Metro Denver Greens

Great Attendance at Denver October 27 Peace Rally

Here are photographs from today's peace rally in Denver, part of the National Mobilization to End the War in Iraq.

Fifteen hundred people attended the event held on the west steps of the Colorado state capitol building.

Green Party members were visible and active at the anti-war protest.

Photos by Dave Chandler.

Greens tabling at the peace rally: Tony D'Lallo, Adam Taylor, Rich Jones and Tom Kelly.
Tanya Ishikawa is right behind Adam.

'Scary' Gary

Ron Forthofer, Rob Prince and Dan Winter

Ken Seaman is the 'I' and Mag Seaman is the 'A' in IMPEACH.
Ken was the Green Party candidate for U.S. House of Representatives for the 1st Congressional District in 2002.

Claire Ryder, organizer and MC of the event. Claire is also chair of the Denver Greens.

Unannounced Colorado Green Party candidate for the United States Senate, Bob Kinsey

Link: Protesters Call for End to Iraq War | Reuters

Anti-war demonstrators marched in a dozen U.S. cities on Saturday to call for an immediate end to the war in Iraq and a cut-off of funding by Congress. The "national day of action," sponsored by the United for Peace and Justice coalition, attracted throngs of protesters in cities from Boston and New Orleans to Chicago and Los Angeles on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Senate's vote authorizing the invasion of Iraq.

Protest Against War in Denver Tomorrow

The Denver peace rally is part of the October 27th Solidarity Actions.

The Green Party of the United States yesterday issued the following press release:

Link: Green Party Joins Oct. 27 Protests Against the War; Actions Planned for Cities Across the US

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Green Party leaders and activists will join tens of thousands across the country on October 27 in numerous protest rallies against the occupation . The rallies will target Congress's failure to heed popular opposition to the Iraq War.

Regional events with Green Party participation on October 27:

• Boston, Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party, along with other New England Green Parties, will have a contingent at the New England Mobilization to End the War in Iraq planned for Boston. The rally begins at noon on the Boston Common; the march at 2 pm.

• Chicago, Illinois: Greens from multiple states will meet at Union Park (Ashland and Warren) at 11:30 am. They will petition for Green presidential candidates and participate in the 1:30 rally at Union Park, the 2:30 march to Federal Plaza, and the subsequent rally at Federal Plaza (Jackson and Dearborn).

• Kauai, Hawaii: Greens will join other other citizens against the war at the Kapaa Public Library in a 4 pm rally organized by the Kauai Peace 'Ohana in Solidarity with United for Peace and Justice. Green Party leader Claire Mortimer will speak.

• New York City: Green Party members will join peace groups north of Union Square at noon to march down Broadway to a peace fair at Foley Square.

• Orlando, Florida: Rally at Lake Eola (northeast corner), 12:30 - 4 pm, three-mile march from Robinson to Paramore to Church Street to Orange Avenue to Central and returning to Eola Drive and Robinson. Michael Canney, co-chair of the Green Party of Florida, will speak at the rally.

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Greens will participate in the Human Chain For Peace, which will extend from the VA Hospital on Woodland Avenue to Independence Mall, beginning at noon. At 1 pm, a march to the rally location will begin at the VA Hospital.

• San Francisco, California: Greens from San Francisco, Santa Clara County, and throughout the Bay Area are coalition organizers for the "End the War in Iraq Day" protest, march, and 'die-in' in San Francisco. Protesters will meet at the San Francisco Civic Center at 11 am, where the list of speakers will include Cindy Sheehan, and later march to Dolores Park.

• Seattle, Washington State: Pacific Northwest Regional 'End the War Now' events will begin with an assembly at Judkins Park (near 23rd and Jackson), followed by March to Occidental Park (in Pioneer Square).

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Stop the War Now!

Saturday, October 27, 2007
11:30 A.M.
West steps of the Colorado State Capitol building (200 E. Colfax)

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"Do Something" Colorado!

Colorado residents can "do something" to stop the U.S. military occupation of Iraq.

Denver is the rally city near you.

This Saturday, October 27, 2007; 11:30 A.M. on west steps of the State Capitol building (200 E. Colfax).

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For Peace! Denver Rally This Saturday

Metro Denver Greens encourages all Coloradoans seeking an end to the U.S. military occupation of Iraq to attend this rally.

Note slight change in location:
This Saturday, October 27, 2007; 11:30 A.M. on west steps of the State Capitol building (200 E. Colfax).

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Peace is the answer.

Download StopWarNow-Flier.pdf

Arvada, Colorado: 'Eyes Wide Open' Photographs

Photographs of Saturday's exhibit, Eyes Wide Open: The Cost of War to Colorado, can be viewed at: www.ColoradoCitizensforPeace.info.

Metro Denver area Green Party members were essential contributors and volunteers in organizing this sobering and worthwhile display of the human cost of the U.S. military's occupation of Iraq.

Denver Area Greens: Are You Ready?

Join us in supporting or volunteering for the following coming events.

