Voice of Revolution

Yes to Peace, No to NATO

U.S. Out of NATO and Stop NATO/U.S. War Preparations! Dismantle NATO!

“NATO Legal Terrorism”: Protest in downtown Krakow, Poland against NATO Defense Ministers’ meeting, February 19, 2009, and opposing U.S. anti-missile bases in Poland.

Anti-war activists are converging on Warsaw, Poland to vehemently denounce the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) 2016 Summit taking place July 8-9 and all the moves to embroil the peoples of Europe and the world in U.S.-led imperialist war preparations. NATO is particularly taking actions aimed at Russia, including positioning its so-called anti-missile bases in Poland and more recently Romania. That the U.S. also announced July 5 placement of THAAD missile defense in south Korea, directly against objections by Russia and China, is a further indication that the U.S. is preparing for broader war. NATO is part of its war machine for empire building.

Around the world, including in the U.S., activists are holding events as part of a Global Day of Action Against NATO. In New York City an action is taking place at the Army Recruiting Center in Times Square July 9. Demonstrations are also taking place in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere.

Voice of Revolution salutes the actions here and worldwide and joins in demanding Dismantle NATO Now! The U.S. is leading these war preparations and calling for even more funds be directed to war, death and destruction worldwide. The Pentagon will quadruple military spending in Europe to $3.4 billion. The U.S. is also demanding that NATO members increase their military spending. Both Clinton and Trump are making such demands and calling for increased U.S./NATO intervention in Libya and Syria — intervention which has created the refugee crisis and further decimated the peoples. We say NO! All U.S. Troops Home Now! Dismantle NATO! Stop Funding War and Fund Our Rights! These U.S.-led war preparations also bring to the fore that an urgent battle for the elections and beyond is the fight for an Anti-War Government that begins by withdrawing from NATO, bringing troops home, and taking the stand that Our Security Lies in Our Fight for Rights and orienting funding and programs accordingly.

NATO Expansion Denounced as Threat to Global Peace

In its April 3 call to action against the Summit, the World Peace Council (WPC) points out:

“Since the 1990s, NATO has expanded its membership and theatre of operations. NATO currently has 28 member states across North America and Europe. Another 22 countries are engaged in the Euro Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC). A further 19 countries are partnered with NATO through programs such as the so called ‘Partnership for Peace,’ ‘Mediterranean Dialogue,’ the ‘Istanbul Cooperation Initiative’ or the ‘Partners Across the Globe Initiative.’

“This expansion alone reveals NATO’s fundamental purpose: to be a key tool of imperialist domination of the globe.

“Over the past two decades NATO and its affiliates have attacked Yugoslavia (and its province Kosovo), Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria with the obvious goal of overthrowing these countries’ governments. In most of these cases the government was targeted by NATO because it refused to accept the dictates of U.S. or EU foreign and economic policy. In none of these cases has the goal or result been democracy and peace — the only legacy is death for the people, destruction and displacement — with increased power control of resources and profits for NATO states.”

The WPC also points out how the U.S.-EU carried out regime change in Ukraine to use it against Russia and provide a pretext for NATO intervention, which has come in the form of the largest build-up of hostile military forces on Russia’s western border since World War Two.

“NATO’s actions, as the favored military tool of U.S. and EU imperialism, have led to an ongoing climate of confrontation between the major nuclear-armed states. Such provocations lead inevitably to escalating tensions and the real threat of a nuclear confrontation and a generalized war that unavoidably would destroy all civilization across the planet,” the WPC states.

Anti-war activists converging in Warsaw particularly denounced the ways in which the Polish people’s security is being threatened by the Poland’s increasing involvement in NATO aggression. They point out in a recent statement:

“The proposals of the present Polish government to station permanent NATO bases in Poland and build a new Missile Defense Shield in the country would not guarantee the country’s safety but rather place it on the frontline of these new hostilities [against Russia]. NATO is urging all member states to increase their military spending to at least 2 per cent of GDP. Not only will this intensify the arms race in the world, but it will mean that during a time of economic austerity more funds will move from welfare to war. When the governments and Generals meet in Warsaw in July an alternative voice must be heard.”

