[From nobody Sat Feb 21 19:31:42 2009 Return-Path: <globalnet@mindspring.com> Received: from rly-da05.mx.aol.com (rly-da05.mail.aol.com [172.19.129.79]) by air-da03.mail.aol.com (v121_r4.6) with ESMTP id MAILINDA031-a6b499e08452be; Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:33:12 -0500 Received: from elasmtp-spurfowl.atl.sa.earthlink.net (elasmtp-spurfowl.atl.sa.earthlink.net [209.86.89.66]) by rly-da05.mx.aol.com (v121_r4.4) with ESMTP id MAILRELAYINDA053-a6b499e08452be; Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:32:56 -0500 DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=dk20050327; d=mindspring.com; b=PtbBoeKWv/0eShTic3GwAwxoiSkx3aWvek7lnnAhpZ8CgqiIyGz3Rwa2DLzp5LkB; h=Received:Message-ID:Reply-To:From:To:Subject:Date:MIME-Version:Content-Type:X-Priority:X-MSMail-Priority:X-Mailer:X-MimeOLE:X-ELNK-Trace:X-Originating-IP; Received: from [70.16.109.67] (helo=deskone) by elasmtp-spurfowl.atl.sa.earthlink.net with esmtpa (Exim 4.67) (envelope-from <globalnet@mindspring.com>) id 1LaKDe-00028P-6Q; Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:30:22 -0500 Message-ID: <05D432A90EDD417BA065E6496CD82F15@deskone> Reply-To: "Global Network" <globalnet@mindspring.com> From: "Global Network" <globalnet@mindspring.com> To: "GN List Serve" <globenet@yahoogroups.com> Subject: NATO Anniversary Celebrations to Draw Massive Protests Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:27:42 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0487_01C992D0.8AB413C0" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.5512 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579 X-ELNK-Trace: abf9e2eba570b8e601c17f49696497b440683398e744b8a4f783f89ac31d99b01281b065a01a644c93caf27dac41a8fd350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c X-Originating-IP: 70.16.109.67 X-AOL-IP: 209.86.89.66 ------=_NextPart_000_0487_01C992D0.8AB413C0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable 60th NATO Anniversary Celebrations in Europe to Draw Massive Protests 2009 is the 60th anniversary of NATO and the US-led alliance is planning big= celebrations in Europe to promote their expanded global role as an extensio= n of US foreign and military policy. In 1999, seeking to justify its existen= ce after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, NATO acknowledged that it=20= was seeking to orient itself according to a new fundamental strategic concep= t. From a narrow military defense alliance it was to become a broad-based al= liance for the protection of the vital resource needs (oil/natural gas/etc)=20= of its member states. Besides being mired in Afghanistan today, NATO is now=20= expanding eastward as a tool in the aggressive US program to surround resour= ce rich Russia. There are even discussions now within NATO to take the allia= nce into the Asian-Pacific to help the US militarily surround China.=20 >From April 3-5, 40 heads of state and government leaders, including Presiden= t Obama, will come to Strasbourg, France and Baden-Baden, Germany for 60th a= nniversary events. In response to these events activists from throughout Eur= ope are planning protests in Strasbourg during the period of April 1-5. In o= rder to plan these events 500 activists from 19 countries met at Marc Bloch=20= University in Strasbourg, on February 14-15.=20 The No to War - No to NATO coalition issued a statement after their meeting=20= that reads in part: "60 years are more than enough - this is the consensus u= niting the participants of the peace, anti-globalization movements, leftist=20= parties and organizations, Trade Unions, and student initiatives. They stand= against the war policy of NATO, against today's wars in Afghanistan and the= Middle East, against the intervention strategy and reinforce their claim to= 'No to NATO'. They refuse to accept the EU linked with NATO and ask for a d= rastic reduction of military spending: we do not want to pay for your crisis= , nor for your wars."