Peace, Religious and American-Arab Groups Call for National Day of Mourning
and Protest This Saturday
Growing International Opposition Endangers
Nuclear Accords
PEACE ACITON MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 18, 1998
CONTACT: Gordon Clark, Executive Director, 202.862.9740x3007, paexec@igc.org
Peace Action, the nation's largest peace and disarmament
organization, joined other national peace, religious and American-Arab
groups in calling for a national day of mourning and protest this Saturday,
December 19, in response to the continued U.S. bombing of Iraq. Memorial
services will be held in dozens of cities for the hundreds of thousands of
Iraqi civilians killed during the eight year policy of bombings and
economic sanctions of that country.
In addition to Peace Action, the call was issued by the Fellowship
of Reconciliation, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Friends
Committee on National Legislation, Pax Christi USA, War Resisters League
and International Action Center.
"The eight year policy of bombings and strangling economic
sanctions has brought nothing but death and destruction for the Iraqi
people," said Gordon S. Clark, Executive Director. "Their names and voices
are completely absent from any U.S. debate on this issue, and we intend to
honor them as a protest to the ongoing U.S. rain of death over Iraq."
"This current bombing, which is an outrageous violation of
international law, will not advance any world interest with regard to
Saddam Hussein, weapons inspections, or regional security," he added. "The
only thing we know for sure is that it will kill hundreds or thousands of
innocent Iraqi civilians who are already victims of Saddam Hussein's brutal
rule."
Meanwhile, growing international opposition - especially from
members of the United Nations Security Council - is beginning to erode
other U.S. relationships. In particular, Russia, which has withdrawn its
ambassador from the U.S. and England in protest, has also threatened to
cancel its pending ratification of the Start II nuclear arms reduction
treaty.
"How ironic that President Clinton's misguided and blundering
attempt to contain Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction might
actually scuttle a treaty to reduce real weapons of mass destruction,"
noted Mr. Clark. "Is the world a safer place when Russia withdraws from
international efforts to control and reduce its nuclear arsenal? Did no one
in the Clinton Administration stop to consider these possible consequences
before they started bombing?"
The group noted that other than Russia, four of the five remaining
declared nuclear powers (China, France, India and Pakistan) have either
disassociated themselves from the U.S. bombing raid or strongly condemned
it.
###
Peace Action is the nation's largest grassroots peace and justice
organization. Founded in 1957 as SANE, and later SANE/FREEZE, it currently
has over 50,000 members in 100 local chapters and 27 state affiliates
across the country.
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