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 Thanks for sending this my way; I hope all has been well with you.
 
 While I strongly oppose the NATO bombing, I think the arguments put forward by Cynthia McKinney - defending Gaddafi himself, as opposed to simply condemning the bombing - are highly problematic. In fact I'd say they're downright offensive to those Libyans killed when they courageously rose up against a decades long dictator, and counterproductive to building an antiwar movement in the U.S. It is not necessary to paint Gaddafi as a progressive anti-imperialist, a reputation he does not deserve, in order to oppose the war.
 
 Will there be space at this event to engage in respectful and civil dialogue with Cynthia? I ask because at a similar event this weekend in Los Angeles, Libyans who went in order to do so were not allowed to even enter the event. It is clear they were very civil in their conduct and were primarily interested in challenging McKinney's pro-Qaddafi statements. Moreover if we hope to win Libyan Americans to anti-intervention politics, we should treat them with respect and engage with them, rather than simply silence them and shut them out.
 
 I am not suggesting you would make a decision to shut down debate in this way - but given that this is what ANSWER, one of the co-sponsors, chose to do in LA, I wished to reach out in advance to request that there be space for respectful engagement between different views at the event itself.
 
 In struggle,
 
 -Jeremy
 International Socialist Organization, SF
 United National Antiwar Committee