can believe in! Your donations will help support another 25 years - and we're gonna need a strong peace movment in the years ahead!

Thursday, October 15, 4:30 to 6:00 pm,
Brooklyn Borough Hall
(Joralemon St., between Court St. and Boerum Pl.)

Protest Vigil:
Mark the 8th Anniversary of War in Afghanistan
and demand an end to the war NOW!



Sunday, October 18, 8:00 pm to 2:00 am
Concert - Brooklyn Get Radical!
at Public Assembly - 70 N 6 Street, Williamsburg

• Music - Hip Hop and other genres
• Spoken Word
• This will be for all ages - youth and older! This event will rock you and roll you and will raise much needed funds for Brooklyn For Peace, celebrating its 25th anniversary.
• You can order tickets online: Order Here,

The End Of America Comes To Flatbush

Some 60 Brooklynites filed into the cavernous auditorium of P.S. 139 in Flatbush to see an important new film, The End Of America. The film paints a detailed and chilling picture of the Bush gang's assault on our constitutional rights and liberties.

The story of the film showing in Brooklyn is a tale in and of itself. In the planning for the event the NYC Department of Education (DOE) refused to issue a permit citing the "controversial" nature of the film. (One may well ask what is controversial about our Constitution and the protections it offers our citizens.) However, a request for help, made to the NYCLU's Legal Director, Arthur Eisenberg, resulted in a quick retreat by the DOE and the permit was issued.

The film showing was initiated by a new group that is establishing itself in the Flatbush neighborhoods surrounding Cortelyou Road and Coney Island Avenue: Flatbush For Peace. Co-sponsors included a representation of the diverse neighborhood: the Council Of People's Organizations (COPO), which serves the South Asian community and the Haitian Enlightenment Literacy Project (HELP) as well as Brooklyn's large and active peace organization, Brooklyn For Peace.

Sam Koprak, active in organizing Flatbush For Peace, introduced the film. The End Of America claims that under Bush our country was headed for dictatorship and draws strong parallels with Nazi Germany by documenting the ten steps that have been used by authoritarian regimes throughout history to erode and eventually destroy civil liberties.

In the film, Wolf examines each of these ten steps, One comes away with a realization that democracy and human rights are frail things indeed and when methodically abused can quickly disappear. This is particularly true when you have a citizenry that is purposely kept uninformed and uneducated (think Fox News, CNN, the networks, our schools, etc.) about the history, the significance and the life and death struggles that ensued to win independence from the British monarchy and that forged our constitution and its enshrining of human rights and liberties.

Sam Koprak, of the newly-formed Flatbush For Peace, convenes the meeting at PS 139.

The ten points, documented in the film, are --

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy.
2. Create a prison system outside the rule of law.
3. Set up an internal surveillance system.
4. Develop a thug caste.
5. Harass citizens' groups.
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release.
7. Target key individuals.
8. Control the press.
9. Equate dissent with treason.
10.Suspend the rule of law.

Within each of these points, Wolf discusses the similarities between events that transpired in Nazi Germany and elsewhere with what Bush and Cheney were conniving at here. Thus is her book and the film an urgent wake-up call to those who cherish and would maintain our hard-fought civil liberties.

Naomi Wolf - ten easy steps to fascism.

Naomi Wolf taking questions after the film showing.

After the film, the author was joined by Arthur Eisenberg, Legal Director of the NYCLU, (who, as I mentioned earlier was instrumental in persuading the DOE to issue its permit for use of the school), to field questions from the audience. Eisenberg gave an informative history of the use of repression in our country during the Civil War and Word War I and then discussed the case of Jose Padilla. Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was declared an enemy combatant by Bush who cited his powers as Commander In Chief. This was a drastic departure from an established American legal precedent called the Milligan decision which decreed civilian supremacy over military authority. By using the Commander In Chief title to justify his action stripping citizen Padilla of his constitutional rights, Eisenberg said, Bush was declaring that his military authority allowed him to be above the law, thus setting a very dangerous precedent.

