Minneapolis, MN - More than 125 community and student activists attended A Conference for Iraq, Information to Resist Another Quagmire. The keynote address was given by Sami Rasouli, a long-time peace activist who has returned home to Iraq, to try to rebuild peace, in the face of U.S. occupation.

Asheville, NC - The chant, “U.S. out of Iraq! Let them have their country back!” echoed off the buildings of downtown Asheville as a spirited group of over 100 students, young people, workers and veterans marched through the city to say no to Bush’s war. The protesters chose to mark the three-year anniversary of the invasion by joining millions of others around the world to demand the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

To mark the third anniversary of the war, and now occupation, of Iraq, people around the globe marched, calling for U.S. troops to leave immediately. In Chicago, 10,000 protesters faced off against 1500 police in full riot gear during their evening march on Michigan Avenue on March 18. This was the first time in three years that organizers were able to get a permit to march on Michigan Avenue.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following announcement  from the Anti-war Committee for their press conference on Monday August 3:

Atlanta, GA - In one of the largest anti-war rallies in the South, upwards of 4000 protesters – students, Black civil rights activists, trade unionists and military veterans – marched in Atlanta, April 1, demanding, “Peace in Iraq, justice at home!”

For 20 years, Iraqi American Sami Rasouli lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a peace activist and restaurant owner. He visited Iraq in 2004, and decided to move home and help rebuild his country. He sold his restaurant and returned to Najaf, where he founded the Muslim Peacemakers Team. Fight Back! interviewed him during his three-month U.S. speaking tour about the reality of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Sara Rich is an activist and a tireless advocate for her daughter, Army Specialist Suzanne Swift, who is awaiting a court-martial for refusing to return to Iraq under the command of a sergeant who raped her. Today Sara Rich travels around the U.S., speaking out against the war and military sexual violence. Fight Back! interviewed Sara Rich on Oct. 28.

Fight Back! News Service is circulating the following analysis of the trial of Saddam Hussein, written by author and anti-war activist David Hungerford. The article is a powerful indictment of U.S. attempts to justify its war on Iraq.

Letter Delivered to Administration Demands Boycott and Divestment

Chapel Hill, NC – A delegation of students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) delivered a letter to Chancellor Thorp's office, Feb. 25, demanding that UNC divest from Israel. Holding a banner that said, “End U.S. aid to Israel!” the students explained their demands to the university administrator who received the letter in place of Chancellor Thorp. “We want our university to stop investing in the murder of Palestinian civilians,” said Maddy Miller, a member of SDS.

Washington DC – Sonia, a Colombian revolutionary and political prisoner of the U.S. government, was found guilty in a U.S. Federal Court here, Feb. 20. Sonia’s trial is part of a Bush administration plan to criminalize Colombian freedom fighters.

Washington DC – With no evidence and only the testimony of U.S. government paid informants, Colombian revolutionary “Sonia” awaits a jury’s verdict here in Federal Court. Sonia, whose full name is Anayibe Rojas Valderrama, is a peasant rebel who joined the fight for a free, just and independent Colombia. A nurse with the 30,000 member Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Sonia was extradited to the U.S. in violation of Colombia’s sovereignty.

Washington D.C. – Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera is facing a second trial, March 26. Ricardo Palmera, known in Colombia as Simon Trinidad, is a political prisoner of the George Bush and the U.S. government. Palmera’s first trial resulted in a hung jury and Judge Hogan was forced to declare a mistrial. U.S. prosecutor Kohl and Judge Hogan will need to bend the legal rules more if they are going to win this time.

Washington D.C. – Jury selection for Colombian revolutionary “Sonia” is scheduled to start here on Jan. 8, in front of Federal Court Judge Robertson. Sonia, whose full name is Anayibe Rojas Valderrama, is an important member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The FARC is a 30,000-member guerrilla army that governs nearly 40% of Colombia.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) is the largest rebel group in Colombia. Freedom Road Socialist Organization members Kosta Harlan and Erika Zurawski recently traveled to the rebel held territory and met with commanders of the FARC-EP. Fight Back! interviewed these American revolutionaries to discuss the struggle in Colombia.

Interview with Marty Hoerth, Tsione Wolde-Michael and Erika Zurawski

Meredith Aby of Fight Back! interviewed members of a delegation to Colombia: Marty Hoerth, Tsione Wolde-Michael and Erika Zurawski.

Chicago, IL – The Colombia Action Network held a successful conference here at DePaul University, Feb. 25-27. Eighty students, trade unionists and solidarity activists from eleven cities and eight universities attended. People came from as far as Montana, New Jersey, Minneapolis, Wisconsin Dells, New York, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Over a dozen Colombians from various movements and unions gave a strong feeling of unity and earnestness to the presentations and discussions. The Colombian activists are living in exile or came to the United States as part of the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center program to protect the lives of trade unionists.

_Please forward – Take action today _

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee ( http://www.antiwarcommittee.org):

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement that we received from the Workers Party of Belgium. It gives valuable information on the general strike that rocked Belgium on Oct. 7.

Columbus, GA - Over 20,000 people from across the country flooded Fort Benning on the Nov. 22-23 weekend, calling for the School of the Americas (SOA), a U.S. military training institute that trains Latin American soldiers in ‘counter-insurgency’ techniques, to be shut down. During the vigil to honor the memory of the thousands of men, women and children that have been tortured, kidnapped and murdered by SOA graduates, six people, in an act of civil disobedience, crossed onto the military base and were arrested. They face up to six months in federal prison for taking action to close down the SOA – the ‘School of Assassins.’

Join the Colombia Action Network at the School of the Americas Demonstration! Ft. Benning, GA, November 21-23, 2008

Help us shut down the School of the Americas (SOA) this November! The SOA is a U.S. tax payer funded combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia. Frequently called the “School of Assassins,” its graduates have left a trail of terror and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned. Over its 61 years, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, psychological warfare, and interrogation tactics. SOA graduates have consistently used their skills to wage war against social movements and progressive communities in their own countries. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are trade unionists, human rights workers, teachers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. SOA training manuals made public in 1996 revealed that torture, extortion, and kidnapping are part of the curriculum. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and displaced by those trained at the SOA.