Kate Crane writes:

What's the sound of a groundswell?

Monday, in the rain in front of the United Nations, it
was cries of "No blood for oil! Hands off Iraq!"
emanating from activists, some of whom were being
forced into paddy wagons by a gang of New York's
finest. Early Monday afternoon, the No Blood for Oil!
coalition held a press conference and rally in front
of the Isaiah Wall across the street from the U.N. to
demand that the U.N. uphold its charter and oppose the
U.S. call for war. Speakers, including Green Party
candidate for governor Stanley Aronowitz and Ed
Herman, co-author of Manufacturing Consent, emphasized
the unjust nature of the proposed war and the need to
focus on domestic issues. Anthony Arnove, editor of
Iraq Under Siege, declared that "When the media talks
about the planned war on Iraq, they speak in terms of
democracy, of human rights and self-defense. But this
is an offensive war, a war for U.S. hegemony in the
Middle East and beyond."

Following the press conference, activists attempted to
deliver a letter signed by over 1,300 scholars,
scientists, teachers, artists, and ordinary folk to
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. The
letter urged the United Nations to "speak out, oppose
and attempt to stop what would be flagrant aggression
— or stand condemned as accomplices of aggression, in
defiance of both the clear language of the U.N.
Charter and the desires of the vast majority of the
worldís people." Signers include playwright Eve
Ensler, prize-winning novelist Arundhati Roy and
historian Howard Zinn. The U.N. made no response to
the letter, though it was sent once last month and a
second time this past Friday.

When the group of protestors approached the U.N. to
deliver the letter, they were met not by a U.N.
representative, or even an open gate. Rather, a gaggle
of police officers with a liberal supply of plastic
handcuffs moved in and arrested them as they locked
arms in front of the entrance. In all, 11 were cuffed
and taken away.

As activists shouted from the street, high-level
officials deliberated behind the gates. According to
the Associated Press, the Bush administration
concluded a new round of consultations with the U.N.
today and will submit a revised Iraq resolution to the
international body later in the week. State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher stated that while the
concerns of other countries are addressed in the new
resolution, the bottom line is unchanged. The U.S.
will make war on Iraq should they fail to comply with
U.N. disarmament requests.

In this time of increasing urgency, today's act of
civil disobedience adds to a remarkable groundswell of
worldwide resistance against this absurd, unjust
proposed war on Iraq. Virtually every day, individuals
and groups generate new statements of dissent with
words, protest and direct action. In New York alone,
the opposition has been constant and vocal. Twenty thousand
gathered in Central Park with Not in Our Name. A dozen
held a sit-in at Hillary Clintonís office. Eight NYU
students crashed MTV's Total Request Live. Thirteen more
occupied the U.N. General Assembly. Still others have
organized "absurd responses" and demonstrated
colorfully and theatrically both in New York and at
the 200,000-strong protest in D.C.

Again and again, protestors ask a question that
corporate media and the U.S. government refuse to
answer: How will this war make the world more secure?
The CIA recently asserted that a war on Iraq would
significantly increase the chances that Iraq will use
chemical or biological weapons against the U.S. And
war on Iraq would almost certainly destabilize an
already precarious Middle East. Priscilla Lavery, a
human rights lawyer who spoke at today's press
conference, said the situation will be grave. "The
consequences of creating perhaps the biggest world war
ever will be a lot of people dead everywhere." She
shook her head and shuddered. "I hate to imagine. I
hate to imagine."