From the Chicago Chapter
On Saturday, October 9th local World Can’t Wait activists showed the Wikileaks video "Collateral Murder" in downtown Evanston. We projected the video onto the side of a large red sculpture at the corner of a busy intersection. Many of the people who were willing to stop and look at it were very young, some still in high school. One young woman knew exactly what this video was, telling her friends that it showed U.S. troops "killing innocent civilians in Iraq." She went on to say that two Iraqi journalists had been killed.
We emphasized the importance of people in the U.S. taking responsibility to resist and opposing the wars/occupations where crimes like these are the norm. A 15-year-old young man had a hard time accepting the reality of what he was seeing; he mentioned a video game, "Call of Duty," that he said is full of gratuitous violence by troops against civilians. There is a huge pall on public discussion of this war and what exactly US troops are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Showing the Wikileaks video is an important way to break through it. We distributed several hundred flyers for this Saturday’s demonstration, and we challenged dozens of people who said they agreed with us to act on their principles and join us in the streets to demand an end to these wars and occupations.
Collateral Murder is the military’s own video of 12 Iraqis being shot and killed from a US helicopter circling above. No one has been charged in connection with these killings. However, 22 yr. old Pfc. Bradley Manning has been held incommunicado on military bases for several months now, suspected of leaking this incriminating video to Wikileaks. World Can’t Wait is distributing copies of this harrowing video so that many more people in the US see what is being done in their names. For a copy, write to us.
October 16 March Against War and Occupations
Over a thousand people marched through the Loop and up North Michigan Avenue in Chicago on Saturday, taking a clear message to the thousands more who lined the streets: End the wars and occupations NOW, stop FBI raids and end grand jury intimidation! Spirits were high. World Can’t Wait’s banner drew many responses: surprise, shock and disbelief but also agreement and peace signs. We felt that there is much to build off of this action and look forward to a continuing presence in the streets.