The author, an Iraq War veteran, is the candidate of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District. He spoke representing the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism at the Sept. 1 anti-war demonstration of over 30,000 people outside the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. The PSL is a member organization of ANSWER.
To learn more about Prysner’s campaign, click here. To learn more about other PSL candidates running in national and local elections, click here.
Michael Prysner
On behalf of the ANSWER Coalition I want to thank the organizers here in Minneapolis who have worked for months to make this important mobilization happen. They have had to contend with cops, the courts and the media who have worked to prevent this demonstration. But we are here. We are strong and we are going to get stronger. And we are going to fight together and organize together until every last soldier and marine leaves Iraq. We are not fighting for a timeline to end this criminal enterprise. The ANSWER Coalition demands the immediate, unconditional end to the occupation of Iraq. Bush and Cheney should not be simply impeached. They should be indicted as war criminals.
I was sent to Iraq in 2003 not to save the Iraqi people, but to kill the Iraqi people. I was sent not to free the Iraqi people, but to imprison and torture the Iraqi people. I was sent not to liberate Iraq, but to occupy Iraq. There is no longer any question that this war was not for so-called “Iraqi freedom”, it was not an act of self-defense, and it was not simply a foreign policy error by the Republican Party—it was a well-calculated plan carried out by both parties to dominate the Middle East, killing as many innocent people as necessary and profiting from that human suffering.
Every day that this war continues, that suffering deepens. And everyday, it becomes more and more evident that this government will do everything in its power to continue and expand its domination in the Middle East. While the Republican Party most blatantly represents the policies of racism, war, and exploitation, it is vital for the anti-war movement to understand that we are not merely fighting against the Republican Party, we are fighting against an empire—an empire which will destroy millions upon millions of human lives for profit—an empire which will squander over 450 million dollars a day to murder and destroy while millions of working people in this country suffer from hunger, homelessness and unemployment. These horrible crimes are not perpetrated only the republican party, but by the twin parties of imperialism, which exist to make us believe we have a choice, to make us believe we have some say in what this government does—but they both represent the interests of the rich. Real change in this country will not come through a vote, real change in this country will only come through a dedicated movement that does not ask for change, or votes for change, but demands change and fights for change.
Today we must remember our sister and brothers in Louisiana, who for three years have suffered in the wake of Hurricane Katrina—who still have not received 1 percent of the aid they so desperately need and deserve—who, in the weeks after Katrina hit, while in the most intense state of desperation, were left to die—while this government, instead of sending rescue, sent police and mercenaries to protect the property of the rich.
In solidarity with them, and in solidarity with all those who suffer the crimes of imperialism, we must make these demands heard: Not one more dollar spent on this war of aggression. Not one more bullet fired in the name of imperialism. Not one more child killed for a fake democracy. Not one more soldier coming home in a coffin. Not one more missile fired. Not one more prisoner tortured. Not one more family made homeless. Not one more drop of blood spilled. Not one more day of U.S. imperialism.
