[act-ma] NYC Demo. Tues March 11. US/NATO Hands Off Ukraine - Not Another War!

[David Rolde]

( Also see today's UNAC statement on Ukraine & Venezuela at http://nepajac.org/UNAC_030614.html The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) Demands "US Hands off Ukraine and Venezuela". The United States government is the main instigator of the present crises in both countries.) 

US/NATO Hands Off Ukraine - Not Another War! 

http://www.facebook.com/events/226160010906938/ 

Tuesday, March 11, 2014 - 5pm til 6:30 

Times Square, New York City 

We say NO! Not Another U.S. War! 

U.S./NATO is the aggressor in Ukraine; not Russia. 

We stand with anti-fascist resistance of the Ukrainian people who reject the coup in Kiev. 

What's really happening in Ukraine? Don't be fooled! 

U.S. officials and the media claim there was a people’s uprising in Ukraine that is now threatened by Russian military intervention. Don’t be fooled. 

These are the same people who tell us the economy is improving, when we all know jobs are scarce and the minimum wage is too low to live on. They use their platform to justify police and vigilante killings of Black and Brown youth. 

These are the same people who led us into more than 10 years of ruinous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are the same 1% who want war with Iran and Syria. 

What happened in Ukraine was a coup against a democratically-elected government. The U.S. spent more than $15 BILLION to make this happen. $15 billion that could have been used to restore and expand SNAP food assistance programs for the hungry, create jobs, extend long-term unemployment benefits and improve public schools here at home. $5 BILLION was just cut from basic food programs because we are told, "There is not enough money." 

What has Washington paid for? The new government in Kiev is dominated by far-right-wing politicians, including open neo-Nazis. They worship Stepan Bandera, a follower of Hitler who massacred Ukrainian Jews, immigrants, leftists and trade unionist during the Nazi occupation of World War II. Fascist gangs armed with guns and baseball bats now control the streets of Kiev. They are tearing down monuments to the Soviet troops who liberated Ukraine from the Nazis.Their demands are to align with the EU and the NATO military alliance. 

Leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties support this disgusting and dangerous coup. Two years ago, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laid out the plan for the coup at a conference in Europe. Senator John McCain later went to Kiev, spoke at rallies and was photographed with the leader of the fascist Svoboda party. State Department official Victoria Nuland was caught on tape plotting who would be the next leader of Ukraine. She bragged that the U.S. had already spent $5 billion funding the "democracy movement" in the Ukraine. The Obama administration immediately pledged an additional $10 billion in loans for the coup leaders. 

Why do both parties support a neo-Nazi government in Ukraine? Because it’s what the Wall Street 1% want. They want to take over Ukraine’s gas and oil pipelines. They want to set up NATO military bases on the border with Russia. Their next step is to divide up Russia, grab its vast oil reserves and natural resources, and gobble up millions more skilled workers to compete with underemployed, underpaid workers here in the U.S. 

Workers in Ukraine will get nothing but misery from the deal. The coup government has already agreed to accept an IMF austerity plan in return for loans, like the ones that have devastated workers in Greece, Spain and Portugal. Unemployment, poverty, pension cuts and privatization are what they have in store. 

But people in Eastern Ukraine and throughout the country are fighting back against the fascist coup in Kiev. Some have taken over regional and city buildings and refused to hand them over to the new authorities. Others are marching on military bases and demanding that the troops not obey the commands of the neo-Nazis in Kiev. Some are calling on the Russian government to protect and assist them. The people of Ukraine remember well what Nazi rule was like during World War II, and they will not stand for it again. 

Russia’s government is acting defensively. Russia does not want a war with the U.S. and NATO, but understands that it is next on Washington’s hit list. 

People in the U.S. don’t want another war either – not for oil, not to dominate more low-wage workers, and certainly not to prop up racist neo-Nazis in Kiev! We want money for jobs and income, a raise in the minimum wage to at least $15, housing, healthcare and schools – not war and occupation. 

Initiated by International Action Center 
http://www.iacenter.org/ 

Endorsers list in formation - send your endorsement to iacenter at iacenter.org