Arthur Eisenberg, Legal Director of the NYCLU, gave a chilling description of the government's abuse of U.S. citizen, José Padilla.

The meeting ended after 9:00 pm and we came away with a new appreciation of the dangers that had been brought to our country by eight long years of Bush's contempt for democracy and the rule of law. There was, I thought, a new determination to ensure that these actions be rolled back and a further awareness that unless those responsible for the heinous crimes committed, such as torture, kidnapping and wiretapping, be brought to justice. How else would we be able to prevent them from being enacted all over again in the future? Some in the present administration have asked us "not to look backward but to concentrate on the future." To which we must answer that we cannot go forward in peace and freedom without learning from and dealing with the past. After the Nazi crimes of the 30's and 40's, U.S. policy and indeed, all of human kind, decreed that those responsible for crimes against humanity must be brought to justice and punished. Why have we abandoned that outlook now?

Naomi Wolf's book is available for purchase here.
Naomi Wolf's website can be visted here.
And the film on DVD can be purchased here.

Naomi Wolf's book - The End Of America.

To see a SLIDE SHOW of all my photos from last night's event click here.

Or for a PHOTO GALLERY instead, click here.

Pedaling For Peace - A Great Bike Ride (And A Wet One)

Jun 2, 2008

This past Saturday, dozens of intrepid cyclists set out from NYC's Central Park. They were biking to raise funds for the NYC section of United for Peace and Justice, a national coalition of organizations fighting to end the war on Iraq and other issues of foreign and domestic policy. This was the second annual Pedal for Peace bike ride.

The turnout was smaller than expected due to dire predictions of heavy rains. And we did get poured on but, fortunately, not till the end of the ride. Still, the spirit of the riders was high and the dedication to the cause of peace, indefatigable. In the end, we raised $4,000 for our favorite cause: peace. And we had a fun-filled and rewarding bike ride.

Stacey mounts her bike at our house in Brooklyn at 9:30. We're setting off for Prospect Perk, our local coffee shop where' we'll meet friends and board the subway to Manhattan.

It was a cloudy day as we awoke Saturday morning and got ready to leave for Manhattan. The overcast skies did not bode well for a bike ride. But at least it wasn't raining and we hoped that the showers would at least hold off until after we were finished. We met our friend Roque at Prospect Perk, our local coffee shop, and then hopped onto the Q train where we met up with another friend, Sam and his son, Noah. We took the train to 57th Street and rode the 3 miles or so up through the park to the starting point: 110th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard.

Arriving at the starting point we found other bikers with their distinctive yellow t-shirts and lots of volunteers to check us in and cheer us on.

Out friends, Noah and his dad, Sam. They're ready to ride.

The riders were chafing at the bit, wanting to get under way and beat the raindrops. But first, some pointers and tips from Leslie Kielson of NYC-UFPJ. She reported on upcoming actions to end the war that the group was planning. Next the head marshall for the ride gave us advice on how to ride safely and what to do in the event of a problem or accident.

Finally, we were off. Up we rode through Harlem, a stream of yellow-shirted bike riders. Chanting (or in my case, bellowing) peace slogans demanding an end to the war in Iraq, the swift return of the troops and the reversal of priorities away from war and to meet people's needs, we were met with enthusiastic greeting from people out shopping or hanging out on their stoops. Many flashed us the V sign. Others cheered or applauded. It was very exciting and exhilarating.

This was a family ride with lots of young bikers for global justice and peace.

Bikes had peace signs mounted on them - people on the streets greeted the bikers with enthusiastic support.

Here's a great sight -- An entire family pedaling for peace.

Leslie Kielson, of UFPJ-NYC, gives a last minute pep talk before we pedal on out of Central Park.

We're off! At 11 o'clock the riders left Central Park and headed up through Harlem.

The view in my rear view mirror.

"We're riding today against the war in Iraq - to bring the troops home and to bring the money home!" People responded with applause and v-signs.

Heading up the very steep Macombs Dam bridge ramp.

