EMERGENCY FORUMS - "THE DANGER OF A U.S. ATTACK ON IRAN IS REAL AND GROWING - WE MUST ACT NOW!" - CALLED IN BERKELEY , LOS ANGELES & NEW YORK

Berkeley - June 24

Los Angeles - June 25

New York City - June 26 & 27

Daniel Ellsberg joins Berkeley Panel - Daniel Ellsberg is a former State Department and Department of Defense official who leaked the Pentagon Papers.

World Can't Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime (www.worldcantwait.org), Revolution Books (Berkeley - www.revolutionbooks.org, and New York - www.revolutionbooksnyc.org), and other organizations are sponsoring a series of emergency forums titled "The Danger of a U.S. Attack on Iran is Real and Growing - We Must Act Now!" in Berkeley, Los Angeles, and New York City on June 24-27. 

These emergency meetings are being called to raise awareness of the rapidly escalating danger of a possible U.S. preemptive attack on Iran - perhaps before Bush leaves office -- and to organize mass opposition to any U.S. military action against Iran . 

Organizers write: "Are you willing to be silent as your government - steps up pressure and war preparations against Iran - a Third World country of 70 million people half-way around the world? Are you willing to sit passively while leading political figures - from President Bush to John McCain and Barak Obama to Israeli leaders - threaten Iran that 'all options are on the table' - i.e., with nuclear annihilation?"

Speakers include Ervand Abrahamian distinguished Prof. of History at CUNY and author of A Modern History of Iran and other books; Shahram Agahmir, Iranian-born journalist and co-host of KPFA's "Voices of the Middle East"; Larry Everest, Revolution newspaper (www.revcom.us) correspondent and author of Oil, Power & Empire - Iraq and the US Global Agenda, and Gareth Porter, author of Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam who has written extensively on Iran and Iraq for Inter Press Service, The American Prospect, The Nation, The Huffington Post, and Salon.com. 

These speakers will detail the escalation of military diplomatic moves and the campaign of charges and lies about Iran 's nuclear capabilities and role in Iraq .  They'll challenge notions that U.S. threats have simply been "saber-rattling," or that attacking Iran is impossible because Bush is a "lame-duck" and/or the U.S. is too bogged down in Iraq - including by detailing the 2007 effort by Vice President Cheney and others to push through strikes on Iran . 

They'll analyze the roots of the US-Iranian clash in the nature and goals of Bush's global strategy and "war on terror" objectives, and why events since Sept. 11, 2001 have increasingly made Iran a U.S. target.

The speakers will also discuss the potentially catastrophic impact of any US attack on Iran , why it would be illegal, immoral and unjust.

The meetings will stress our responsibility to stop interference, bullying and threats against Iran by our government.  World Can't Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime, which supported the campaign to pass a no war on Iran resolution by the Chicago City Council, will detail plans to step up resistance, including public meetings, emergency protests, and promoting a new film - "Iran Is Not the Problem" (www.iranisnottheproblem.org.)

Berkeley organizers write:  "Neither US imperialism nor Iran 's reactionary theocracy offer a way forward for the region - or for humanity. And both reinforce each other, even as they clash."

"Silence IS complicity; refusing to resist war crimes IS a crime itself. Catastrophe looms on many fronts, yet there's also great potential for a far different and better world - IF those who see the truth - even if a small minority at first - act with courage and determination."

DATES AND LOCATIONS:

BERKELEY

Tuesday • June 24, 7pm

at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall

1606 Bonita Avenue (At Cedar Street ), Berkeley

Speakers: Shahram Agahmir, Daniel Ellserg, Larry Everest, Gareth Porter

Sponsors:  Revolution Books and World Can't Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime

Co-sponsor: Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists - Social Justice Committee

Info: 510-848-1196

$5-10 donation, no one turned away for lack of funds.  Wheelchair-accessible.

LOS ANGELES

Wednesday • June 25, 7 pm
City of West Hollywood Plummer Park Community Center, Rooms 5 & 6
7377 Santa Monica Blvd @ Martel, Los Angeles

Speakers:  Larry Everest, Gareth Porter

Sponsors:  Westside Progressives • World Can't Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime-LA

Endorsers: LGBT Greens • Out Against the War-LA • Topanga Peace Alliance

Info:  Westside Progressives: 310.490.3858 or World Can't Wait: 323.462.4771

$5-10 donation, no one turned away for lack of funds.  Wheelchair-accessible

NEW YORK CITY

Thursday •  June 26, 7pm

(location TBA)

Speakers: Ervand Abrahamian, Larry Everest, Gareth Porter

Sponsors:  World Can't Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime

Friday • June 27, 7pm

Revolution Books

146 W. 26th Street , between 6th & 7th Ave.

Speakers:  Larry Everest, Gareth Porter

Info:  212-691-3345
 

SPEAKER BIOS:

Ervand Abrahamian is Distinguished Prof. of History at CUNY and author of A Modern History of Iran (Cambridge Univ Press, July 2008); Khomeinism; Tortured Confessions; Iranian Mojahedin.  Prof. Abrahamian is currently working on a new book "The 1953 Coup in Iran."

Shahram Agahmir is an activist and a journalist who was born and raised in Iran . Currently, he and his colleagues collaboratively produce a weekly show on KPFA Radio entitled Voices of the Middle East and North Africa .

Daniel Ellsberg is a former State Department and Department of Defense official who leaked the Pentagon Papers

Larry Everest is a correspondent for Revolution newspaper (www.revcom.us) and author of Oil, Power & Empire -- Iraq and the U.S. Global Agenda. He has covered the Middle East for 30 years, reporting from Iran , Iraq , Palestine , and India . His nine-part series, "The U.S. & Iran : A History of Domination, Intrigue and Intervention," is available at www.revcom.us/iranhistory and www.larryeverest.com.

Gareth Porter is the author of Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam and an independent investigative journalist and historian. He has written extensively for Inter Press Service, The American Prospect, The Nation and Salon.com on Bush administration deceptions and threats against Iran

... Payvand News - 06/21/08 ... --