Actions to Oppose NATO

The WPC has undertaken a campaign with numerous European and North American peace forces who also oppose NATO’s aggressions and existence. The Yes to Peace! No to NATO! Campaign calls for the dissolution of NATO at a global level, supports the struggle against NATO in each of its member states, and promotes the right of the people in each country to unilaterally withdraw from the NATO military alliance. In particular the WPC has been working with its member organizations to mobilize the anti-war forces against the Warsaw Summit.

From July 8 to 10 in Warsaw, anti-war activists from Europe and beyond will carry out the following:

• “On Friday 8 July we shall hold a conference bringing together the organizations and activists of the peace and anti-war movements. This will be an opportunity to discuss and debate alternatives to the policies of militarization and war being proposed by NATO. In the evening we shall hold a large public meeting. We already have a number of prominent speakers (both international and from Poland) confirmed, including former Colonel Ann Wright, Maite Mola, and Tarja Cronberg.

• “On Saturday we will take our protest to the streets of Warsaw to express our opposition to the NATO summit.

• “On Saturday evening a cultural/social event will be held. […]

“Our goal is a world without war and nuclear weapons. We are fighting to overcome NATO through the politics of common security and disarmament and solidarity with global peace, anti-war and anti-militaristic movements.”

“NATO Legal Terrorism”: Protest in downtown Krakow, Poland against NATO Defense Ministers’ meeting, February 19, 2009, and plans to install U.S. anti-missile bases in Poland.

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Join Hands with Thousands Around the World
No to War, No to NATO!
Stop NATO's Aggressive Expansion Toward Russia!

An Urgent Appeal for a Joint Action
by the Peace and Antiwar Movement in the New York City Metro Area

The drive by a nuclear-armed NATO to the borders of Russia — a nuclear-armed state — poses at the very least the risk of accidental nuclear war, and at worst the possibility of military confrontation between two nuclear powers.

On July 8-9 in Warsaw, Poland a NATO Summit will be held. Many fear it goes beyond saber-rattling to active war preparation. Its agenda is alarming. For example, the US wishes to incorporate Ukraine and Georgia into NATO. Next year, the Pentagon plans to quadruple military spending in Europe to $3.4 billion and begin rotating an armored brigade through Eastern Europe — in addition to extra NATO forces to be deployed to Poland and the Baltics. The U.S., the main force behind NATO, is also already in a deadly proxy war in eastern Ukraine.

NATO has already launched the largest war games in decades — involving 31,000 troops (14,000 from the US) and thousands of vehicles from 24 countries. The war games in Poland include including air-ground assaults and electronic warfare scenarios. Airborne units, infantrymen, medics, military police and aviation units will operate jointly throughout the exercise, which culminates in a massive live-fire event led by the U.S. A naval exercise involving NATO forces has just begun in Finland.

A few weeks ago the United States activated the first of two missile-defense installations in Eastern Europe. The new missile defense site in Romania is a direct threat to regional security and inaugurates a new arms race. Earlier this year, it was disclosed that the U.S. was ramping up the deployment of heavy weapons and armored vehicles to NATO member countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

A separate missile defense base in Poland — a country with a new far-right government — is turning that country, according to one expert, into a U.S. bastion and potential launch platform against Russia in possible violation of existing agreements governing intermediate-range nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, there is the ongoing "SaberStrike" operation in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Given the serious escalation of the danger of a disastrous confrontation between the United States and Russia, we must make our alarm at the upcoming NATO Summit known in a more public way.

To this end, we have organized a demonstration for Saturday July 9th to coincide with the NATO Summit in Warsaw Poland. Other actions are planned around the US and the world, particularly in Warsaw. We think it is important for the New York region to make its voice heard.

We consider the following general slogans to be a basis for unity:

• No to NATO; No to War!
• Yes to Peace; No to NATO!
• Abolish NATO, Do Not Expand It!
• Money for Jobs, Not for NATO!
• No More War Games!
• End NATO Provocations Against Russia!
• NATO Provocations Threaten Nuclear War!
• No to A New Cold War!

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