Bush to Host Putin, Americans to Protest Bush

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — A protest march next month, planned to coincide with President George W. Bush's meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, is expected to draw a crowd of thousands.

The protest march and citizens summit will be held at 1 p.m., Sunday, July 1, at the Village Green on Ocean Avenue in Kennebunkport. The rally will be held rain or shine, and is being organized by The Kennebunks' Peace Department and the Maine Campaign to Impeach. Event coordinators are Kittery businesswoman Jamilla El-Shafei of the Peace Department and Deborah Gordon of the Maine Campaign to Impeach.

Rally participants will call for the impeachment of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, and for the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

"When Bush is coming in my backyard, I feel I have to hold him accountable," said El-Shafei. "He and Cheney need to be impeached. This is a perfect opportunity to let national and local media know we do not stand with this president. We do not support his foreign and domestic policies. He has caused death and destruction from Iraq to (Hurricane) Katrina. His actions are unconscionable. In my opinion, he makes the Nixon administration look like the Hardy Boys. It the most scurrilous bunch of crooks in the history of the American presidency."

El Shafei said the timing is extremely important.

"We want to point out that Chechnya is their (Russia's) Iraq," she said. "Because of these two presidents who think they are czars, innocent people are dying and countries are being destroyed. It's important to point out the link between those two. Both imperialistic empires have invaded and destroyed oil-rich countries, and that should not go unnoticed."

Immediately before the march begins, David Swanson, co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org, and John Kaminski, chairman of Maine Lawyers for Democracy, will address the crowd.

AfterDowningStreet.org is a nonpartisan coalition of more than 200 veterans, peace, and political-activist groups that works to pressure both Congress and the media to investigate whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war.

Kaminski's organization of more than 80 lawyers brought to the Maine Legislature a detailed position paper calling for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. In this paper, the MLD cites deceptions used to justify the commencement of the Iraq war, the illegality of the war under the terms of international treaties to which the United States is a signatory, and the illegal wiretapping of U.S. citizens. Further grounds for impeachment, according to the MLD, include the administration's use of torture, detention without trials and the suspension of habeas corpus.

"Unless this administration is held accountable through impeachment, their unchecked abuses of power will set precedent for future U.S. presidents," said Kaminski.

Music will start at 11 a.m. and include Pat Scanlon and Band of Andover, Mass.; Matt Loosigian, a folksinger from Brunswick, Maine; and the Raging Grannies of Maine and Massachusetts.

GETTING AROUND
PARKING: Due to the large crowd of protesters expected, organizers are asking that people park at Kennebunk High School on Fletcher Street (Route 35). People traveling on Interstate 95 should take Exit 25 and immediately get on Route 35 South. Kennebunk High is roughly one mile from I-95.

SHUTTLE: Beginning at 9 a.m., shuttle buses will transport people to the march in Kennebunkport.

INFORMATION: Send e-mail to jamillaelshafei@yahoo.com or call 969-7574 in New Hampshire, or greenpointdesign@hotmail.com or (207) 671-4701 in Maine.

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