Thirteen Days of War Resistance at the Port of Olympia

[seemslikeadream]

Thirteen Days of War Resistance at the Port of Olympia
Blocking the Strykers

December 13, 2007


By SANDY MAYES

The US military will have to think twice before it ever again tries to use Olympia, WA as a launching point for war.

For 13 unforgettable days in November, people in this small community engaged in a courageous and spirited campaign of resistance to the war in Iraq. Sixty-six arrests were made and untold numbers were assaulted by police during a campaign which made national and international news. Day after day, and night after night, people put their lives on hold and their bodies on the line to prevent movement of military equipment from the Port of Olympia to nearby Fort Lewis.

The campaign was organized primarily by the Olympia Port Militarization Resistance (OlyPMR), a coalition of peace groups, students, and individual community members. As well, there were student groups such as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and non-affiliated folks, all of whom have worked together in recent years to oppose shipments of war materials through the ports of Olympia, Tacoma and Grays Harbor.

Early in November activists learned that the USNS Brittin would arrive on Nov. 5, bringing Stryker combat vehicles and other equipment back from Iraq through the Port of Olympia to Fort Lewis. The equipment belongs to the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, whose roughly 3,600 soldiers returned home in October from a 15-month deployment to Iraq ­ except for the 48 who died from injuries sustained in Iraq.

OlyPMR was founded in May of 2006 when activists attempted to block outgoing equipment in advance of the deployment of that same 3rd Stryker Brigade. Activists then united under the banner of Port Militarization Resistance, declaring a common mission to "end our community's participation in the illegal occupation of Iraq by stopping US military use of the Port of Olympia."

......

A call to action

Olympia's resistance to war has inspired peace activists throughout the US and the world. OlyPMR has issued a call for people everywhere to find the ways that their own communities participate in the war, and to join together to creatively resist that participation:

"We are ordinary people who have found a way to organize ourselves in resistance to this unjust war. We call on all people of goodwill to find their own methods of creative noncompliance. In so doing, we will be joining together to dissent from unlawful and unjust authority, which should be considered the essence of democracy. In this way we will act in the interests of the Iraqis, the soldiers, our children, and ourselves."


more

Port Militarization Resistance -- Peppersprayed in Olympia


Port of Olympia Anti-Militarization Action Nov. 2007

Stop Wars -- a day of struggle in Olympia

Damn I want to move to Olympia

[HCE SuiGeneris]

1. We need activism and persons staunchly

standing up for peace. The war machine economy must end. Thanks for the reminder SLAD. K & R

[seemslikeadream]

2. thirteen of the May 30 arrestees commonly known as the "Olympia 22."

Here they are, thirteen of the May 30 arrestees commonly known as the "Olympia 22." Until now, media images of these intrepid local heroes have largely depicted them, here and elsewhere, being pulled by the hair, dragged in handcuffs and shot in the face with pepper spray -- all courtesy of local law enforcement. The Olympia 22 are: Maggie Belknap, Jeff Berryhill, Nick Bland, Dan Bolduc, Wally Cuddeford, Brendan Dunn, Katie Dunn, Jake Erwin, Rachel Graham, Sam Green, Ben Groves, Caleb Hollatz, Daniel Keesler, Lilia Lassiter, Nikki Miller, Phan Nguyen, Luke Noble, Molly Porter, Mat Slobodkin, Paul Wildey, Andrew Yankey, and Michael Yates. Photo by Pat Tassoni

[Whisp]

3. beautiful people. nt

[HCE SuiGeneris]

4. Many thanks to all of them.

:patriot: :kick:

[SharkSquid]

5. SO we stop the war by....

Letting the soldiers go over their without their vehicles...

[HCE SuiGeneris]

6. Hammer, meet

thumb... :thumbsdown:

[ManiacJoe]

7. Well, not bring them home, any way.

I understand that the protest is a generic protest against the military using the port. It just seems odd from the point of view of the casual glance that the current protests are against the "coming home" instead of "going to war".

[seemslikeadream]

9. There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious

There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.

- Mario Savio, on the steps of Sproul Plaza















DEAD BECAUSE OF A LIE

[tavalon]

12. That's exactly it!!

[tavalon]

11. It seems wrong if you look at it one way and yet,

looked at another way, we are doing our part to deny our government the war funding. Something our Dems in DC should be doing but aren't.

[lvx35]

13. We should just STOP THE WAR

Not sit on our asses and make snide comments.

[SharkSquid]

15. I sure as hell you werent referring to me

I am part of the "machine", I will do my part, you do yours.


But here is my take...

We "cut off funding" or "stop supplies" or "protest supplies", our soldiers get to sit over there with even fewer of the right supplies than they have now.

And guess what, they will still be there.

And we loose.

That how I see it.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Bravo!! K&R

[tavalon]

10. I went to a WTO affinity group reunion 2 weeks ago where this was discussed

Quite a robust showing with very little advance warning.

[annm4peace]

14. we look forward to seeing the patriots in MN in September.

On September 1-4 of 2008, the Republican Party is coming to Minnesota to celebrate their latest conquests in global domination and exploitation. We of the RNC Welcoming Committee want to make sure that this time the fear-mongers will be met with their own biggest fear: people mobilized, organized, and taking the future back into their own hands.

For those of you who abhor the rapid growth of racist militarized borders across stolen lands, the raids and deportations, destruction and commodification of our shared and living earth, police brutality and prison industry, fear propaganda and subjugation, exploitation and robbery of peoples worldwide, and all forms of injustice and oppression - we ask you to be prepared for 2008.





http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1982101605603600567&hl=en

[seemslikeadream]

18. I will be there

:hi:

[SharkSquid]

16. Man I love pepperspray

I have to be sprayed once a year to keep my certification up. Geez.

Shame they got arrested, but I am sure it is what they wanted, no?

[seemslikeadream]

17. Yes I am sure that's what they wanted

[SharkSquid]

19. Well you break the law...

You get the pain, that really is the crux of civil disobenience, no.

[seemslikeadream]

20. yep