The route took us through Harlem and then El Barrio where some of the riders shouted out "¡Fin a la guerra!" (End the war!)Again, folks on the street shouted back their support. Now we knew first hand what the polls meant when they said 70% of the American people hate this war and want it over. From my vantage point, on top my bike, it seemed like it was over 90% but that's not a scientific poll, is it?

After a while of huffing and puffing and a long upgrade near the very pretty Macombs Dam bridge (that leads to Yankee Stadium) we reached our destination - High Bridge Park in upper Manhattan at 168th Street. The High Bridge is NYC's oldest standing bridge and was built in 1848 to carry fresh drinking water from upstate to New York. The view from the elevated park is awesome and you can see clear across the Harlem River below and out across The Bronx.

Our rest stop at High Bridge park in upper Manhattan. Awesome views across The Bronx and beyond.

Bikers at our rest stop with the High Bridge Tower in the background.

Looking out from High Bridge park across The Bronx.

After being served sandwiches, apples and health bars we were ready for a nap but the rain began. It was a few drops at first but then a bit heavier. But we had quite a few miles to get back to our starting point. So we mounted our trusty steeds and headed back south. The rain came down harder and harder. But, we figured, once you're wet, you're wet. We adjusted our speed downwards (for saftey's sake) and had lots of fun as we finally reached Central Park again. The rain had soaked us but it not dampened our enthusiasm for what was a wonderful bike ride with a lofty purpose. We're all looking forward to the third annual ride next year and hoping it will be a bit sunnier and, yes, drier.

We rode through a pouring rain on our way back - but the spirit remained high as we returned to our starting point in Central Park.

For a slide show of all my photos, click here.

The Brooklyn Peace Fair - 2008

Note - after reading my blog you can
see a slideshow of all my photos
of the 2008 Brooklyn Peace Fair -- just CLICK HERE.

Apr 28, 2008

Manhattan has its Broadway. Washington has its cherry blossoms. Brooklyn has its Peace Fair. This year, thousands of Brooklynites and people from beyond Brooklyn streamed into the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University to attend the fifth annual Brooklyn Peace Fair. Organized by Brooklyn For Peace and co-sponsored the LIU Student Government Association, the fair is the culmination of this year's actions for peace and justice in the borough and the city.

Hundreds of Peace Fair posters were placed in store windows throughout north Brooklyn neighborhoods.

A team of hard-working volunteers had labored for months preparing for the event. Speakers were acquired, performers were signed up, workshops were organized, merchants were solicited for ads, publicity was designed and disseminated and the word was gotten out onto the streets of Brooklyn to make the Fair the resounding success that it was.

The morning of April 26th finally arrived. It was a chilly and cloudy day, but no rain as had been promised. Expectations were high because the weather seemed ideal - not too beautiful so that people would be outdoors; not too rainy to keep people at home.

Arriving early, I entered the gymnasium where the main stage had been set. (A separate building, adjacent to the gym, would be used for the workshops). Sound engineers were busy making their acoustic tests. Representatives of close to a hundred organizations were setting up their information tables. Brooklyn For Peace members were setting up their tables as well - their various committees - Iraq, Israel-Palestine, Latin American - each had their own table. And there were tables to sell BFP t-shirts, buttons and distribute and display literature.

Sound equipment was set up and acoustic checks were made.

Many organizations attended the Fair as participants. Here, the Green Party of Brooklyn set up a table to display their information.

The Camp Kinderland table.

Fort Greene Peace was there!

As 11 o'clock rolled around, people started arriving, but in small numbers and some of us began to wonder if we had miscalculated the support that the Fair would attract. But in a short while, things picked up and soon there was a buzz of excitement at LIU as the auditorium was filled with people crowding the tables and attending the workshops.

BFP's Vice Chair, Rusti Eisenberg, conducted a lively workshop on Iraq.

Congressman Major Owens led a workshop -- Mobilization for Peace and Prosperity. Bring Our Dollars Home to Stop the Budget Cuts.

