Sign Up for 1/27 Iraq Protest March in DC

From NM Coordinator, United for Peace and Justice:
Hello New Mexicans who want to end the Iraq war and stop the proposed escalation! United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is organizing a nationwide mass march on Washington, DC on January 27th to protest the war in Iraq and stop the escalation. Please come to Washington DC on January 27th to join in the march! People are asked to meet on the Mall between 3rd and 7th Streets at 11:00 AM, and the march will start at 1:00 PM.

Now is the time to let your voices be heard and to get the message out, again, to Congress. Ron Kovic, the Vietnam war veteran who wrote 'Born on the 4th of July', said just last week:

"...it was Martin Luther King Jr. who said in April 1967 - a year before he was assassinated, during the height of the Vietnam War - A time comes when silence is betrayal."

Ron is rallying Americans to take a visible stand against the Iraq war. If you would like to attend the march, go to the UFPJ website, www.unitedforpeace.org, and scroll down to where it says something like "Connect with people from your area who are attending the march..." I have volunteered to be the state coordinator for New Mexico, and my zip code is 87506. But you could put in your zip code and have it cover a larger area, e.g. 200 miles. Then you can enter your information to sign up for the march.

Buses?
Right now, no buses or vans have been organized from New Mexico, but if enough people are interested I will gladly help to coordinate.  I will be flying due to time contstraints.  At present, buses are going to the march from more than 20 states and from 72 cities. Flights from ABQ to DCA (Reagan Airport ... formerly National) are still available in the $250 range through Southwest ... good fare + hotel packages are also availab le through hotwire.com and travelocity.com.

Please sign up on the website if you will be attending, because national media are trying gauge the interest in the march by website signups. Note also that a citizen lobbying day is planned for Jan 29th, and training/coordinating for the lobbying day will occur on Jan 28th. You can read all about the scheduled events at www.unitedforpeace.org.

Thank you so much ... and if you aren't able to attend the DC march, you can still participate in several ways:

1. by donating to UFPJ who really needs financial support right now to pull this off,
2. holding local protests in conjunction with the nationwide protests, and
3. spreading the word to as many people as you know so we can make a strong presence in DC.

Carol Craiglow, Santa Fe, NM

Editor's Note: An Albuquerque march and rally will be held on January 27th as part of this nationwide protest. See our previous post for more info.