Italian Movement Takes Action on Afghanistan

The IAC received a request July 11, 2006, from a section of the anti-war movement in Italy for solidarity with an important action against Italy's participation in the attempt to occupy Afghanistan. We include below:

1) the letter of request for solidarity

2) the text of the Announcement of the national Assembly

3) the Call made by the 8 Senators to vote against the decree

4) the original versions of both, in Italian language.

5) the message of solidarity from the IAC.

 

Dear comrades of the International Action Center,

In the next few days, the Italian Parliament will discuss about re-funding the Italian military mission in Afghanistan. 8 Senators belonging to the majority coalition announced that they will vote NO. Saturday, July 15, after the call for action of the antiwar Senators, a national Assembly will take place, which already got support of intellectuals, trade-unionists and members of civil-society and catholic associations. Given the international character of the struggle against the occupation of Afghanistan, expressions of solidarity sent by movements of different countries, such the ones which are already being received by the organizers, are of utmost importance. It is important that such statements reach the organizers before the national Assembly takes place, on July 15th.

The email address to which all solidarity messages should be sent is: fosco@feedomlab.it (Senator of PRC - Party of the Communist Refoundation).

Confident that you will also contribute to this initiative, we send you our warm greetings.

In solidarity
On behalf of the Italian Forum Against the War

Stefano Franchi

1) NO TO THE WAR - WITH NO "IF" AND NO "BUT"

On Saturday, July 15, a self-organized Assembly will take place in Rome in order to stress with all force the reasons of saying NO to the re-funding of the Afghanistan military mission. Representatives of movements, grassroots organizations, trade unions, as well as outstanding figures of the critical thinking and journalism, together with those MPs which are engaging themselves throughout the country and its institutions in this fundamental struggle for a true civilization - all of them will take part to the event. The Assembly will take place under the most important of all banners: NO TO THE WAR - WITH NO "IF" AND NO "BUT". BACK FROM IRAQ, BACK FROM AFGHANISTAN NOW!

2) Afghanistan, we will vote NO

Statement issued by 8 Senators of the Rifondazione Comunista Party (Prc), the Greens and the Italian Communists Party (Pdci) : Mauro Bulgarelli (Greens), Loredana De Petris (Greens), Fosco Giannini (Prc), Claudio Grassi (Prc), Gigi Malabarba (Prc), Fernando Rossi (Pdci), Giampaolo Silvestri (Greens), Franco Turigliatto (Prc). "An extension of the military mission in Afghanistan, which the Council of Ministers is about to pass on Friday, is no different from the policies implemented by Berlusconi's government." This is the opinion of the following senators : Mauro Bulgarelli (Greens), Loredana De Petris (Greens), Fosco Giannini (Prc), Claudio Grassi (Prc), Gigi Malabarba (Prc), Fernando Rossi (Pdci), Giampaolo Silvestri (Greens), Franco Turigliatto (Prc). "Cutting the number of soldiers by a few hundred (we shall see the precise number in the decree) is not enough to change the nature of this commitment, which at the moment exceeds by far what was envisaged in 2002. The parliamentary monitoring committee, which has not even set a time limit for its verification mission, is not enough to change the nature of a choice that we have always opposed. In any case, we have not been elected to approve an extension to a military mission that we have always said “no” to, and that is not in the government’s program. If the government makes a proposal that is like the previous government’s, on the Afghanistan issue, then it must not be surprised if we do not vote in favor of it and some members of the centre-right do. This is what has happened in recent years with the bipartisan vote, which the pacifist MPs have voted against eight times already. If the decree is not changed, so as to add an explicit reference to an exit strategy for Afghanistan, our vote in the Senate will be NO." Rome 28.06.2006

3) THE ORIGINAL TEXTS:

NO ALLA GUERRA SENZA SE E SENZA MA Sabato 15 luglio a Roma si terrà una assemblea autoconvocata per ribadire con forza le ragioni del NO al rifinanziamento della missione militare in Afghanistan. Saranno presenti rappresentanti dei movimenti, dell'associazionismo di base, dei sindacati, nonchè figure prestigiose dell'intellettualità critica e del giornalismo, oltre ai parlamentari impegnati nel Paese e nelle istituzioni in questa decisiva battaglia di civiltà. L'assemblea avrà luogo sotto il più significativo dei titoli:"NO alla guerra, senza SE e senza MA. Via dall'Iraq, via dall'Afghanistan!"

