Reflecting further on the role of the UN and the fact that a group of anti-UN people had began staging a counter-protest at the bridge each week, Benjamin noted, "I find it strange that some Americans dislike the UN as it was America that played a part in its creation."

Prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq, Benjamin observed that half-a-million people protested George W. Bush when he visited Berlin. Yet he stresses that Europeans are not anti-American, but anti-American government. "Don't listen to the American government," is Benjamin's message to the American people.

151. "Bush lied to us about why we had to go to war," says Jan about the sign she carries during the weekly Bridge Peace Vigil - September 10, 2003.

152. Steve displays a list of dates that American troops have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion of the country. "Not that that's the only loss of life that matters in the conflict," he insists, "but its a very different experience demonstrating with this sign as opposed to any other. When you emphasize the reality of American losses, of American soldiers dying daily, people don't scream at you or flip you off."

Interestingly, Steve has to get his information about American casualties from the BBC as no American media network, as far as he knows, tracks American losses.

In the wake of the horrific UN compound bombing in Baghdad and the increasing violence and chaos across Iraq, Steve observes that George W. Bush's approval rating is "down to its lowest point ever." At the same time, "the number of people starting to question if this is worthwhile is increasing in a pretty major way," he says.

153. Greg and Rita Corcoran participate in the weekly Bridge Peace Vigil - Wednesday, September 10, 2003.

"I've heard people who I'd never have guessed say that things in Iraq are a mess," says Rita.

Partly for this reason, notes Greg, "We need to keep the awareness out there that this war is not working."

"We can't give up," insists Rita.

154. "This figure of $87 billion is almost surreal--especially when you consider that fixing your local school is a drop in the bucket compared to it," says Mary. "And this is just the extra that Bush is asking Congress for. He'll probably go again to Congress in February and ask for just as much if not more."

Reflecting on the fluctuating public opinion on the US-led invasion of Iraq, Mary observes that "What always happens when there is a war looming is that there's a large majority of people who don't want to go to war. But when we go to war many of them rally behind our president, behind our country, and behind our soldiers. When the war is shown to be as ugly and awful and horrifying as it usually ends up being, then people begin to see it for what it is."

155. "Every Wednesday afternoon for over four years, many peace-loving people have been gathering [on the Lake St./Marshall Ave. Bridge] to bring attention to violent US interventions abroad," says Joan Johnson, pictured above on September 10, 2003. "Last winter as the Bush administration's lies became more obvious to the general public, we were joined by hundreds of new supporters, and with the [corporate] media's hyped-up war fever, we have also been joined by a contingent of counter-protesters."

In an article written for the Veterans for Peace newsletter, Joan shared her experience of being confronted by one of these counter-protesters--"a tall, unshaven 50-something man" holding a "Liberate Iraq" sign.

"'Why don't you care about kids in the US?' he asked, 'Many of them live in poverty too.' I was quick to reply, 'You're absolutely right, and that's one reason I stand here every week. Why is the money that should be feeding and housing children here going to kill children over there? Why? And who profits?' He didn't respond so I answered for him, "Weapons manufacturers, big corporations, oil companies, and government elites.'"

At the end of her article Joan noted her appreciation of this particular man's willingness to discuss issues, "instead of the usual 'blurt and run'" of other counter-protesters. "It was a lively conversation," she said.

156. An advocate for justice and peace adds his own perspective to the "Liberate Iraq" sign popular among supporters of the US-led invasion.

157. Steve Clemens of Minneapolis was one of 28 citizens found not guilty on October 17, 2003, by a six-person jury from Hennepin County for entering Alliant Techsystems corporate headquarters in Edina on April 2 with the express purpose of conducting a "citizens weapons inspection."

"[We] carried a letter demand[ing] that [we] have access to the books and records of Alliant Techsystems," wrote Steve in an October 22 article in Pulse of the Twin Cities. "[We wanted] to see if they had completed any studies on the medical and environmental effects of the depleted uranium minitions they produce" and which have been widely used by the US military in Iraq.

"Using provisions from the US Constitution and International Humanitarian Law, [we] successfully argued that the 'manufacture, sale, stockpiling, as well as use of weapons containing depleted uranium is illegal," wrote Steve. "The US constitution declares that International Treaties signed by the government become 'the supreme law of the land'."