52 Pairs of Combat Boots Representing U.S. Soldiers From Colorado Who Have Fallen in the Iraq War
From Colorado Green Party Co-Chair, Dave Chandler

Many local Greens are involved in helping to organize this event in Arvada. Greens were instrumental in the national 'Eyes Wide Open' exhibit that visited Denver last summer.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in cooperation with the local Colorado Citizens for Peace will honor fallen U.S. military personnel and Iraqi civilians with its traveling exhibition: Eyes Wide Open: The Cost of War to Colorado, which will be on display at Arvada's McIlvoy Park on Saturday, October 13, 2007.

Eyes Wide Open: The Cost of War to Colorado focuses on the specific cost of the war to the state of Colorado. The exhibit includes 52 pairs of boots representing fallen servicemen and women from Colorado, and a visual representation of the Iraqi civilian casualties. The exhibit is part of AFCS's national Eyes Wide Open: The Cost of War network.

WHO: American Friends Service Committee, Colorado Citizens for Peace and Arvada United Methodist Church

WHAT: Eyes Wide Open - AFSC's widely acclaimed war casualties exhibition illustrating the human cost of the Iraq war

WHERE: McIlvoy Park; 5750 Upham Street, Olde Town, Arvada, CO 80002
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WHEN: Saturday, October 13, 2007; 9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.

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Next Arapahoe-Denver Greens Meeting

Wednesday, October 17, 2007
6:30 P.M.
Ross-University Hills Public Library
4310 E. Amherst Ave.
At S. Birch St.
Denver, CO 80222

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Greens to Volunteer for KGNU Radio Fund Drive
From Adams-Jeffco Greens, Chair, Tony D'Lallo

The Adams-Jefferson County Greens and the Denver Greens locals will be phone banking for KGNU in Boulder, Colorado on Saturday, October 20, from 8:45 A.M. to 1:00 P.M.

If you are interested helping, please email me or phone me as soon as possible. I would prefer that we get 10 people to sign up for the this event, but six will have to suffice if that is all that can be recruited. There is always room for more!

KGNU
4700 Walnut Street
Boulder, Colorado 80301

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Contact Tony at antoniodlallo@comcast.net
or 303-921-9537

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Stop the War NOW! Rally
From Colorado Green Party Co-Chair, Tom Kelly

October 27, 2007; Antiwar Rally; 11:30 A.M. at Lincoln Park (Veteran's Park) across Lincoln Blvd. on west side of State Capitol.

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Rally includes speakers, music and spoken word artists.

We need volunteers to help staff the table and register voters. We will discuss this at the next Denver and Arapahoe chapter meetings. On October 17, at 6:30 at Ross-University Hills Library. (See meeting announcement above.)

Contact Tom Kelly if you want to help with effort.
tkelly733@earthlink.net
303-789-3156

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Next Adams-Jefferson Greens Meeting

Adams-Jefferson Greens will hold their monthly meeting on Thursday, November 8, at the Arvada Library in Olde Town Arvada.

6:30 - 8:30 P.M.

Arvada Library
7525 W. 57th Avenue
Arvada, CO 80002

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Colorado Green Party Says No Nukes in the Middle East

The Green Party of Colorado has officially endorsed a statement against the United States' nuclear weapon use in the Middle East and for the United States' full compliance with the International Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Green Party voted on Oct. 5, 2007, to support the statement created by the Colorado Coalition for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

The Denver-based Coalition is a network of citizen activists and concerned Colorado residents, working for peace through diplomacy and a nuclear-weapons-free world. The Coalition Web site with a discussion forum, events calendar and other informational tools is www.thecoloradocoalition.org. Board Member Bob Kinsey can be reached for more information at 303-949-4073 or kinsey_65@msn.com.

The Green Party of Colorado is the state's fourth largest political party with ten local chapters and registered members in every county. Elected Greens in Colorado government include Carbondale Trustee Scott Chaplin, Fremont County Schools Boardmember Charlie Green, San Miguel County Commissioner Art Goodtimes, Breckenridge Councilman Jeffrey Bergeron, Cortez City Councilman Matt Keefauver, Dolores Town Boardmember Wendy Mimiaga, and Ward Mayor Peter Gleichman. More information on the Green Party is at www.coloradogreens.org.

This statement against United States nuclear weapons use in the Middle East reads:

Loose Lips Threaten Real Security
The Colorado Coalition for Prevention of Nuclear War
September 2007

The Colorado Coalition for the Prevention of Nuclear War finds the conversation about potential "use" of nuclear weapons in the Middle East to be irresponsible and illegal. Those who reject our membership in the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Court of Justice intend this conversation to legitimizes this outrageous question.

Americans should be talking instead about is a pledge of no first use on the part of the United States as an early step in returning to our commitments under the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Until the Military Policy of the United States rejects nuclear weapons as acceptable in any situation, we are rejecting the whole premise of non-proliferation. The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was ratified by the United States Senate and thus has the force of Law within the U.S. Constitution (See Article VI). When the Congress or the President act outside the commitments made in the NPT they are putting themselves above U.S. Law.

The pledge in this treaty, by non-nuclear states -- to forego development of these weapons -- is predicated on actions of nuclear states to stand down and move toward multilateral elimination of all such weapons-- under an international inspection schem e. Unless the United States keeps this commitment, there is no legal basis on which to "invade pre-emptively" or to punish a country that seeks to gain nuclear capability. Their national sovereignty within the international legal framework trumps that action in international law, unless the NPT is honored by nuclear states.

