3 for 1! NATO not welcome here
1) NATO not welcome here
(RootsAction Petition)
NATO plans to meet in Chicago on May 20th to discuss an ongoing war in Afghanistan and a number of possible new wars.
NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was set up 63 years ago to "contain communism" in Europe. It's a cold war relic whose time has long past.
NATO was always an undemocratic institution, but it once claimed a defensive purpose. NATO has militarized the nations of Europe against the will of their people. NATO maintains hundreds of nuclear weapons in non-nuclear European nations, in blatant violation of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. NATO threatens Russia - no longer our communist "enemy" - with missile base construction on its borders.
NATO has lost its reason to exist if it ever had one. Say No to NATO now.
http://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6040&Email=sfexpat2000@yahoo.com
2) NATO Activists Speak: They Planned the Summits Before Wisconsin, Before Tahrir, Before Occupy ...
Monday, 14 May 2012 15:25 By Yana Kunichoff, Truthout | Interview
The coming NATO summit and its protest counterpart in Chicago is full of symbolism: the stand-off between the 1 percent and the 99 percent in a city where that division is becoming ever more clear. But it's also been full of on-the-ground organizing to bring out communities of color, arguments around the role of the Democratic Party and (still ongoing) legal battles for permits to march within sight and sound of the summit.
Truthout sat down with Andy Thayer and Joe Iosbaker, two organizers who have been up to their elbows in press releases, meetings and messaging since it was announced that Chicago would be hosting the summit, to ask them why they will be protesting NATO.
Thayer was dubbed "the protest king" by NBC Chicago and his attempts to get protest permits over the years and acting as a gay rights and anti-war activist have taken him into court against the city about 18 times.
Meanwhile, Iosbaker has also dealt with legal issues related to his political action. In the fall of 2010, he was one of several anti-war activists in the Midwest whose homes were raided by the FBI on suspicion of working with groups in Colombia and the Middle East.
http://truth-out.org/news/item/9128-nato-activists-speak-they-planned-the-summits-before-wisconsin-before-tahrir-before-occupy
3) Veterans For Peace Calls for an End to NATO
Veterans for Peace works for the abolition of war, and while that process will take many steps, one that should be taken immediately is the dissolution of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
NATO has always been a war-making institution lacking in accountability to the peoples of the nations it claims to represent. But NATO at least once claimed a defensive purpose that it neither claims nor represents any longer.
NATO has militarized the nations of Europe against the will of their people, now maintains hundreds of nuclear weapons in non-nuclear European nations in blatant violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and is threatening Russia with missile base construction on its borders.
Having fought aggressive wars in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, NATO remains in Afghanistan, illegally, immorally, and to no coherent purpose. The people of the United States, other NATO nations, and Afghanistan itself, overwhelmingly favor an end to NATO's presence, while Presidents Obama and Karzai, against the will of their people, work to commit U.S. forces to at least 12.5 more years in Afghanistan.
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/pressroom/news/2012/05/10/veterans-for-peace-calls-for-an-end-to-nato