Sonoma County Rally to End Occupation

By Peter Phillips


Sonoma County stands up to end the Iraq occuppation and impeach the president

Hundreds of Santa Rosa activists rallied to end the Iraq occupation and demanded impeachment of the war criminals in the Whitehouse. The rally featured congresswomen Lynn Woolsey saying, “we need to bring our troops home now!” The rally was cheered on by radio hosts Evelina Molina, Miguel Molina and Dennis Bernstein from KPFA’s Flashpoints program.

Former Black Panther Elbert “Big Man” Howard called for ending the war and reminded the audience of the struggle of the Black Panther party in the 1960s. Norman Solomon spoke as a guest of the Progressive Democrats of America, documenting the corporate media’s continuing support for war.

Miles Everett with the Alliance for Democracy emphasized the importance of impeachment now to end the war and save lives in Iraq.

Davin Cardenas, outlined how US immigration policies are falsely linked to the war on terror and how torture is nothing new to the people of Latin America.

Elizabeth Stinson, encouraged people with relatives and friends thinking of joining the military or already in the service to visit the Peace and Justice Center for counseling on alternative programs to the military or how active duty personnel opposed to the war can leave with an honorable discharge.

Impeachment of Cheney and Bush was a common rally cry during the afternoon. The World Can’t Wait team built a mock jail and imprisoned George W. Bush. Progressive Democrats of Sonoma County circulated petitions for local city councils to pass impeachment resolutions and the Raging Grannies sang an impeachment song.

Music for the rally was provided by Gale Mead, Midnight Sun, Comanche High Power.

The event was sponsored by twenty-eight Sonoma county activists groups including, Progressive Democrats Sonoma County, Project Censored, Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County, Casa Calpulli, Committee for Immigrants Rights, Department of Peace Campaign, Graton Day Labor, Healdsburg Peace Project, Healdsburg Progressive Club, Instituto Sanchez Mendoza, Peace Club of SSU, Petaluma Copwatch, Raging Grannies, Resolution to Impeach Coalition, Santa Rosa Democratic Club, Sonoma County Democracy for America, Sonoma County Free Press, SSU Black Student Union, Students for Justice in Palestine, Students for Media Democracy, Unitarian Universalists Petaluma, Veterans For Peace, Vietnam Vets Against the War, Wearenotbuyingit.org, World Can’t Wait.