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NW Winter Soldier AAR
by chanan33 | Fri, 06/27/2008 - 6:15pm
 AAR NW Winter Soldier Overview The Northwest Winter Soldier event on May 31, 2008 was a tremendous step forward for IVAW and the antiwar movement. Drawing a crowd of approximately 800 antiwar veterans, resisters, and their cheering supporters, Northwest Winter Soldier decisively stood against the empire’s latest war. Veterans boldly spoke out about how they are abused and used by the system to fight their illegal and racist wars. Afterwards, they marched to further connect the voices of veterans to the broader antiwar movement in protest. It also showed just how much a local IVAW chapter can accomplish on its own if it employs vision, strategic thinking, and a willingness to collaborate with local antiwar forces. We have decided to write this After Action Report in response to the desire expressed by other chapters who wish to replicate our success. This report captures the core desires and efforts that we feel are necessary to bring so many people to their feet as Northwest Winter Soldier did. If you would like finer details of how we decided which events and marches to flyer at, how we constructed our highway banners, or how to deal with the police when negotiating for a march permit, please contact any of the following IVAW members. Program Chanan S. chananivaw@yahoo.com We look forward to working with you. Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan (WS: I&A) In March 2008, IVAW national organized a WS: I&A in Washington D.C. that helped to build IVAW's profile within the movement and featured very powerful testimony to illustrate the point that atrocities in Iraq reflect war policy set at the highest levels of the Pentagon and the Bush administration. With that being said, IVAW Northwest identified a few weaknesses with the event that we wanted to address in Seattle. 2. NWWS laid the groundwork for future collaboration and commitment from ally organizations. 3. NWWS received good media coverage, from local news to Dahr Jamail, even without the national organization's messaging strategy. 4. NWWS encouraged members to discuss anything that they felt was relevant to the focus of Winter Soldier. 5. NWWS was followed by a public protest on the streets of Seattle that helped to build public support within the area for IVAW as well as the broader antiwar movement. Building a demonstration also helped to generate a buzz about the testimony itself. 6. NWWS allowed IVAW members an excellent opportunity to take ownership over the event and gain valuable organizing experience along the way. The event concluded with a video from GI resisters in Canada and a panel to express our solidarity with those resisters. If you would like to see or hear more about the event, please watch or listen at: givoice.org. We encourage you to show this testimony as an organizing tool and to share it broadly. How We Did It: The Formation of the Coalition The success of the event was hinged on the organizing work of a tireless coalition, which was formed for the purpose of holding Northwest Winter Soldier. On April 22nd, IVAW and our IVAW allies held the first organizing meeting at Seattle Central Community College to discuss NWWS. Representatives of many anti-war organizations arrived to hear what we had envisioned (listed at the end of this report are our endorsers). Working in solidarity, these groups made a commitment to promote Northwest Winter Soldier to their respective memberships and among the public more broadly. Some groups aided us financially, and many sent representatives to each of our coalition meetings. We announced at the first meeting that the only requirement for membership in the coalition was agreement with IVAW’s three points of unity and a willingness to work to make NWWS a success. Seattle Chapter 8 met weekly in the lead-up to the event. At these meetings, we would discuss the direction of our efforts in the coalition, which was also meeting weekly. Coalition members contributed in countless ways. They took the initiative in helping create a network for veteran support for the event itself (and beyond). It was astounding how many hours some of our allies dedicated to all manner of tasks—from highway bannering, outreach at high-schools, postering, flyering, to speaking—all alongside a dedicated core of Northwest Regional IVAW members. The community was so proud to see us out there doing what it takes, and the admiration and inspiration went both ways. For the chapter, all of the long hours brought us together and taught us how to more effectively organize within the antiwar movement. It gave our members confidence and a sense of organizing experience. The event also drew new veterans from the surrounding area. After Northwest Winter Soldier Here are some short clips Here are the full first and second hours The third and fourth hours have not been posted yet Endorsers The views expressed here are the views of individual members, not Iraq Veterans Against the War as a whole. IVAW does not endorse any statements or opinions from servicemembers which may be regarded as derogatory or prejudiced in regards to race, class, gender, homophobia or prejudice based on sexual orientation. To view our code of conduct, click here. |
