July 12: CR Picket: Surging to Failure

Thursday, July 12, 2007 at 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Outside the Military Recruiting Station in Oakland, 3712 Forbes Ave.

It's been six months since President Bush announced that he was sending an addition 28,000 troops to "secure" Iraq. Popularly referred to as "the surge", this move is a last ditch attempt to quell the civil war that the US occupation has caused. As the weeks and months go by, the body count rises in Iraq, both for the US military and for Iraqis.

For the US military, the last three months have been among the eight deadliest since the war began in 2003 and July is on track to be the fourth month in a row with over a hundred casualties. With a little more than half a year gone by, 2007 is on pace to be the deadliest year of the war by over 300 deaths, with over 1,100 young Americans dead for the benefit of companies like Exxon, Halliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater, and Lockheed Martin.

Of course, as always, these numbers pale compared Iraqis. Only a week into July, conservative figures put Iraqi civilian deaths at over 400 Iraqi civilians. So far this year, well over 12,000 Iraqis have lost their lives in the fighting. And those who survive are under constant threat from occupation forces, corrupt Iraqi "security" forces, and reactionary militias that are thriving in the chaos of civil war.

POG said months ago that the United States had lost the war in Iraq. Now, even those in power are acknowledging it. The President is facing a rebellion in his party as more and more Republicans fear the impact of this lost war on next year's election, while trying to convince his party, the "opposition", and the country to wait for General David Petraeus' September report on the "surge". With the general reporting this week that defeating the insurgency could take "decades", it seems like there could be lots of waiting in the future. No one, least of all the antiwar movement, can afford to wait. This war must end, and it must end now.

Join POG this Thursday, July 12 at 6:00pm outside the Oakland recruiting station as we demonstrate our opposition to this surge, this war, and this system that feeds on the young and poor, of Iraq and America, to gain wealth and power.

Pittsburgh Organizing Group
pog@mutualaid.org
www.organizepittsburgh.org

July 14, 2007 Pittsburgh Organizing Group
3:12 pm pog@mutualaid.org
c/o Thomas Merton Center
5125 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15224

Bill Peduto Slanders POG: An Update

On Wednesday, June 6, Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto held a press conference where he publicly stated that the Pittsburgh Organizing Group (POG) organized a string of recent vandalism incidents in the East End. The Pittsburgh Organizing Group did not organize the vandalism and our group had no involvement in any part of these actions. In order to make this point clear and respond to the reckless and unsubstantiated charges against us, we issued a widely circulated statement (www.organizepittsburgh.org).

Over the following days, more activists and progressives in the city joined us in condemning Peduto's comments by contacting his office and asking for a retraction. Peduto ignored all attempts at dialogue but he did find time to give a series of interviews to the corporate press. As late as Tuesday he went on the radio (93.7 FM) to further denounce us.

Later that day -- six days after his initial press conference, and following dozens of attempts to contact him -- Bill Peduto finally found time to talk to a POG member about his comments. In the days ahead he's promised to respond to at least some of the people who have called him. We wish we could report to you that Peduto has apologized or retracted his statements but this isn't the case. Sadly, he continues to hold a number of incorrect beliefs about what POG is and the make-up and activity of local activist movements.

In the one personal conversation Peduto had with a POG member, it seems he is starting to backtrack on one thing: he has changed his position from stating that POG organized the vandalism to claiming that, all along, his statement has been that he thought it was "POG members" or "someone who has gone to POG actions." As we have explained to Peduto, given this change in wording, it is quite false and defamatory to name POG as responsible for an action he admits may be the work of someone who has simply attended one of our events. Even if someone who has organized with us or attended one of our events is proven to be responsible for incidents of vandalism, it would not change the fact that the group, POG, did not organize the actions, had no part in them and is not responsible for them. POG would bear no culpability, nor would any other local radical group the individuals were part of. Peduto continues to cite, as evidence of our guilt, that the suspects were young, wore black clothing, rode bikes, that circle A graffiti was painted at the scene, and that previous vandalism incidents have occurred at POG events. How people dress, the mode of transportation they utilize and their age is immaterial to the issues at hand because literally hundreds of people in the East End fit these descriptions. Peduto also continues to believe, incorrectly, that POG is the only local organization with anarchist tendencies or membership. Additionally, Peduto seems to believe that POG is synonymous with an anarchist symbol. Suffice to say that the circle A is widely known throughout popular culture, to the point that stores such as Hot Topic sell shirts emblazoned with the symbol. Lastly, POG is not and has never been representative of the local anarchist community and the anarchist members of our group (not all POG members are anarchists) make up a small fraction of the movement in Pittsburgh.

It is insulting to the good work of the many other anarchists in this city to negate their activities simply due to the fact they don't fit into a politician's incorrect understanding of what an anarchist is and what local anarchists do. We hope that Councilman Peduto will reflect on some of these issues in the time ahead and make an effort to educate himself on the work and beliefs of many of his constituents.

The whole ordeal seems like a dirty attempt by Peduto to set the groundwork for higher political aspirations. He seems to be attempting to play to all sides. Peduto's trying to get the credit among Shadyside business owners for being "tough" on criminals, naming (erroneously) the culprits behind these actions, garnering significant news coverage in the process, then ignoring the outcry from the progressive community until it all dies down to a point he can become more conciliatory. We hope that his attempts to schmooze law enforcement and business owners at the expense of local movements for peace and justice don't pay off in the end.

