Tacoma police arrested twenty-three antiwar protesters on March 11 at the Port of Tacoma as the ongoing port militarization resistance movement there entered its eighth day.

Fifteen protesters, including Olympia City Councilman T.J. Johnson, were arrested for crossing a police barricade in an attempt to deliver a "Citizen's Injunction to Halt Shipment of Military Material to Iraq." The injunction declared the Iraq war to be "contrary to the rule of law" and the current escalation to be "counterproductive" and opposed by "a majority of United States Citizens." On a ship docked nearby, hundreds of Stryker vehicles from nearby Fort Lewis were being loaded for the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, which will be deployed next month to Iraq as part of the unpopular escalation announced on Jan. 10 by George W. Bush.

In addition, eight persons were arrested for challenging on First and Fourth Amendment grounds what protesters believe to be an illegal police ban on backpacks, bags, and purses. Phan Nguyen of Olympia told police his backpack contained only a copy of the United States Constitution. He was arrested anyway. "Just as we feel that soldiers should disobey unlawful orders, so I refuse to obey illegal orders from police," he said.

The March 11 arrests brought to 30 the number of persons arrested as part of a resistance movement whose vigor has taken local authorities by surprise. Protests on the night of March 9 were marred by the use of tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters. On March 10, Tacoma officials deployed riot police to throw a wide perimeter around the ship and refused all discussion with protesters. But March 11 was different. Officers in full riot gear were again out in force, but the Tacoma Police Department agreed to negotiate arrest procedures, and arrests were conducted in a civil manner.

Present were members of Olympia Port Militarization Resistance, who in May 2006 protested a Stryker shipment through the Port of Olympia and whose 2007 campaign succeeded in dissuading the Army from attempting to use that port for further shipment of war material from nearby Fort Lewis. The port militarization resistance movement has vowed continued protests until the Stryker-laden ship leaves Commencement Bay.

--ETS! news services, adapted from a United For Peace of Pierce County press release

Governor Christine Gregoire has joined with some Democratic Party leaders in the US Congress to call upon the Washington State Legislature to stop its efforts to petition the House of Representatives for impeachment proceedings against the Bush administration. Gregoire made her announcement on Feb. 27 at a meeting of the National Association of Governors in Washington, DC, where she also condemned protests against the war in Iraq.

The Democratic governor said she does not support current legislation being sponsored in her state's Legislature which would petition the US Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Some Democratic Party leaders from the US Congress have also been urging members of the state legislature to drop the impeachment resolution.

Gregoire also claimed that antiwar demonstrations and sit-ins currently taking place at Congressional offices in Seattle and around the country are counter-productive, referring to the protests as distractions from important health care and education initiatives. Community organizers from the local impeachment campaign and antiwar groups say the sit-ins and demonstrations will continue in Washington state.

Last month activists from the Occupation Project were ejected from a meeting of Chiefs of Police in Bellevue after attempting a citizen's arrest on US Senator Patty Murray for war crimes. Their warrant read, in part: "This warrant is issued on February 22, 2007. Whereas your felonious conduct in office funding an illegal and immoral war; whereas your failure to thus far hold George Bush fully accountable for that conduct which threatens the stability of our nation's self-government..." The full video of the attempted citizen's arrest can be seen on Google News and YouTube. --Mark Taylor-Canfield

The US Army has renewed its charges against Lt. Ehren Watada for refusing to return to Iraq and for making statements against the war. Although a military judge on Feb. 7 declared a mistrial in Lt. Watada's court-martial at Fort Lewis, the Army has now filed the same charges again. The US Army is still planning court-martial proceedings against Watada for refusing to join the Third Stryker Brigade for a second tour in Iraq, and for "behavior unbecoming an officer" when he spoke out against the war at public speeches and during conversations with journalists.

Watada's attorney Eric Seitz maintains that his client cannot be tried again for the same offenses, calling it "double jeopardy." Fort Lewis spokesperson Leslie Kaye says the double jeopardy rule does not apply in this case because his original trial was not brought to completion due to the mistrial. Kaye does not rule out the possibility that the US military will subpoena journalists again to testify. The Army has announced a new date for Watada's court-martial proceedings at Fort Lewis: March 19, the fourth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. --M. T.-C.