Minneapolis, MN – News reports on Sept. 30 confirm yet another tragic milestone in the U.S. war in Afghanistan has passed: the 2000th U.S. military death.

Clarksville rallies to resist CIA recruitment

Clarksville, TN – On Sept. 26, students, including members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), joined parents, anti-war veterans and alumni of Austin Peay State University to resist Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruitment on campus. Students petitioned the Office of Career Services, which invited the CIA to campus. The protesters were removed by force by the Clarksville Police Department as they questioned the CIA about their activities.

New York, NY – 150 prominent anti-war activists, religious leaders and supporters of Iran attended a special here on Sept. 25 with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He is in New York to address the opening meeting of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly.

Minneapolis, MN – Around 60 people joined a weekly peace vigil in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul on Sept. 19 to mark 4000 days since the start of the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

Tampa, FL – On Sept. 11, members of various student and community groups gathered at the University of South Florida (USF) to commemorate the millions of victims affected by the conflicts sparked by the U.S. after the attacks on this day eleven years ago. The gathering was organized by Tampa Against the War on Terror and was supported by the campus chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. It came before a counter-protest in downtown Tampa, against a hate group that was seeking to ban the Council on America-Islamic Relations from speaking in Hillsborough County Public Schools.

Minneapolis, MN – Fifty people packed the popular Mayday Books, August 22, for the forum, “Is U.S. Military Intervention Ever Humanitarian?” organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC). The event was held because politicians of both parties and the mainstream corporate media are escalating calls to intervene in Syria to “protect human rights.”

Tampa, FL – Joe Iosbaker, a spokesperson for the largest anti-war coalition in the U.S., the United National Antiwar Coalition, spoke at a press conference here, August 24, stating that the peace movement will be joining the mass march on the Republican National Convention. “The Republicans have never met a war they didn’t like,” said Iosbaker. “They support all the wars the U.S. government is waging right now. We are going to march on the RNC and say no to the wars being waged on behalf of the 1%.”

Chicago, IL – Joe Iosbaker, a leader of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and one of the main organizers of the massive march on the NATO summit, gave an important speech June 30, summing up the some of the lessons of the anti-NATO protest.

Chicago, IL – One month after the historic protests against NATO, activists from across Chicago and even Milwaukee gathered in the shadow of the McCormick Place, site of the NATO summit, on June 30, for a discussion on the lessons of the NATO protests. The event was held at Trinity Episcopal Church and sponsored by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

Los Angeles, CA – Several hundred people joined a spirited rally at the Westwood Federal Building, June 30, to demand “No U.S./NATO wars on Syria or Iran.” Several groups joined the International Action Center-initiated rally, including Arab Americans for Syria, who brought families to the rally to denounce the CIA supported terrorist attacks on the people of Syria. Several groups spoke, such as Bayan USA, International League of Peoples Struggles – U.S. (Los Angeles), Southern California Immigration Coalition and Latinos Against War.

Salt Lake City, UT – On June 28, over two dozen activists gathered outside the Federal Building here to protest the war threats against Syria and Iran.

Chicago, IL – “Not another Libya! Hands off Syria!” chanted the crowd as they picketed against war June 26. The protesters mobilized in response to the events of recent days, such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s lie about Russia sending attack helicopters and then Turkey’s convening of a NATO meeting after a Turkish fighter jet was shot down over Syrian territory.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 75 people joined an emergency protest here, June 26 at the Federal Building, to speak out against the growing danger of new U.S. wars and military interventions. The protest was organized under the call: “No New Wars – No U.S. War in Iran and Syria – End the Drone Wars.”

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the United National Antiwar Coalition.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following resolution from the 21st International Communist Seminar, which took place in Brussels, Belgium, May 18-20. The list of signers has been updated.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following call from the United National Antiwar Coalition

Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Integration reported June 19 that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrived at its London Embassy and asked for asylum. Assange stated that with a, “regrettable factual statement of abandonment received by the authorities of my country, Australia, who state that they will not defend even my minimum guarantees before any government and delegate in the constitution of a foreign country that applies the death penalty for the crime of espionage and treason, and the guarantees it offers to its nationals, ignoring the obligation to protect its citizens, who is persecuted politically.

Salt Lake City, UT – It’s not every day that student activists crash birthday parties, but that is exactly what happened on June 14 at Salt Lake City Community College.

Chicago, IL – Over 230 Filipinos from across the U.S. and the Philippines joined over 15,000 demonstrators here, May 20, to march in protest against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit taking place just blocks away in McCormick Place. It was the largest outdoor anti-war demonstration in the U.S. in years.

“The people are more powerful than the cops, the mayor, or NATO”

Fight Back! interviews Joe Iosbaker, the Chicago spokesperson for the United National Antiwar Coalition and a leader in the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda, on the massive May 20 protest at the NATO Summit. Fight Back!: Please talk some about what happened at the march on the NATO Summit and who was there. Joe Iosbaker: 15,000 people rallied and marched against the war makers’ summit on a scorching hot day here in Chicago. It was a very broad gathering, involving the Iraq Veterans Against the War, National Nurses United and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. We had music by Tom Morello, Rebel Diaz, David Rovics and Outer National. Carlos Montes came from Los Angeles, straight from the political persecution trial he is facing. Students came from Utah, Florida and all over the Midwest.