The protest will call for peace negotiations in the Ukraine and the end of military aid. February 19, New Anti-Interventionist Coalition To March To White House from Lincoln Memorial. The lead demand of the demonstration is simple, straightforward and unequivocal: “Not one more penny for war in Ukraine.” It summarizes the point of unity among the politically diverse forces that are brought together for this event. And it directs the attention of this American protest to our own government, the only one which we can hope to influence in the real world.
A large rally dubbed ‘Rage Against The War Machine’ has been announced for Washington DC on Sunday, with thousands set to march to the White House to demand peace in Ukraine and an end to US military funding for Kiev.
The march, organized by the Libertarian and People’s Parties, promises to be the largest US anti-war rally since the protests against the Iraq War in 2003. It is set to feature speakers from across the political spectrum, including former US Senator Ron Paul, former presidential nominee Tulsi Gabbard, and comedian and political commentator Jimmy Dore.
On their website, organizers have laid out the demands they intend to deliver to “warmonger-in-chief Joe Biden.” The points include “not one more penny for war in Ukraine,” the disbandment of NATO, slashing the Pentagon budget, abolishing the CIA, and freeing Julian Assange.
On February 19, Washington, DC, will witness a protest against the war in Ukraine that marks a sharp departure from past demonstrations. The lead demand is simple and direct, “Not One More Penny for war in Ukraine.” It is a demand that emphasizes what we in the US can do to end the war, not what others can do. After all, the only government we have the power to influence is our own.
Furthermore, the lead demand of the event recognizes that the US is not simply a bystander in this event. The war in Ukraine is our war, a war ginned up by the neocon-dominated foreign policy Establishment. It is a proxy war waged by the US, cruelly and cynically using Ukrainians as cannon fodder. Its purpose, as the clueless Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin acknowledged, is to “weaken” Russia. In the words of the second demand of the rally, “Negotiate Peace,”
“The US instigated the war with a coup on its democratically-elected government in 2014, and then sabotaged a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine in March, 2022. Pursue an immediate ceasefire and diplomacy to end the war.”
Above and beyond that demand, the potential power of this unique and promising movement arises from the nature of the sponsoring organizations – The Peoples Party, a progressive new Party, and the Libertarian Party. It is in fact what much of the press would term a “right-left” Coalition, spanning a spectrum broad enough to actually bring the proxy war in Ukraine to an end. Fittingly, the organizers are calling the protest “Rage Against the War Machine.” With the war in Ukraine putting us the precipice of nuclear Armageddon, “rage” might be considered a mild reaction.
A New Right-Left Coalition to Oppose the War.
The Peoples Party is probably the lesser known of the two sponsoring organizations because it’s newer. Its founder and National Chair is Nick Brana, a lead organizer of the protest. Brana was the National Coordinator of the Bernie Sanders 2016 campaign but has turned his back on the Democrats in disgust over the failure of progressive Democratic pols to fight for the promises they made. Among the speakers at the Party’s founding convention in 2020 were Cornel West, Chris Hedges, Jimmy Dore, and Nina Turner (co-chair of the Sanders 2020 campaign).
The Libertarian Party is better known. It has been around longer and, though small, is the third-largest political party in the US by voter registration. The present National Chair, Angela McCardle, is the other lead organizer of the DC protest. In American political life, probably, the best-known representative of libertarian values, most notably a principled anti-interventionist stance in foreign policy, is Ron Paul.
A call for ending US support for the proxy war in Ukraine is realistic; a substantial and growing segment of the American people support this demand.
The lead demand “Not one more penny for war in Ukraine” is finding ever more support among Americans. A survey in November by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs showed that 35% of Americans oppose sending more arms to Ukraine and 34% oppose sending more economic aid. (When it comes to sending US troops, 68% are opposed!) These numbers in grew from the previous survey in July, revealing a growing anti-interventionist sentiment. While this is not a majority, over one-third of the populace is a base substantial enough to build an antiwar majority. Only 16% more needs to be won over to reach a majority. The number one demand of the February demonstration is not utopian -it is realistic!
The Demands of the Demonstration.
It is worthwhile to look at all ten of the demands of the February protest which are found here. But the first four deserve special attention because they spell out the spirit and leading ideas of the movement. Here they are as worded on the website for the protest:
Not One More Penny for War in Ukraine. The Democrats and Republicans have armed Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars in weapons and military aid. The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and is pushing us toward a nuclear WW3. Stop funding the war.
Negotiate Peace. The US government instigated the war in Ukraine with a coup of its democratically elected government in 2014, and then sabotaged a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine in March. Pursue an immediate ceasefire and diplomacy to end the war.
Stop the War Inflation. The war is accelerating inflation and increasing food, gas and energy prices. The US blew up Russian gas pipelines to Europe, starving them of energy and deindustrializing their countries. End the war and stop increasing prices.
Disband NATO. NATO expansion to Russia’s border provoked the war in Ukraine. NATO is a warmongering relic of the Cold War. Disband it like the Warsaw Pact.
The other six demands are Global Nuclear De-Escalation; Slashing the Pentagon Budget;
Abolish the CIA and Military-Industrial Deep State; Abolish War and Empire; Restore Civil Liberties; and Free Julian Assange.
Make plans now to get to Washington on February 19. Lend your presence to this potent new coalition of forces. The demonstration will gather at the Lincoln Memorial and then march to the White House. Watch for more details, and sign up for updates here in the coming weeks.
