The Iraq Moratorium, will take place on September 21st, and every third Friday thereafter. The Moratorium is not a membership organization -- it is a project of the American people.

You can join by signing the pledge at this website: iraqmoratorium.org

But the real way you join is by doing something to stop the war on September 21st and every third Friday thereafter. What you do is up to you or to the group of people you are working with. Labor unions in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere have called on their members to wear armbands and hold lunch hour rallies.

The idea is spreading virally, by word of month, at meetings of anti-war groups, and through the internet.  Every month, more people in more places will take part. The Moratorium campus organizing team reports that students at 50 campuses are organizing activities for the First Moratorium Day. By the second one, October 19th, they predict that number will double or triple.

Join with actors, celebrities, writers, trade union leaders, Iraq veterans, Gold Star Families, and hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans. Take a stand where you live, work, study, worship, anywhere that fits for you, on September 21st and every third Friday after.

The American people want the Iraq war over with and the troops home. We say so in every poll. We voted in 2006 for candidates who promised to end it. The Bush administration responded with a “surge," an escalation that has killed hundreds more troops and untold thousands of Iraqi men, women and children.

Join us in a historic call to bring the troops home now. Go to www.IraqMoratorium.org.

MORE

There is only one way that the Iraq Moratorium will succeed in the goal of mobilizing millions of Americans to protest the war on the Third Friday of every month this fall. That’s by calling on the initiative and creativity of ordinary people who are flat out sick of this worsening fiasco. There is no big central planning body with lots of resources and offices in every state to tell you what to do—what local slogans to raise, what kinds of activities to plan, which politicians to bombard, how to mobilize your kin and neighbors and co-workers. It’s up to you, friends! The Iraq Moratorium Committee can only spotlight the big picture, bring together people interested in organizing in particular localities and fields, and spread the news of good ideas and plans.

One set of projects has already started to take shape—particular organizing efforts in the arts and in various sections of society. Here are some of the initial projects.

Music — This is the most developed project so far, with a plan to cover the anti-war classic “War” at thousands of gigs around the country on and around the first Moratorium Day, September 21. Theater—The call is for all actors supporting the Moratorium to conclude their performances on Moratorium Day by putting on a black armband just before the curtain call. Imagine thousands of performances around the country, from Broadway hits to the Neil Armstrong JHS version of “Grease,” ending this way.

Poetry/Spoken Word — There have been many local and national anti-war initiatives among poets, and we hope that artists in this field will come forward with summations of what has worked best and what new might be tried to build the Iraq Moratorium. One idea that has been suggested is a poetry contest here at the Moratorium website, with a chapbook of the best poems to be published, online and on paper.

The Blogosphere — The existence of the Internet and the Web is one of the most important features making the Moratorium possible. A group of bloggers, none known to the initiators of this project, has self-organized and already played a critical part in helping build our website and in pumping the online rollout when it went live. Further plans include a lively presence in the Facebook/MySpace realms and on YouTube.

Students — Last school year saw two separate calls go out for a student Moratorium. Although these started at one or two campuses and relied almost exclusively on catch-as-catch-can internet connections, each prompted actions at over a dozen campuses. Now, some members of the new SDS have taken up th call for an Iraq Moratorium and are both seeking to have the group as a whole get involved and reaching out to other campus groups and unaffiliated individuals. Look for the campuses to rip this fall!

Teachers — The toll that this war is taking on our country's schools is enormous. Much needed teachers who serve in the National Guard are taken from their students for years or forever. Funds needed to educate the new generations in a challenging word end up instead funding the war effort. Students are lured by misleading promises of recruiters and impelled by a lack of skills and opportunity enlist and are soon deployed.

It is vital for students and teachers to take a moment out of "education as usual" to think about this war. While there are ethical and legal limits on what teachers can do in the classroom, there are many imaginative ways to spread the word. Some of the ideas that have come up include: Bringing veterans of this and earlier wars into classrooms, preparing lesson plans on the Constitution and the American tradition of dissent and developing sister school projects in the Middle East.

High School Students — Students of all ages can be active and effective by doing things like challenging their teachers to open up a discussion on the war. Using My Space and YouTube to get friends involved, talking to their parents about the war, and forming approved or unnoficial groups to plan Moritorium activities.

Labor — US Labor Against War was one of a very few groups the organizers of this project approached before it went live, and USLAW’s approval helped underpin the decision to move ahead. Activists in some unions are already making plans, like the folks in SEIU Local 1199 in New York, who are looking to distribute black ribbons at hospital employee entrances during shift changes on September 21.