=20 NATO of course is responding by trying to keep the protests away from Strasb= ourg. They have arranged for the city government to outlaw protests. In resp= onse No to NATO says, "We want to express our rejection of this kind of poli= tics and want to give the citizens of Strasbourg and the social movements th= e opportunity to publicize their rejection without any obstacles. These are=20= the demands for the prefecture which turned down the proposal of the NATO Pr= eparatory Committee to demonstrate against NATO in the inner city of Strasbo= urg on 4th of April. The implementation of the NATO Summit will turn Strasbo= urg into a fortress; this is not acceptable for its own citizens and for the= thousands of peaceful demonstrators form all parts of the world. "Extraordinary security parameters will be enacted: the establishment of a r= ed zone, the labeling of the citizens, the establishment of an all-encompass= ing new video surveillance system. For us this staging of heads of states in= the city centre of Strasbourg - a closed off city - and its inhabitants who= will be unable to have a normal daily life, having no freedom of movement,=20= is unbearable and makes it impossible for us to unveil NATO's real face. Whe= reas the citizens will pay for the summit and the glorified presentation of=20= NATO their dissenting opinion is to be marginalized." For activists back here in the US it should be reassuring and exciting for u= s to see so much effort being organized to shut down the US empire. But we h= ave to do our part as well. We can start by calling for the closing of US ba= ses and for major cuts by Congress in the Pentagon's bloated budget. None of= us have to do this on our own. When we work together as a globalized moveme= nt we can really begin to make progress. These are the kinds of issues that will be featured at the upcoming Security= Without Empire: National Organizing Conference on Foreign Military Bases th= at will be held at American University in Washington DC on February 27-March= 2. The Global Network will be one of 20 peace groups sponsoring this import= ant event. Key peace movement activists from around the US and all over the= world will be attending and presenting. A protest vigil at the Pentagon wi= ll kick off the weekend beginning at 4:00 pm on February 27. For registration information see the conference web site at: www.projectonmi= litarybases.org=20 Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space PO Box 652 Brunswick, ME 04011 (207) 443-9502 http://www.space4peace.org globalnet@mindspring.com http://space4peace.blogspot.com (Blog) ------=_NextPart_000_0487_01C992D0.8AB413C0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1"> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.6000.16809" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV align=3Dcenter><FONT size=3D5><STRONG><A href=3D"http://space4peace.b= logspot.com/">60th NATO Anniversary Celebrations in=20 Europe</A></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV align=3Dcenter><STRONG><FONT size=3D5><A href=3D"http://space4peace.b= logspot.com/">to Draw Massive=20 Protests</A></FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>2009 is the 60th anniversary of NATO and the US-led alliance is plannin= g=20 big celebrations in Europe to promote their expanded global role as an exten= sion=20 of US foreign and military policy. In 1999, seeking to justify its existence= =20 after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, NATO acknowledged that it was= =20 seeking to orient itself according to a new fundamental strategic concept. F= rom=20 a narrow military defense alliance it was to become a broad-based alliance f= or=20 the protection of the vital resource needs (oil/natural gas/etc) of its memb= er=20 states. Besides being mired in Afghanistan today, NATO is now expanding east= ward=20 as a tool in the aggressive US program to surround resource rich Russia. The= re=20 are even discussions now within NATO to take the alliance into the Asian-Pac= ific=20 to help the US militarily surround China. </DIV> <DIV align=3Dleft></DIV> <DIV align=3Dleft><BR>From April 3-5, 40 heads of state and government leade= rs,=20 including President Obama, will come to Strasbourg, France and Baden-Baden,=20 Germany for 60th anniversary events. In response to these events activists f= rom=20 throughout Europe are <A href=3D"http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-= 02-16/Anti_NATO_activists_gear_up_weeks_before_alliance_s_anniversary_festiv= ities.html"><FONT color=3D#716e6c>planning protests in Strasbourg </FONT><= /A>during the period of=20 April 1-5. In order to plan these events 500 activists from 19 countries met= at=20 Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg, on February 14-15. </DIV> <DIV align=3Dleft></DIV> <DIV align=3Dleft><FONT face=3DArial></FONT><BR>The <A href=3D"http://www.