[Stopwar-l] StopWar meeting tonight / Rally Sunday against attack on Syria

[StopWar]

Please note that our StopWar general monthly meeting is this evening

Wed, Sept. 4
5:30 pm
VCC downtown campus - Cafeteria lounge (upstairs)
250 West Pender Street

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*Please forward widely*

Emergency rally against threatened U.S. bombing of Syria

Over the weekend, a dozen cities across Canada held rallies against the
threatened US attack on Syria. Worldwide rallies against the US bombing of
Syria continue. Please help us spread the word!

The next Vancouver rally is:

Sunday, September 8
2pm, Vancouver Art Gallery (Robson & Hornby)

Organized by StopWar.

Contact: stopwar at resist.ca

*

StopWar Vancouver, a broad-based anti-war coalition, has endorsed this
call by the Canadian Peace Alliance for emergency actions. Protests will
be taking place against next weekend in cities and towns across Canada in
the coming days.

Don't attack Syria

The Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA) is calling on all its members and
supporters to oppose an impending US-led attack on Syria.

Once again, a report about the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction is being
used to justify an intervention. We are always opposed to the use of any
weapons on civilians, but as was the case with the last reports of an
alleged attack, there is no conclusive proof that the attack came from the
Syrian government.

Undaunted by the lack of evidence, US Secretary of State John Kerry has
nevertheless declared that the US and its NATO allies will strike Syria.
Any intervention by a new "coalition of the willing" will be against
international law and must be opposed.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has said that Canada will be
in "lock-step" with its NATO allies. Canadian officials are currently
meeting with counterparts from France, the UK and the US to devise
strategies for an intervention.

Regardless of what one thinks of either the Syrian government or of the
opposition forces, we know from recent experience that:

- NATO and its allies have and will continue to lie about the use of
Weapons of Mass Destruction to justify "humanitarian" intervention.

- NATO-led attacks, justified as a "responsibility to protect" (R2P)
civilians, have resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths. The
death toll from military attacks in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya can be
counted in the hundreds of thousands.

- The geopolitical calculations of the NATO powers, and not the interests
of ordinary people, are always the main considerations for any
intervention.

During the Vietnam War, US officials described a situation where it became
necessary to "destroy the village in order to save it." As with all the
recent evocations of R2P, it appears that the goal of NATO is to murder
civilians in order to save them. We must, therefore, stand in opposition
to the actions of the aggressor states in NATO and call on the government
of Canada to keep its hands off Syria.

Call for action

Many CPA member groups, as well as coalitions in other countries including
the US, have devised emergency response plans in the event of an attack on
Syria. The CPA calls upon peace and social justice groups to devise such
plans, whether or not an attack immediately involves Canada, and to
continue to pressure the Government of Canada and NATO to keep their hands
off Syria.

Please email details about local emergency actions to cpa at web.ca. All
actions will be posted on www.acp-cpa.ca.

Please e-mail or call your Member of Parliament and demand that they
oppose an attack on Syria. A full list of MP contact information can be
found here.


-- 
StopWar - Vancouver's Labour/Community coalition of organizations united
for Justice and Peace

stopwar at resist.ca
http://stopwarca.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @StopWarCa
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/StopWarCa-Vancouver-Coalition-for-Justice-Peace/114887768615257