PITTSBURGH: Remember the Dead" silent procession through Oakland

May 16th Remember the dead- POG anti-war call to action

May 16th Remember the dead- POG anti-war call to action

What: Emergency Anti-War protest and remembrance of the dead
When: Sunday, May 16th, 12:00pm
Where: Warner Hall, Carnegie Mellon University- 5000 Forbes Ave, across from Moorewood, in Oakland
Why: To remember those who've died, acknowledge the escalation of the conflict, continue to call for an end to the occupation of Iraq

"The enemy aggressor is always pursuing a course of larceny, murder, rapine, and barbarism. We are always moving forward with high mission, a destiny imposed by the deity to regenerate our victims while incidentally capturing their markets, to "civilize" savage and senile and paranoidal
peoples while blundering accidentally into their oil wells."

April in Iraq was a month filled with a new level of suffering and death unlike any we've previously seen. It was coupled with the terrifyingly unavoidable fact that it is just the beginning of a new phase of an occupation the Army says may last 10 years. On April 7th, the United States army dropped a 500-pound bomb on a Mosque compound in Iraq. At least 45 people were killed in a tragic example of the violence and destruction that since April 1st has taken the lives of 150 US soldiers, and at least 1,200 Iraqi civilians and resistance fighters.

In remembrance and acknowledgement of those who have recently died we are asking everyone to gather Sunday, May 16th at Noon in Front of Warner Hall, CMU, 5000 Forbes Ave. (across from Moorewood) in Oakland. We are calling on anyone who opposes the continuing occupation of Iraq, the death of soldiers and civilians, the continuing suffering being inflicted on those held in the US run prisons of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the role that local institutions such as Carnegie Mellon University play in the war machine, to come together in remembrance and revulsion towards the true
cost of the war.

Once assembled, we will begin a walking tour of local institutions with specific ties to the war. We will be asking everyone to carry a placard to remember the life of someone who has been lost in Iraq as well as a flower (they are traditionally a symbol of life). We will have some placards already made and the materials to make more, we will try to bring some flowers. We are asking that this be a silent event - except for the reading of the names at each stop and a short explanation of why we're at that specific location. This event will take place on the sidewalk.

War is hell, and while the fact that people are losing their lives is nothing new, there has been a dramatic escalation in the conflict that we feel must be acknowledged. The brutal occupation continues with more and more Iraqis being drawn into the cycle of violence.

There isn't time for us to do a lot of outreach so we must depend on word-of-mouth to spread this event. Please do what you can to let others know.

In Solidarity,

Pittsburgh Organizing Group

A note on tactics: When this event takes place it will have been a little less than a month since we called for a black bloc to protest and disrupt President Bushes visit here. These two events are obviously very similar in topic, but far apart in their tone and tactics, and while we realize that there are people who prefer one or the other we wish to state how critical we feel it is that people realize they are part of the same movement. A constant diversity of tactics is necessary to produce real and lasting systemic change. A black bloc may build the ability of this movement to create space in the streets, allow for direct action, and oppose police repression while a silent event may more clearly articulate to the public the cost of the occupation and the reasons we are opposing it.

The actions and specific tactics we choose must always spring forth from a careful consideration of our, and consequently the larger movements we consider ourselves a part of, long-term goals and the strategies we feel will most likely advance us towards the type of world we seek.

Whether you feel this particular action is the most effective thing we could do or not, we hope you will extend whatever solidarity you can.