Action: Mobilization Against the War October 5

The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, a nationwide network of individuals and groups committed to ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and working for the abolition of torture, is calling for a nonviolent action next week at the White House. The organization, utilizing the nonviolent practices and disciplines of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Dorothy Day, will deliver a petition to President Barack Obama calling for withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, ending the illegal bombing with US drones, including in neighboring Pakistan, and the closing of the Bagram prison and ending indefinite detention and torture.

The letter will also call for the conversion of U.S. resources to life-sustaining uses, including the funding and the rebuilding of Afghanistan's and Iraq's infrastructure and and the provision of medical assistance to Afghans and Iraqis, in addition to poverty reduction programs in the United States and world wide. Finally, the groups are seeking to hold accountable those who have committed war crimes.

The gathering will begin at McPherson Square, 15th and I Streets NW, at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 5th and then silently proceed two and a half blocks to the White House to deliver a document to the president and request a meeting with him. Liz McAlister will speak. Participating will be various affinity groups, such as the Atlantic Life Community, Witness Against Torture, Veterans for Peace, The World Can't Wait, and Activist Response Team (A.R.T.). Other groups fully endorsing the action and participating are Peace Action, Code Pink, The War Resisters' League, Voters for Peace, The Washington Peace Center, and Student Peace Action Network. Participants are asked to wear either a "We Will Not Be Silent" t-shirt or a simple black shirt.