This morning (Tuesday 25 Mar) I was handcuffed and carried out of the U.S. Consulate in Melbourne after I went in and asked them whether it was safe for an American to travel in Iraq ... and then started shouting "Stop the war, Stop bombing Baghdad, Stop splattering women and children against concrete rubble for cheap gas". After the bombing started, Rosemarie Gillespie sent an email from Baghdad which ends:
"Howard, Bush and Blair are acting like dictators. They are not listening to the people, they are taking their marching orders from the big oil companies. The only thing that will stop this war will be civil disobedience. FRIENDS AND COMRADES, WE ARE DOING OUR BIT HERE, PLEASE DO YOUR BIT AND STOP THIS WAR BEFORE ITS TOO BLOODY LATE!"
(complete email below)
I read this just after I returned from the NOWAR-SA
demonstration in Adelaide last Sunday (23 Mar), and it focused my thoughts: three Australian women in Iraq -- Ruth, Rose and Donna -- have made a much greater personal physical commitment to their desire for peace than three men -- Howard, Blair and Bush -- have made to their desire for war.
This morning (Tuesday 25 Mar) I was handcuffed and carried out of the U.S. Consulate in Melbourne after I went in and asked them whether it was safe for an American to travel in Iraq ... and then started shouting "Stop the war, Stop bombing Baghdad, Stop splattering women and children against concrete rubble for cheap gas".
But because I am an American and an older one at that, I received special treatment from the Australian security staff and police and i was not arrested -- AMERICANS ALWAYS EXPECT & GET SPECIAL TREATMENT -- nonetheless, I got the attention of about ten officers altogether and effectively shut down the consulate and other businesses in the building for about an hour (pissing off the Australians who are anxious to get a visa to visit Disney Land -- they should go to Iraq instead). The Australian officers were polite and professional, and I thanked them for that.
I will have to continue researching what it takes to trigger their arrest algorithm, even though I am hair-color challenged.
I am of Australian/British/American background (see below: "Australian Blood for Arab/American Oil"). I arrived in Baghdad on 15 Feb with the original Human Shield buses from London. Because of the Internet restrictions in Iraq, I went to Amman, Jordan, on 26 Feb, intending to stay only a few days so I could set up a website <http://cranswick.net> and then return to Baghdad. However, the Iraqi government would not give me a visa to re-enter the country.
I will spend the next couple of days protesting in front of the U.S. Consulate.
-Edward. (full article...)
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=44776&group=webcast
