The last major nationwide mobilizations that squarely focused on opposing the war on and occupation of Iraq, supported by both ANSWER and UFPJ, took place on March 20, 2004. Since then, UFPJ hasn't called any major national/nationwide anti-war mobilizations, and ANSWER has split between the Brian Becker wing and the others, rendering itself ineffective.
Local actions have been continuing. Sharon Smith mentioned student walkouts: "thousands of high school and college students across the country organized walkouts against the war on January 20, marching as organized contingents to counter-inaugural demonstrations in Boulder, Colo.; Los Angeles; Chicago; San Francisco; Austin, Texas; and other cities" (<http://www.counterpunch.org/smith02242005.html>). To take another example, Vermont Military Families Speak Out successfully placed "resolutions on town meeting agendas on March 1, 2005 in 51 municipalities in Vermont." See the texts of the resolutions at <http://www.iraqresolution.org/>. Those kinds of actions, however, are not the sort that would become big news in the local media, let alone garner visibility in the big media, so most Americans, as Carrol and Martin say, probably don't know that anti-war actions other than big national/nationwide demonstrations have been still continuing.
At the 2nd UFPJ National Assembly on February 19-21, 2005, Military Families Speak Out, as well as American Friends Service Committee, Vietnam Veterans against the War, and Veterans for Peace, put forward a proposal for "a campaign of state by state local organizing and action focusing on the deployment of the National Guard, leading to outcomes including (but not limited to) local resolutions, referenda and hearings before state legislatures and other local/state political bodies on the local impacts of the war in Iraq," with a view to putting "local/state-based pressure on local politicians, state legislators and Governors to oppose the use of the National Guard in the war in Iraq." The assembly adopted it unanimously. If the campaign doesn't become simply occasions for lobbying politicians, it should be promising, and at the very least it will help Military Families Speak Out and other organizations that get involved in it grow. -- Yoshie
* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Greens for Nader: <http://greensfornader.net/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * OSU-GESO: <http://www.osu-geso.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>