800 attend national antiwar conference in Albany, N.Y
2010Jeff Mackler 2010-08Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 1 →
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VOL. 28, NO. 8, AUGUST 2010 WWW.SOCIALISTACTION.ORG U.S. / CANADA $1 The July 23-25 national antiwar conference in Albany, N.Y., was an extraordinary advance in the fight against imperialist war and for social justice. To an extent greater than in any other decision-making conference of recent decades, this was a broad, determined, and united political mobilization against all of the ongoing and threatened U.S. wars, interventions, and occupations. And by the same measure, the conference was the most thorough repudiation of the government’s “bail out the banks” antisocial agenda at home.
The United National Antiwar Conference’s (UNAC’s) open and democratic gathering included representaTony Savino / Socialist Action tives of virtually every major national antiwar group in the U.S. as well as hundreds of local, state, and regional antiwar organizations. Equally important was the presence and participation of leading representatives and activists from many of the country’s most vital social movements, all of whom aimed to link the fight against U.S. imperialism’s wars to the fight for social justice, democratic rights, and civil liberties.
The conference’s power, scope, program, and unity were a direct response to the world economic crisis, which has directly affected the lives of tens of millions of Americans and driven the nation’s corporate rulers to a series of endless and murderous wars across the globe.
After hours of debate, at times contentious and sharp, the conference unanimously adopted a 24-point Action Program of antiwar activities—culminating in mass demonstrations in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles on April 9, 2011.
The Action Program represents a critical turning point for the U.S. antiwar and other social movements and an important political break from the widely held illusion that the 2008 presidential election would have ushered Muhammed Obaid Ormur / AP Manpreet Rumana / AFP / Getty Images (Above) Soldier on patrol, July 28, as U.S. begins a major push in Kandahar province.
in “change we can believe in.” It is a harbinger of the powerful movement that will take to the streets in renewed, massive, and repeated mobilizations to demand a fundamental re-ordering of social priorities and an immediate end to all U.S. wars and occupations.
At least 776 antiwar and social justice activists from across the country, and including small delegations from Canada and Latin America, registered to participate. Scores of others flooded the giant auditorium without registering—putting the total attendance at well over 800. With the assistance of the Albany-based Sanctuary Media, 17,000 more witnessed the conference and many of its 30-plus workshops via video-streaming (http:// mediasanctuary.tv/crows/).
The conference was initiated by the National Assembly to End U.S. Wars and Occupations and sponsored by UNAC, a group representing 31 national antiwar and so(continued on page 4, in “Extending unemployment compensation has to be just the first step”)
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A major advance in the fight against imperialist war
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