Earlier today I participated in the Olympia Council MoveOn.org Operation Democracy Press Conference. The conference was held on the front steps of the Capitol Building in Olympia Washington. A report on the connection between the Iraq war and the failing economy was released to Washington State Senators Maria Cantwell, and Patty Murray, as well as to various members of the local news media.

Here are some videos from the day's event:

Here's a copy of the Report [linked]. I also copied the report and uploaded to my flickr account, so if you'd prefer, see below:

Father Ray Bourgeois is a Roman Catholic Priest and the founder of the human rights organization, School of Americas Watch [4/10/2008 update: SOA Watch website currently blocked, apparently by Google]. You have several opportunities to visit with Father Bourgeois today, April 10th, in Olympia.
From the SOA Watch website:

SOA Watch is an independent organization that seeks to close the US Army School of the Americas, under whatever name it is called, through vigils and fasts, demonstrations and nonviolent protest, as well as media and legislative work.

On November 16, 1989, six Jesuit priests, their co-worker and her teenage daughter were massacred in El Salvador. A U.S. Congressional Task Force reported that those responsible were trained at the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

In 1990 SOA Watch began in a tiny apartment outside the main gate of Ft. Benning. While starting with a small group, SOA Watch quickly drew upon the knowledge and experience of many in the U.S. who had worked with the people of Latin America in the 1970's and 80's.

[from Peace Action email:]

On the eve of the Iraq War, retired Army Colonel Ann Wright resigned from the State Department, telling then-Sec. of State Colin Powell that without UN authorization the invasion and occupation would be a disaster. She was one of dozens of government insiders and active-duty military personnel who spoke out, leaked documents, resigned, or refused to deploy in protest of illegal government actions.

Col. Wright is one of the country's most prominent critics of the Iraq War and Bush's foreign policy. In her new book, Dissent: Voices of Conscience, Col. Wright and Susan Dixon tell the stories of these men and women. Peace Action is sponsoring her Puget Sound tour:

Col. Wright's Western Washington appearances:

remember 9/11:

"The suicidal assassins of September 11, 2001, did not "attack America," as our political leaders and the news media like to maintain; they attacked American foreign policy."
- Chalmers Johnson
[source]