author: Permanent War Economy Rpt. Serv., Eugene
From holding cell H-10 in the San Francisco county jail:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Oregon:
As a native Oregonian currently studying at U.C. Berkeley, I write these thoughts on a jail wastebasket paper bag as I sit incarcerated in the Bryant St. Jail, San Fransisco -- thoughts composed with twenty-three other women ages 18 to 64, who now reflect on the grave situation in Iraq and the reasons that led each of us to disrupt "business as usual" in San Fransisco. We joined over 1500 others in arrest today.
Although we vary widely in age and background, our convictions are shared and run deep, manifested by our willingness to put our bodies on the line to freely express ourselves and assemble, and to stand in solidarity with millions of people arould the world against the war on Iraq.
By our arrests today we want to communicate in the strongest of terms that we
do not agree with the war and many other policies of the Bush administration.
We will not stand by while the actions of this administration, in its
shortsightedness, greed, and unilateralism, endanger us all. In our frustration
and grief we see our actions today as our way of participating in the
democratic process. We feel there is little recourse left when our country is
poised to commit mass genocide.
In some ways, law enforcement response to demonstrations in San Francisco today
works parallel to U.S. intervention in Iraq. Many of our cell-mates felt trapped
by police forces who did not follow due process of the law. Many charges were
exaggerated. In one instance, twelve people sitting and singing in the street
were surrounded by several mounted police, about a dozen police motorcycles,
and about 65 officers. In attacking Iraq, our government is in violation of
international law, has exaggerated the chemical/biological threat, presented to the world falsified documents about Iraq'sconnection between nuclear threat,
terrorism, and Iraq, and has exerted disproportionate force upon an already
weakened country.
We hope that our actions today help in a small way to dissolve this disparity
between our daily lives and the suffering of the Iraqi people. Families in Iraq
are experienceing the "shock and awe" of the attack as frightening and deadly, while
corporate media in the U.S. presents the war as a bloodless video game.
We stopped "business as usual" today for the many companies in the financial
district that profit from the war. As U.S. consumers and taxpayers, the women
in our cell feel we are unwillingly complicit in this war. We want to express
our discontent in the strongest way possible, adding our voices to the
overwhelming majority of objectors around the world who have been disregarded
by the Bush administration.
We demand an immediate end to this hypocritical war waged to "create democracy"
in an oil rich country. We demand that our government work within
international law to find non-violent means to protect human rights for all
peoples of the world. We dedicate ourselves to creating this peaceful world
vision that we share.
Signed,
The Women of Holding Cell H-10, San Francisco County Jail
Earlier morning hours of March 21, 2003
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US forces currently will insure that are children's children will be in debt and will have there labor taxed as a consequence to the military industrial complex, the prison industrial complex, and unfair trade practices.
I wish you well.