State Senator Eric Adams led a workshop on Youth, Race and the Criminal Justice System.

As the workshops ended, the auditorium filled to hear the speakers who had been invited. The featured speaker was Debbie Almontaser. She had been a victim of a right-wing smear attack emanating from the NY Post and the New York Sun newspapers. Selected by the Bloomberg administration as principal for a new Arabic studies high school (the Khalil Gibran International Academy), she was soon abandoned by the Mayor and the schools Chancellor in the face of the attacks. A broad community support for Debbie has since been organized and the fight-back continues.

David Tykulsker, Vice-Chair of Brooklyn For Peace, introduced the featured speaker of the day, Debbie Almontaser.

Debbie Almontaser made an uplifting speech that stressed the need for a multi-national, multi-cultural unity to the fight for peace and justice.

The speakers were followed by an array of performers - singers, poets and child acrobats that dazzled the audience. By the end of the day the consensus was that the 2008 Brooklyn Peace Fair had been a great success. It brought together a diverse sampling of Brooklyn residents who are yearning for change. They want an end to the war and the expenditures for war that have devastated their communities. They want to turn the country in a different direction - away from war and destruction and toward peace and friendship. Their vision is a country where all people can enjoy their human and civil rights and lead lives of dignity and fulfillment. The Peace Fair was a culmination of months of activities on behalf of that vision. But it's also the basis of bringing people together to continue that struggle in the months and year ahead of us.

Performers dazzled the audience with their immense talent. Stephanie Rooker and Carey Rava made beautiful music.

An impassioned performance by Abiodun, one of the orginal Last Poets, rocked the crowd at LIU.

To see all my photos of the
2008 Brooklyn Peace Fair
just CLICK HERE.

Five Years of War in Iraq And New Yorkers Say Enough!

Mar 22, 2008

Thousands marched today in New York City and in many hundreds of locations across this land. These are the true patriots of our land - the ones who refuse to be silent in the face of the atrocity that is the brutal occupation of Iraq.

In this historic election year, when the fate of our country and the entire world hangs in the balance, we must not and cannot be silent. Up against a rigidly controlled corporate media that keeps the real and hideously ugly truth of this war from the American people, we must redouble our efforts to raise the issue of the war and its connection to the failing economy. The war and its effects must be the central and overarching question of this election. We must thrust it to the center stage of this election year.

As a people and as a nation we cannot move forward until this war has ended. Questions of health care, education, the environment, loss of homes and jobs cannot be solved as long as trillions of dollars are diverted to Iraq and Afghanistan (and, perhaps, Iran?)and as long as spending for arms and the bloated Pentagon budget are allowed to suffocate expenditures for human needs.

Even though two-thirds of the American people are opposed to the war and 70 percent believe the war has hurt the economy, the opinion of U.S. citizens matters not to King George and the power behind his throne, Dick Cheney. Like two swaggering bullies, they brag that their wars are bringing democracy to the world. But when asked recently, on ABC TV, abut the majority of Americans who are opposed to the war, Cheney snapped back arrogantly: "So?"

"CHENEY: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.

ABC-TV's RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

With five years of war as the backdrop and under the banner of United For Peace and Justice, New Yorkers lined 14th Street with a human chain, linking arms and holding signs aloft demanding peace and a change in national priorites. The streets echoed with chants of "peace now" and "money for schools, not for war" as the marchers headed inwards from both ends of 14th Street for Union Square where a brief and solemn commemoration of those who have fallen victim to the Bush war and occupaton was held.

Thousands of New Yorkers lined 14th Street demanding an end to the war.

Brooklyn For Peace was well represented.

The two folks flew in from London and joined us on 14th Street.

We reached Union Square along with thousands of others.

This sign said it all.

Not one more death. Not one more dollar.

Speakers urged the assembly to follow up today's demonstration with a pledge to reach out to new people in their communities and broaden the peace movement. A larger peace movement could force Congress to cut the funding and finally end this brual war. To which I say -- Amen!

People want peace!