DAVID ROLDE, WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019

This is a transcript of the speech I gave at the July 13, 2019, anti-war rally at Park Street Boston.

Hello everyone. I’m glad to be out here protesting against the wars. I want to thank UNAC, the United National Antiwar Coalition, for initiating this call to action for protests this weekend. I want to thank all my comrades out here from different organizations, and individuals. We all know that these U.S. imperialist wars are horrible and we stand up in opposition. The war against migrants here, most of whom are indigenous people of these American continents, and the war against Black or African people here. The imperialist wars against Iran and Syria and Palestine, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Somalia, Libya, Afghanistan, Sudan, Congo and other nations in the so-called Middle East and in Africa. The imperialist wars against Venezuela and Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Cuba, Colombia, Haiti and other nations in Latin America. These wars are one big U.S. imperialist war against the people of the world. It is outrageous and it has got to stop.

The Green Party Peace Action Committee has endorsed the call of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) to take a stand for peace and hold local antiwar actions on the weekend of July 13th, demanding:

• No War on Iran!

• No U.S. Coup in Venezuela!

• End Sanctions Now!

• Bring all U.S. Troops home now!

The escalation of conflict between the US and Iran is at a fever pitch. It is time for the United States to recognize that war with Iran would be a multi-trillion dollar disaster that would lead to chaos and destruction in the region, would isolate the United States from the world diplomatic community even further, and would be another major foreign policy disaster.

The way to a peaceful and positive relationship between the US and Iran requires the United States to reverse mistaken decisions and long history of imperialism against Iran.

The Green Party of New York recognizes the passing of comrade Bruce Dixon of the Georgia Green Party and Black Agenda Report. We ask that you keep Bruce and his family in your thoughts this weekend. Bruce passed just as this conference opened and we decided to keep his planned panels in this guide as a way to express how his contributions will be missed.

Bruce Dixon, Presente!

The 2019 LeftForum will take place this coming weekend, June 28 – 30 at Long Island University in Brooklyn. The forum will take place at One University Plaza, Brooklyn, NY. The full program can be viewed here. This year's theme is "What Is Left To Be Done?"

Once again, many of the workshops will feature Green Party members. Below is list of workshops featuring Green activists and candidates, past and present, with their names in bold.

The Green Party is calling for a peaceful resolution to tensions with Iran as a series of recent events has unfolded into an escalating crisis between the two countries.

A June 13th attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman has been blamed on Iran by the U.S., as well as allies and critics. On June 19th, Iranian forces downed an unarmed U.S. Navy RQ-4 Global Hawk spy drone over the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that it had traveled into Iranian air space.

Trump’s 2020 budget proposal reflects another significant increase in military spending along with corresponding cuts in spending by Federal agencies tasked with the responsibility for providing critical services and income support policies for working class and poor people. Trump’s call for budget cuts by Federal agencies is mirrored by the statutorily imposed austerity policies in most states and many municipalities. Those cuts represent the continuing imposition of neoliberal policies in the U.S. even though the “A” word for austerity is almost never used to describe those policies.

HIGH SPRINGS, Fl. – The Green Party of Florida condemns the warmongering being drummed up by the U.S. government against the government and people of Iran, and the insane drive to conflagration in the Middle East.

Donald Trump and his inner circle — which includes Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton —claim that Iran attacked "Japanese-related" shipping while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meeting in Tehran with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The incident derailed any attempt to defuse tensions between the U.S. and Iran following the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and the escalation of economic sanctions against Iran and anyone doing business with the Islamic Republic.

A funny thing happened to us as Green Party candidates in 2018. Howie Hawkins ran for New York Governor and Madelyn Hoffman for U.S. Senator from New Jersey. We were scolded by many progressives to drop out and unite behind the Democrats against Trump. Then immediately after the election some Democrats in Congress took the central theme of our campaigns — the Green New Deal — and grabbed the national spotlight.

The sad truth of war is the ones who make the most sacrifice are the ones who are the most forgotten. As much as ten times more innocent lives are lost during war than combatants. Almost nobody who is a decision maker considers this when war is proposed or engaged in.

Our nation has been at war in Afghanistan and Iraq for now over 17 years. Nearly a billion women, children and other non-combatants- innocent lives have been lost as well as over 5,000 American Service members. Libya is a failed state with slave auctions, Assad is still in power in Syria, and the United States military was not designed for illegal and un-Constitutional regime change wars. Our nation has spent trillions of our tax dollars on these wars while our children are malnourished, without healthcare, and at the same time crammed into smaller classrooms that are being threatened by gun violence nearly on a daily basis.
#EndRegimeChangeWars

It is critical to understand how blocking the regime change agenda with respect to Venezuela is integrally connected to confronting the challenge of climate change.

Fighting the Media War