We call on all Colorado citizens to hold all our leaders and potential leaders to a commitment to real non-proliferation and international nuclear disarmament. The International Court of Justice has identified both the use and/or threat of use of these weapons as a Crime Against Humanity. To make a policy of first strike use of a nuclear weapon against any state-- no matter how onerous-- by the United States, a topic of legitimate conversation is a crime against humanity on our part.

That there were no nuclear weapons found in Iraq in 2003 after our pre-emptive invasion proves that international inspection (by the United Nations) had been effective and can be effective in the future to make the entire world more secure from these abominations. As we struggle six years later with the long term consequences of this rash invasion we should remember there are better ways to obtain real national security than hiding behind their illusory shield.

Approved by the Board of the Coalition, as well as the following organizations:

Green Party of Colorado
Evergreen Peace
Greeley Chapter of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission
Colorado Progressive Jewish News
And citizens from Boulder, Denver, Chicago, Arvada, Indiana, Colorado Springs, Lakewood, etc.

Colorado Greens Oppose More War

Ron Forthofer was the Green Party candidate for governor of Colorado in 2002; he won four percent of the vote in Colorado's 2nd Congressional District in 2000. Ron is a retired professor and a long-time peace and justice activist.

Déjà Vu All Over Again
Ron Forthofer

The great American sage Yogi Berra's above phrase comes to mind as I watch Bush and company concocting a case for an attack on Iran. Many of the same lies used to generate support for an illegal and unnecessary attack on Iraq are being trotted out again along with some new unsubstantiated speculations.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad is called a dictator and there is the threat of a mushroom cloud supposedly looming just over the horizon. Bush claims that Iran is arming Iraqis who are attacking U.S. troops. Iran is alleged to be the greatest state sponsor of terrorism. Former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu even compared relatively weak Iran to the powerful Nazi German state, and the media didn't blink. Reality doesn't matter, and the corporate media dutifully repeat these questionable assertions as if they were gospel. We must not fall for these questionable claims again.

The Iraq debacle

We cannot allow a reprise of the attack on Iraq, a country that was not a threat to us. After all, the invasion of Iraq backfired big time on the United States, not to mention the appalling death toll and destruction wreaked on Iraq. Most now realize that the attack on and occupation of Iraq have served as a great recruiting tool for Al Qaeda and have also strengthened the position of Iran. The invasion and occupation have taken the lives of almost 4000 U.S. soldiers and the monetary costs are rapidly approaching one trillion dollars.

The image of the United States has also sunk to an all-time low, and America no longer has any moral authority to challenge other nations violating international and humanitarian law. In fact, under the Nuremberg principles, the U.S. attack on Iraq was a major war crime and our leadership should be facing trial. U.S. forces have committed many additional war crimes in the past four years. The biased media fail to use the term ‘war crimes' to describe U.S. actions and Congress continues to fund these acts. Are members of Congress now complicit in war crimes and should they be on trial as well?

Examining the claims about Iran

Those calling Ahmadinejad a dictator are simply demonstrating their ignorance. He was democratically elected and is likely to be voted out of office unless Iran is attacked or harsher sanctions are imposed upon it. In reality, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the supreme leader in Iran and, even then, there are some checks on his ability to take unilateral action.

Regarding the alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program, in a November 2006 article, Seymour Hersh reported that the CIA found no conclusive evidence, as yet, of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program. A recent National Intelligence Estimate also provided no evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program and, in addition, estimated that Iran is about a decade away from manufacturing the key ingredient for a nuclear weapon.

The International Atomic Energy Agency also concluded an agreement with Iran on Aug. 21, 2007. A key understanding they reached is: “The Agency has been able to verify the non-diversion of the declared nuclear materials at the enrichment facilities in Iran and has therefore concluded that it remains in peaceful use.”

The assertion about the Iranian government providing arms for attacks on U.S. troops remains unsubstantiated. Since the Sunnis are involved with most of the attacks on U.S. forces, it is hard to believe that Shiite Iran would arm the Sunnis. For more information on this problematic claim, see a Sept. 27 column by Scott Ritter and an Oct. 1 column by Seymour Hersh on the commondreams.org website.

The 2002 paper “To End Terrorism, End State Terrorism” by Johan Galtung and Dietrich Fischer addresses the greatest state sponsor of terrorism issue. Galtung and Fischer wrote: “The US media never mention the state terrorism exercised by the USA on other countries. Since 1945, the United States has intervened abroad 67 times, causing twelve million deaths, about half by overt action (Pentagon) and covert action (CIA).”

The results of an attack on Iran would expand the current hellish situation in Iraq to the entire Middle East. Cheney and Israel and its supporters are all pushing for an attack on Iran with leading Democrats being willing to go along with an attack. It is up to the American public to stop this insanity and time is short. Write letters to the editor, talk to friends and neighbors, and strongly express your opposition to an attack on Iran to Congress (202-224-3121) and the White House (202-456-1414).