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North Country anti-war group holds final demonstration

Posted 11/13/18

On October 20, the North Country Anti-War Working Group met for our final public demonstration of the year. We were out in solidarity with the Women’s March on the Pentagon, whose demands are: …

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North Country anti-war group holds final demonstration

Posted

On October 20, the North Country Anti-War Working Group met for our final public demonstration of the year.

We were out in solidarity with the Women’s March on the Pentagon, whose demands are: “complete end to the wars abroad; closure of foreign bases; dramatically slash the Pentagon budget to fund healthy social programs here at home: the only good empire is a gone empire.” Although it saw little media attention, nearly one thousand people attended.

We were also out in solidarity with protesters in NYC against the economic blockade against Cuba, which the United States has strong-armed the rest of world into. It is a blockade that has cost the Cuban people one trillion dollars over the past five decades. On October 31, the UN General Assembly will vote on a resolution to end the blockade. The world wants this; only the United States is standing in the way. As the Cuba-Venezuela Solidarity Committee states: “It is time for U.S. aggression toward Cuba, Venezuela and all Latin America and the Caribbean to end, and for their independence and sovereignty to be fully respected.”

In my many conversations with North Country residents, they express general agreement that worldwide US imperialist presence must end, and that the blockade against Cuba should end. Many of us understand that a proper foreign policy for this country would be a policy of friendship, peace, and solidarity — not manipulation, coercion, and violence.

Many people tell us that the way to end war is to vote.

This response is always puzzling. In 2016, there was no anti-war candidate for president. In a few weeks, most voters in the 21st Congressional District will choose one of two candidates from whom we have no reason to expect any strong, principled opposition to war and imperialism.

So it doesn’t seem that voting is the solution to this problem. This isn’t to discourage anybody from voting, but to press the question: why is the issue entirely off the table? This is a problem for which there is no obvious road map to a solution. But there is one clear missing piece to a solution, and that is a broadly-based, nationwide movement in unwavering opposition to endless American war efforts.

Our Anti-War Group is one contribution to establishing such a movement. You can find us on Facebook, or reach out to contact us at ncantiwar@gmail.com.

Corey McGrath

Madrid