The truth is, many peace and justice activists in Pittsburgh will remember how this played out, and who was impacted by it, long after the news coverage ends. A lot of local activists were hurt by what happened in a multitude of ways by Peduto's political grandstanding. People were smeared unjustly without evidence, without an equal opportunity to respond to the charges against them, and without being asked about the accusations. People who sought to make things right, through phone calls and e-mails to their elected officials, were dismissed and publicly accused of all being POG members who were "threatening" Mr. Peduto, simply because they contacted him. Our groups' ability to defend itself from possible government repression was jeopardized.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has defended us and worked to ensure these efforts to slander us were unsuccessful. It is a sign of hope that so many people -- some unlikely allies! -- were willing to judge this situation on the merit of the facts, rather than resort to stereotypes and assumptions, see through Peduto's political games, and come to our aid. We will remember that. We care deeply about the issues we work on and we are not immune to mistakes or falling into the trap of believing that our views make us better than others. There are large and important differences within our movements on questions of strategy and tactics, yet we also have much in common. Perhaps what some of us will take most from this experience is a renewed appreciation for the commonality which exists within local progressive movements and the work we must do to reach out more successfully to people we feel are natural allies (especially those outside the political establishment.)

Baring any significant developments in this situation, this will be our final statement on this matter, regardless of any additional news stories or commentary by Councilman Peduto. We hope our position on these matters has been satisfactorily clear and transparent throughout the ordeal. Our entire group is united around the desire to get back to organizing. This fall will see a resurgence of anti-war activity and we hope to surpass our recent March 2 action by holding even more effective and inclusive actions against militarism. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your time.

For peace and social justice through solidarity and resistance,
Pittsburgh Organizing Group

See follow-up statement from June 9

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June 9, 2007 Pittsburgh Organizing Group
12:00 pm pog@mutualaid.org
c/o Thomas Merton Center
5125 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15224

Response to Accusations of POG Involvement in Vandalism

On Wednesday, June 6 Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto held a press conference in response to a string of vandalism around Walnut Street in Shadyside. According to news reports several businesses, mostly large corporations such as Starbucks, Talbot's and the Gap had their windows broken the night before. Anti-G8 slogans were painted on at least one storefront. A witness cited in the press apparently reported seeing two individuals on bicycles leaving the scene shortly after the incident occurred.

At his press conference Councilman Peduto stated that the "Pittsburgh Organizing Committee [sic], based out of the Thomas Merton Center" was responsible for the incidents. At the time of the press conference (and at the time of this writing) no one from the Pittsburgh Organizing Group (POG) had been contacted by Peduto's office or the Pittsburgh Police Department regarding our involvement in the incidents.

The Pittsburgh Organizing Group did not organize the vandalism and the group had no involvement in any part of the action. POG is an above ground organization that holds public events and is frequently in the public eye. We do not organize property destruction or actions involving physical harm to humans or non-human animals. When we hold actions we report on them on our Web site, either before or after the fact.

For more information on the types of actions POG organizes and our position on actions that we are not involved in, check out our statements "Hey POG, Why the Heck Did You Do THAT!?" and our Statement of Solidarity to the movement.

Councilman Peduto's comments at the June 6 press conference were highly irresponsible for a public official to make, detrimental to local movements for peace and social justice, and a slap in the face to those progressives who have previously considered him an ally. He was the first, and as far as we are aware, only non-police official to attempt to link us to these events. His statements have contributed to a public perception of our guilt, caused division within the local anti-war movement, drained our time and resources away from important campaigns, and damaged our personal relationships with members of the community. In the long term these types of false declarations of guilt serve to create a pretext for state repression and damage the ability of social movements to mount strong defenses when repression occurs. We have often been at the receiving end of unprofessional police violence and harassment. There is a very real possibility that the next time such an incident occurs some people will withhold critical support because of personal views of the vandalism incidents erroneously attributed to us. It's one thing to expect the local police and right wing institutions like the Tribute Review to take advantage of any opportunity to disrupt our movements, it's quite another to watch a self-proclaimed progressive pulling the bandwagon.

To be clear Bill Peduto made a declarative statement that our group was guilty of serious felony offences without contacting us beforehand and without producing any evidence as to why his declaration was more than mere speculation. It may be politically valuable to appear on top of things to key constituents, to be able to say you know who did it, but in cases like these there are real people and real causes being hurt by this type of political grandstanding.

Our attempts to seek private redress and accountability have been met with what could charitably be called the great run around. When we contacted his office (412-255-2133) about the public accusations, Peduto's aide backtracked and completely denied that the Councilman mentioned our group, saying he only mentioned that the incident might be connected to the G8. This denial, however, is refuted by video footage of the press conference. WTAE, one of the stations to report our guilt on the basis of comments by a "public official" they confirmed was Peduto, told a member of POG that the station has footage of Peduto accusing us of the incident. When Peduto's aide was confronted with this fact we were told he was now out of the office and would get back to us next week. When we called back later, an intern in the office said the individual we'd previously talked to was having lunch with Peduto and that he actually was in the office that day. We haven't heard back since. An e-mail from our group to his office was never replied to.

As a self-proclaimed progressive Bill Peduto should understand the grave implications of these irresponsible accusations for POG and for the anti-war movement as a whole. He has a responsibility to his constituents, some of whom are business owners on Walnut Street and some of whom are members of our group, to get his facts straight. No one is helped when businesses are misled as to who bears responsibility for targeting their property and a local group/movement are harmed in the process.

While we would appreciate an apology and retraction from Councilman Peduto the reality is the damage has already been done. We simply hope talking about what has happened will help ensure that he refrains from this type of behavior in the future and in the meantime works to support local movements for peace and social justice with an eye towards undoing some of the damage.

For peace and social justice through solidarity and resistance,
Pittsburgh Organizing Group

See follow-up statement from June 14

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