A time for organizing.

AS I WRITE THIS, George Bush has just announced his veto of the Iraq withdrawal bill passed by Congress. With more than 65 percent of Americans opposed to sending more troops, and more than 73 percent of people around the world against the U.S. occupation in Iraq, the President has drawn a line in the sand between the lives and hopes of millions and his administration's own deluded, imperial aspirations.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Every day in Iraq, violence kills an average of 100 civilians. Four million Iraqis have become refugees. More than 3,000 American soldiers have died and tens of thousands wounded, while the war tab runs to $400 billion and counting.

"The U.S. occupation is the main problem. Bush wants to put the blame on the Iraqis for the crisis when it's the U.S. occupation," says Judith LeBlanc, co-chair of United for Peace and Justice.

The Democrats' vetoed bill actually called only for limited troop withdrawal by October this year, allowing loopholes for the occupation to continue. The bill also would have appropriated another $100 billion for war spending. This is the kind of timid anti-war stance that Bush could arrogantly brush aside, dismissing it as "politics" before demanding that they negotiate on his terms.

"We have to ratchet up the pressure on Congress. We give our allies support to fight harder. And for the rest, we organize like hell to hold them accountable to last year's election mandate to end this war," LeBlanc adds.

In this issue's cover story, ex-soldier Camilo Mejia shows what life is like under occupation. The casual brutality of an occupying army, the ramped-up racism toward an indefinable ...