Afghanistan, il nostro voto sarà NO Dichiarazione di 8 Senatori di Rifondazione Comunista, Verdi e Partito dei Comunisti Italiani : Mauro Bulgarelli (Verdi), Loredana De Petris (Verdi), Fosco Giannini (Prc), Claudio Grassi (Prc), Gigi Malabarba (Prc), Fernando Rossi (Pdci), Giampaolo Silvestri (Verdi), Franco Turigliatto (Prc). "La proroga della missione militare in Afghanistan, che il Consiglio dei ministri si prepara a varare venerdì, non contiene elementi di discontinuità con le politiche attuate dal governo Berlusconi". Lo affermano i senatori Mauro Bulgarelli (Verdi), Loredana De Petris (Verdi), Fosco Giannini (Prc), Claudio Grassi (Prc), Gigi Malabarba (Prc), Fernando Rossi (Pdci), Giampaolo Silvestri (Verdi), Franco Turigliatto (Prc). "Non basta la riduzione di qualche centinaio di militari (su questo vedremo concretamente i numeri del decreto) a cambiare la natura di un impegno, che anzi oggi supera di gran lunga quanto previsto nel 2002. Il comitato parlamentare di monitoraggio, senza neppure definire un tempo di verifica per la missione, non è sufficiente a cambiare la natura di una scelta che abbiamo sempre avversato. In ogni caso non siamo stati eletti per votare una proroga ad una missione militare nei confronti della quale abbiamo sempre detto di no e che non è contenuta nel programma. Se l'esecutivo, sull'Afghanistan, fa una proposta simile a quella del precedente governo non può meravigliarsi di non avere il nostro voto e di trovare quello di qualche settore del centro destra. E' quanto avvenuto in questi anni con il voto bipartisan, a cui i parlamentari pacifisti hanno per ben otto volte detto NO. Se il decreto non verrà cambiato, con un esplicito riferimento ad una exit strategy dall'Afghanistan, il nostro voto al Senato sarà NO". Roma, 28 giugno 2006

4) Solidarity message from the IAC

Dear comrades at the Italian Forum against the War

We at the International Action Center in the United States would like to send our greetings of solidarity to the National Assembly scheduled for July 15 in Rome and to the members of the Italian Senate who plan to vote NO to funding the Italian participation in the illegal occupation of Afghanistan.

The United States government waged war on Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington, using as its pretext the alleged presence of terrorists in that Asian country. Now, almost five years after these events, there is an alliance of the U.S. and the 19th century colonial powers that currently make up NATO that is attempting to impose foreign rule on the people of Afghanistan. These foreign troops have no more right to be in Afghanistan than they do to be in Iraq, which is no right at all.

The anti-war movement in the United States has always been encouraged by the massive character of the peace movement in Italy, with millions coming into the streets to oppose the war. Even the rightist Berlusconi regime could not ignore completely the resistance from the Italian population. Now that a so-called center-left government is in office, we would hope that it would be even less able to sell any sort of Italian participation in U.S. imperialism's wars of conquest in Western Asia.

Like the assembly of Italians and foreign residents meeting in Rome July 15, we demand no support to the occupation of Afghanistan, with no IF or no BUT. For the senators to carry out this pledge to refuse funding of the Italian expedition to Afghanistan and indeed for the mass movement in the streets of Italy to make the sending of an Italian contingent impossible would be the best gift the Italian anti-war movement could make not only to the people of Afghanistan--but also to the people of the United States and the world.

John Catalinotto,
Sara Flounders,
International Action Center
July 12, 2006