Steve introduced the provisions from International Law and he and three others defendants told accounts of what they had seen first hand in visits to Iraq since the 1991 war. The "not guilty" verdict, notes Steve, was a declaration that "International Law can trump the local private property/no trespass law."

158. Rahul Mahajan--longtime anti-war activist, founding member of the Nowar Collective, and member of the National Board of Peace Action, the nation's largest grassroots peace organization--Minneapolis, October 26, 2003.

Rahul's first book, The New Crusade: America's War on Terrorism, has been described as "mandatory reading for all those who want to get a handle on the war on terrorism." His second book, 2003's Full Spectrum Dominance: US Power in Iraq and Beyond, offers in-depth analysis of the implications of the US-led war against Iraq. Bill Fletcher, Jr., co-chair of United for Peace and Justice, and president of the TransAfrica Forum, notes that Full Spectrum Dominance offers readers "a picture of the reality of the US imperial state, and its efforts at further world domination."

As Rahul documents in his book, part of these efforts have included asserting "much more overt dominance over the United Nations."

"In its drive to war," Rahul writes, "the United States showed open contempt for the United Nations. On September 12, 2002, when Bush addressed the [UN] General Assembly, the message was, 'The United Nations must do what we say or it risks becoming irrelevant.' In late 2002 and early 2003, the UN became an unwitting accomplice in the war, disarming Iraq while the United States moved ahead with its military mobilization and war plans. Then, on March 16, 2003, Bush issued twin ulimata--one to Iraq to 'disarm' in 24 hours, and the other to the UN to pass a resolution for war within 24 hours. When neither entity acceded to these demands, war was essentially declared on both.

"Shortly after the United States went to war without UN approval, in blatant defiance of the unique authority granted to the Security Council, Richard Pearle, then chair of the Defence Policy Board, published an op-ed in the [London] Guardian entitled 'Thank God for the death of the UN.' In it, he said very openly that the 'abject failure' of the UN gave the world anarchy and that the United States was the only fit guarantor of order. He defined the future role of the UN quite clearly: 'The "good works" part will survive, the low-risk peacekeeping bureaucracies will remain, the chatterbox on the Hudson will continue to bleat.'

"In the following weeks, the Bush administration, while employing less violent rhetoric, moved to implement Perle's vision. George Bush, when pressed on the 'vital role' he said the UN should be playing, said, "That means food. That means medicine. That means aid.' What that clearly did not mean was exercising any authority over the postwar ordering of Iraq . . . In essence, what the United States was pushing for . . . was casting the United Nations in the role of a subordinate agent of US policy. Worse, the UN was to be an enabler for US aggression--helping to clean up the mess, even for a war that it explicitly didn't authorize, thus freeing the United States to move on to project its force elsewhere."

159. Jerry and Ellen Abbott - Minneapolis, January 2004.

"I think its only significance is that it may give Bush some more impetus in his campaign," says Ellen of the December 13, 2003, capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. "In terms of the Iraqi people and what's happening in Iraq and all of the destruction that's still going on, I don't think it's changing anything."

"It serves a political purpose and not much else," adds Jerry. It's unfortunate that some Americans believe that the war is somehow justified because we now have Saddam in custody.

When asked why the Bush regime is pushing for a trial of Saddam Hussein in Iraq rather than for an international trial, Ellen responds: "So that there's 'justice' in the way that Bush uses the word justice, which means no justice."

The World Socialist Website, in its December 15 editorial, similarly observed that "There are good reasons for Washington to want to avoid any public prosecution of Hussein. Occupation officials described him as 'cooperative' upon his capture. This adjective could equally be used to describe his relations with US administrations over a whole number of years. Indeed, his regime's greatest crimes against the Iraqi people-the Iran-Iraq war, the suppression of the Shiites and Kurds, etc.-were carried out with Washington's active support. This involved the direct participation of some of those who now play the leading roles in US policy, such as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Bush's new special envoy, former secretary of state James Baker."

The editorial goes on to observe that "the tactical success in nabbing Hussein may have a short-term effect in bolstering the sagging prestige of the occupation. It is hardly, however, the basis for resolving the intractable problems besetting the US attempt to recolonize Iraq, or for that matter suppressing the growing nationalist resistance of the Iraqi people."

