For Immediate Release
The Occupation Project: www.occupationstl.net
NEWS ADVISORY

THE OCCUPATION PROJECT LAUNCHES IN ST. LOUIS
St. Louis Participates in National Campaign of Sustained Nonviolent Civil Disobedience to End Iraq War Funding

What: On February 6, 2007, local social justice advocates will hold a press conference announcing the beginning of the Occupation Project at 11 a.m. outside Russ Carnahan’s office in Brentwood.

Who: Speakers will include, Michael McPhearson, Executive Director of Veterans For Peace (and father of an Iraq War combat soldier), Woody Powell, a Korean War Veteran (Veterans For Peace), and Andrew Wimmer, educator and member of the Center of Theology and Social Analysis.

The press conference will announce the beginning of the Occupation Project in St. Louis. The Occupation Project is a campaign of civil disobedience beginning at the offices of Representatives and Senators who do not publicly pledge to vote against additional funds for the Iraq war. The campaigns will continue through the end of March.

Campaigns will take place in at least 15 states, stretching from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon and from Fairbanks, Alaska to Huntsville, Alabama. The campaign is organized by Voices for Creative Nonviolence. Participating organizations include: Veterans for Peace, CODEPINK, Declaration of Peace, and the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.

President Bush released his 2008 budget today, and in it was an allocated $99 billion in supplemental funding for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He warned however, due to on-going military operations, an addition $145 in supplemental funding could come in 2008. All of this is already in addition to the $661.9 billion dollars that has already been spent on the War in Iraq.

The press conference will take place outside of Congressman Russ Carnahan's office at 8764 Manchester Road in Brentwood.
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Veterans For Peace is a national organization founded in 1985. It is structured around a national office in Saint Louis, MO and comprised of members across the country organized in chapters or as at-large members. The organization includes men and women veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, other conflicts and peacetime veterans. Our collective experience tells us wars are easy to start and hard to stop and that those hurt are often the innocent. Thus, other means of problem solving are necessary.

Veterans For Peace: www.veteransforpeace.org
The Occupation Project: www.occupationstl.net