Let’s do this. Time is running out as the threat of nuclear war grows with each day and each new escalation in Ukraine. A broad coalition can end it. Enough of the forever wars!
John V. Walsh writes: Right & Left to Join in D.C. Protest: “Not one more penny for war in Ukraine.”
We in the United States are on the brink of war with a major nuclear power, Russia. If that is not a dire emergency, an acute existential threat, what is? This situation has persisted for a year now without a national protest to stop the slide to Armageddon.
Given the proximity of nuclear Armageddon, the reaction that sanity dictates has now materialized for the first time. On February 19 in Washington DC, a demonstration against the war, RageAgainstWar, will take place, with sister rallies occurring in cities distant from DC, like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis, Ann Arbor, and others.
But its organization and composition represent a radical departure from the peace movements of the last 40 years. The organizational framework for Feb. 19 has leapt the bounds of conventional political discourse. The effort is being led by a broad coalition of forces from “left” to “right.” The Peoples Party, a new progressive Party growing out of dissatisfaction with the Bernie Sanders campaigns and forfeited promises, and the Libertarian Party have taken the lead, represented by Nick Brana and Angela McCardle, respectively.
A brief and complete history of the genesis of this war can be found in pamphlet sized books here and here, beginning with the expansion of NATO and the US-backed 2014 coup. In fact the beginning of the US assault on Russia antedates those events going all the way back to the 1990s with the US-engineered Russian Great Depression, worse than our own in the 1930s.
There is also material reason for the public to oppose the war. The war itself and blowback from US sanctions are hurting the US population and threaten to worsen inflation, trigger recession or even both, the dread stagflation. The third demand of the protest, “Stop the War Inflation” makes this clear and it reads:
“This war is accelerating inflation and increasing food, gas and energy prices. (Anyone who fills a gas tank or shopped at a supermarket recently knows that full well. Jw) The US blew up Russian gas pipelines to Europe, starving them of energy and deindustrializing their countries. End the war and stop increasing prices.”
All ten demands can be found here.
Given all these facts it is not surprising that the US public is growing increasingly skeptical of the war. The ground is fertile for a movement to get us out from under this threat. Polling here and here now shows that support for arms and aid to Ukraine, while still a majority opinion, is falling. Interestingly and worthy of more exploration, Democrats rather than Republicans or Independents hold the most hawkish opinions in these polls and this is coincident with the policies and actions of the Democratic Party.
So it comes as no surprise that recent legislation to end the funding for the Ukraine Proxy War comes from the Republican side of the aisle in the form of “Ukraine Fatigue” Resolution introduced in the House by Republican Matt Gaetz with all ten co-sponsors GOP members. In part here is what Responsible Statecraft has to say about this bill:
“The resolution states that ‘the United States must end its military and financial aid to Ukraine, and urges all combatants to reach a peace agreement.’
“’President Joe Biden must have forgotten his prediction from March 2022, suggesting that arming Ukraine with military equipment will escalate the conflict to ‘World War III.’ America is in a state of managed decline, and it will exacerbate if we continue to hemorrhage taxpayer dollars toward a foreign war. We must suspend all foreign aid for the War in Ukraine and demand that all combatants in this conflict reach a peace agreement immediately,’ Gaetz said in a statement.”
As the resolution notes, the United States has been “top contributor of military aid to Ukraine compared to its counterparts,” having appropriated more than $110 billion in humanitarian, financial, and military aid.
“Earlier this week, Gaetz criticized President Joe Biden and a “bipartisan coalition” in Congress for dragging the U.S. into a war that was costing taxpayers and not advancing American interests.”
Perhaps the time is ripe for the two major parties to engage in an all-out tussle for the peace vote. Wouldn’t that be nice. A relatively small and determined minority can decide elections.
It is clear that the US government has responsibility for ginning up this war. US support and weapons and those of its NATO dependencies make the proxy war possible. Without that support the slaughter of Ukrainians and Russians will not continue. The US government can stop this potentially omnicidal war, and Americans can move the US government. It is our right and responsibility to do so, writes John Walsh, until recently a Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Antiwar.com
Friday night on his Fox News Show, Tucker Carlson promoted the Rage Against the War rally taking place Sunday (Feb. 19) in Washington DC.
He interviewed Tara Reid, one of the speakers at the rally, who spoke about the war in Ukraine and the jailing of Julian Assange.
Speaking to FOX News host Tucker Carlson, Tara Reade – one of the speakers due to appear at the rally – argued that Americans are fed up with seeing their government spend almost $100 billion in aid to Ukraine while problems at home are being ignored. “Our infrastructure is falling apart. America is becoming a failed state,” she explained.
Reade also insisted that the US and NATO were responsible for the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which she said started back in 2014 during the Western-sponsored Maidan coup.
“The speakers are all gathering to ask to abolish NATO, because it’s not a peacekeeping force, it’s an aggressive force that’s been pushing up against the borders of Russia, and now we’re getting closer to the brink of WWIII,” Reade added.
According to the Rage Against War website, the rally is set to start at the Lincoln Memorial at 12:30pm on Sunday, marking almost one year since the start of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Presidents’ Day Weekend
Here is a brief interview with McCardle and Brana conducted by David Swanson of World Beyond War, himself one of the featured speakers at the rally. It reveals two competent and inspiring leaders who provide an eloquent and clear exposition of the event. A full list of the speakers at the rally with their bios is found here and includes Jill Stein, Tulsi Gabbard, Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Cynthia McKinney, Dan McKnight, Garland Nixon, Daniel McAdams, Chris Hedges and many others.
Check it out here.