As 2003 ebbed, the Bush regime also embarked on a vigorous campaign to suppress questioning voices within the US concerning its occupation of Iraq by its tried method of instilling fear into the American people. In the week before Christmas, the color-coded "terror alert" system was raised and six Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles were cancelled amid fears of a 9/11-type terror attack. Soon after, the U.S. ordered foreign airlines to put armed "sky marshals" on certain flights to and over the U.S.

Yet perhaps the most ludicrous directive was the FBI's alert against almanac carriers. According to the Associated Press, the FBI on Christmas Eve warned police nationwide to be "alert for people carrying almanacs, cautioning that the popular reference books covering everything from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for terrorist planning . . . assist[ing] with target selection and pre-operational planning. It urged officers to watch during searches, traffic stops and other investigations for anyone carrying almanacs, especially if the books are annotated in suspicious ways."

The Associated Press also reported the no doubt bemused responses of several almanac publishers. "'I don't think anyone would consider us a harmful entity,' said Kevin Seabrooke, senior editor of The World Almanac. He said the reference book includes about a dozen pages out of its 1,000 pages total listing the world's tallest buildings and bridges but includes no diagrams or architectural schematics. 'It's stuff that's widely available on the Internet,' he said. The publisher for The Old Farmers Almanac said Monday terrorists would probably find statistical reference books more useful than the collections of Americana in his famous publication of weather predictions and witticisms.'"

160. Dennis Brutus, poet, activist and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Pittsburgh -- Washington, DC, April 24, 2004.

In apartheid South Africa of the 1960s, Dennis Brutus was an outspoken activist against the racist state. He was instrumental in securing South Africa's suspension from the Olympics, eventually forcing the country to be expelled from the games in 1970. He was arrested in 1963 and sentenced to 18 months of hard labor on Robben Island off Capetown, with Nelson Mandela. Brutus was banned from teaching, writing, and publishing in South Africa. His first collection of poetry, Sirens, Knuckles and Boots was published in Nigeria while he was in prison.

After he was released, Brutus fled South Africa on a Rhodesian passport. In 1983, after a protracted legal struggle,Brutus won the right to stay in the United States as a political refugee. He is now a professor of African Studiesand African Literature, and is Chair of the Department of Black Community Education Research and Development at the University of Pittsburgh. He was the first non-African American to receive the Langston Hughes Award in 1987 and was received the first Paul Robeson Award in 1989, for "artistic excellence, political consciousness and integrity."

Recently, Brutus's activism has focused on the economic and environmental impact of the IMF and World Bank policies in developing countries, and the connection of such policies to militarism and in particular, the so-called "War on Terror."

161. Mike Miles - Minneapolis, April 2004.

For the past eight months, Mike has played an instrumental role in a grassroots campaign of education and outreach called the Wheels of Justice Tour. Chartered in August 2003 by members of Voices in the Wilderness, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, the Middle East Children's Alliance, and affiliates of the International Solidarity Movement, the Wheels of Justice Tour has traveled to 48 states to challenge and educate Americans on the occupations of Palestine and Iraq.

The tour's website notes that "having seen and lived with war, terror, and occupation in Iraq and Palestine, participants in the Wheels of Justice offer first-hand experience irrespective of partisan politics and sound bite sloganeering. The Wheels of Justice Tour canvasses the United States with education, outreach, training, active non-violent resistance, and network/community building."

The tour organizers and participants, including Mike, believe that "the only roadmap for peace is justice and human rights." The group calls upon all parties involved in the conflicts in Palestine and Iraq to recognize and adhere to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Non-violent resistance to the violence of war, terrorism, and occupation, is also encouraged and supported.

Those part of the Wheels of Justice Tour also state that because much of such violence is supported by our tax dollars and by our elected officials, Americans bear a great responsibility: "The people of the world know this, and U.S. government policy provokes rage and retaliation against Americans. Further, draining our treasury on weapons and wars helps prolong and exacerbate our economic downfall and diverts resources greatly needed to build American schools and infrastructure, and provide employment and healthcare to our citizens. To break the cycle of violence, we must change our roles in these conflicts; as individuals and as a nation, we must move from instigator to negotiator, from enabler to resister."

Off-site Link: Wheels of Justice Tour.