= no-to-nato.org/"><FONT color=3D#716e6c>No to War - No to NATO=20 </FONT></A>coalition issued a statement after their meeting that reads in pa= rt:=20 "60 years are more than enough =96 this is the consensus uniting the partici= pants=20 of the peace, anti-globalization movements, leftist parties and organization= s,=20 Trade Unions, and student initiatives. They stand against the war policy of=20 NATO, against today's wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East, against the=20 intervention strategy and reinforce their claim to 'No to NATO'. They refuse= to=20 accept the EU linked with NATO and ask for a drastic reduction of military=20 spending: we do not want to pay for your crisis , nor for your wars." </DIV> <DIV align=3Dleft></DIV> <DIV align=3Dleft><BR>NATO of course is responding by trying to keep the pro= tests=20 away from Strasbourg. They have arranged for the city government to outlaw=20 protests. In response No to NATO says, "We want to express our rejection of=20= this=20 kind of politics and want to give the citizens of Strasbourg and the social=20 movements the opportunity to publicize their rejection without any obstacles= .=20 These are the demands for the prefecture which turned down the proposal of t= he=20 NATO Preparatory Committee to demonstrate against NATO in the inner city of=20 Strasbourg on 4th of April. The implementation of the NATO Summit will turn=20 Strasbourg into a fortress; this is not acceptable for its own citizens and=20= for=20 the thousands of peaceful demonstrators form all parts of the=20 world.<BR><BR>"Extraordinary security parameters will be enacted: the=20 establishment of a red zone, the labeling of the citizens, the establishment= of=20 an all-encompassing new video surveillance system. For us this staging of he= ads=20 of states in the city centre of Strasbourg =96 a closed off city =96 and its= =20 inhabitants who will be unable to have a normal daily life, having no freedo= m of=20 movement, is unbearable and makes it impossible for us to unveil NATO's real= =20 face. Whereas the citizens will pay for the summit and the glorified=20 presentation of NATO their dissenting opinion is to be marginalized."</DIV> <DIV align=3Dleft></DIV> <DIV align=3Dleft><BR>For activists back here in the US it should be reassur= ing=20 and exciting for us to see so much effort being organized to shut down the U= S=20 empire. But we have to do our part as well. We can start by calling for the=20 closing of US bases and for major cuts by Congress in the Pentagon's bloated= =20 budget. None of us have to do this on our own. When we work together as a=20 globalized movement we can really begin to make progress.</DIV> <DIV align=3Dleft>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV align=3Dleft>These are the kinds of issues that will be featured at the= =20 upcoming <EM><STRONG>Security Without Empire: National Organizing Conference= on=20 Foreign Military Bases</STRONG></EM> that will be held at American Universit= y in=20 Washington DC on February 27-March 2. The Global Network will be one of=20 20&nbsp;peace groups sponsoring this important event.&nbsp; Key peace moveme= nt=20 activists from around the US and all over the world will be attending and=20 presenting.&nbsp; A protest vigil at the Pentagon will kick off the weekend=20 beginning at 4:00 pm on February 27. <P>For registration information see the conference web site at: <A href= =3D"http://www.projectonmilitarybases.org/"><FONT color=3D#716e6c>www.proj= ectonmilitarybases.org</FONT></A> </P></DIV> <DIV align=3Dleft><FONT face=3DArial></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>Global Network Against Weapons &amp; Nuclear Power in Space<BR>PO Box=20 652<BR>Brunswick, ME 04011<BR>(207) 443-9502<BR><A href=3D"http://www.spac= e4peace.org">http://www.space4peace.org</A><BR><A href=3D"mailto:globalnet= @mindspring.com">globalnet@mindspring.com</A><BR><A href=3D"http://space4p= eace.blogspot.com">http://space4peace.blogspot.com</A>=20 (Blog)<BR></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_0487_01C992D0.8AB413C0-- ]