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Mizzima: Justice, not war



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Mizzima News Group  (www.mizzima.com)
justice, not  war

                  Mobilize for Justice, not War

                          THOSE responsible for the September 11th
                  attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
                  must be brought to justice. There are established
5 reasons         channels for the course of justice. The greatest
to look           weapon in the US arsenal is innocence until proven
before            guilty. Anything less than due process is an
we leap           indictment of the leadership and standards by which
                  America has pledged to lead the world. Anything less
                  is a betrayal of the ideals for which so many
                  innocent people have already died.
                          Our children ought not to grow up in a world
                  of racial hatred and violence. They deserve better
                  than that. And we can do better than that.

2.  A military solution plays into terrorist hands.
        In his comprehensive survey of terrorist activity over the past
100 years, military historian Michael Howard notes that the three main
goals of terrorists have been (i) self-advertisement, (ii) to demoralize
governments, and (iii) "to provoke the government into such savage acts
of suppression that it forfeited public support and awoke popular and
international sympathy for the revolutionary cause." The attacks of
September 11th were tragic and despicable. Nothing can bring the
thousands of innocent people back. However, military action on the scale
imagined by the federal government compounds the crime. The rule of the
gun, the trampling of civil liberties, and a regime in which arbitrary
punishment and execution are condoned, makes terrorists of us all.
        In the words of Martin Luther King, ?Through violence you may
murder a murderer, but you cannot murder murder. Through violence you
may murder a liar, but you cannot establish truth. Through violence you
may murder a hater, but you cannot murder hate. Darkness cannot put out
darkness. Only light can do that.? Sources: The London Times 9/14/01.
Martin Luther King, 1967; the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
?Where do we go from here??

3.  War can only perpetuate a cycle of violence, not end one.
        One fact that has been overlooked over the past few days is that
Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the attacks, received his training
from the US. He was one of a number of militants trained in 1986 in
guerilla warfare by the CIA to fight the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
When the Soviet Union fell, the US cut its guerillas loose, unleashing
them on a war-ravaged and starving Afghani people.
        Another commonly neglected fact is that, between 1994-96 the US
supported the rise of the Taliban. Funding the Taliban fit in with US
efforts to isolate Iran in the region, and promised rich pickings for US
oil companies wanting to bring oil-pipelines through southern
Afghanistan. The current plans for a ?war on terrorism? amount to an
inadequate attempt to treat a symptom. In order to prevent future
violence, we must address the complex causes of terrorism and resentment
against the US, and the role of US government foreign policy in these
causes. This is our responsibility.
        The two million dead from the US war in Vietnam, the one million
dead as a result of US-led sanctions against Iraq, the continued US
sponsorship of death squads in Latin America all point to one
unavoidable lesson. Violence begets violence. There is every reason to
think that a military campaign will breed more resentment toward the US,
and more violence against the innocent. Ending the cycle of violence -
ending it now - is the only way to avoid creating new monsters for the
next generation.
Source: Chomsky et al Znet

4.     Thousands more innocent people will die.
        Over five thousand people died on September 11th. The scale of
war envisaged by the government is guaranteed to kill more people.
Innocent men, women and children are certain to be casualties of the
national war on terrorism. Already one person has been killed in the US
because of the racial hatred and fear that have followed the World Trade
Center and Pentagon attacks. Racial violence and harassment are on the
increase. And if the war on terrorism continues in its current vein, the
bloodshed at home and abroad cannot but increase.

5.  War is not an effective response.
        Jeanette Rankin, the first women member of Congress, who voted
against World War I and World War II, once said about war, ?you can no
more win an earthquake.? President Bush himself has said that terrorism
is a new kind of war. It is far from clear that it is a war that can be
won by military means. Just as with the Oklahoma City bombing, the
surest way to stamp out these heinous crimes is not through more
bombing, but through the course of justice. Source: Mohkiber and
Weissman

What you can do:
Ø Write or call your elected representatives, United States President
George W. Bush and other world leaders urging them to avoid war and
demanding that those responsible for the bombings be brought to justice
in US courts.
Ø Oppose categorically the militarization of this conflict.
Ø Oppose categorically the racist attacks on Arab Americans, Muslims,
immigrants, refugees and others in your area.
Ø Talk to your children.
Ø Join us in mobilizing for justice, not war!

(This campaign is initiated by The Ithaca Coalition for Global Justice
(a.k.a. the Sharks) which meets every Monday from 7-9 p.m. at GIAC,
corner of Court St. and Albany St.)



             "An eye for an eye only leaves the whole world
                         blind?    ~     Gandhi




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<html>
<b><font face="Garamond"><font size=+1><font color="#000099">Mizzima News
Group</font>&nbsp; <a href="http://www.mizzima.com";>(www.mizzima.com)</a></font></font></b>
<br><b><font face="Garamond"><font size=+4>justice, <i>not&nbsp; war</i></font></font></b>
<br>&nbsp;
<table BORDER=0 COLS=2 WIDTH="100%" >
<tr>
<td VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="25%"><b><font face="Garamond"><font color="#CC0000"><font size=+2>5
reasons</font></font></font></b>
<br><b><font face="Garamond"><font color="#CC0000"><font size=+2>to look</font></font></font></b>
<br><b><font face="Garamond"><font color="#CC0000"><font size=+2>before</font></font></font></b>
<br><b><font face="Garamond"><font color="#CC0000"><font size=+2>we leap</font></font></font></b></td>

<td ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="75%"><b><font face="Garamond"><font size=+2>Mobilize
for Justice, not War</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Garamond">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; THOSE
responsible for the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon must be brought to justice. There are established channels
for the course of justice. The greatest weapon in the US arsenal is innocence
until proven guilty. Anything less than due process is an indictment of
the leadership and standards by which America has pledged to lead the world.
Anything less is a betrayal of the ideals for which so many innocent people
have already died.&nbsp;</font>
<br><font face="Garamond">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Our
children ought not to grow up in a world of racial hatred and violence.
They deserve better than that. And we can do better than that.</font></td>
</tr>
</table>

<p><b><font face="Garamond"><font size=+2>2.&nbsp; A military solution
plays into terrorist hands.</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Garamond">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In
his comprehensive survey of terrorist activity over the past 100 years,
military historian Michael Howard notes that the three main goals of terrorists
have been (i) self-advertisement, (ii) to demoralize governments, and (iii)
"to provoke the government into such savage acts of suppression that it
forfeited public support and awoke popular and international sympathy for
the revolutionary cause." The attacks of September 11th were tragic and
despicable. Nothing can bring the thousands of innocent people back. However,
military action on the scale imagined by the federal government compounds
the crime. The rule of the gun, the trampling of civil liberties, and a
regime in which arbitrary punishment and execution are condoned, makes
terrorists of us all.</font>
<br><font face="Garamond">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In
the words of Martin Luther King, ?Through violence you may murder a murderer,
but you cannot murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but
you cannot establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but
you cannot murder hate. Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can
do that.? Sources: The London Times 9/14/01. Martin Luther King, 1967;
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference ?Where do we go from here??</font>
<p><b><font face="Garamond"><font size=+2>3.&nbsp; War can only perpetuate
a cycle of violence, not end one.</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Garamond">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One
fact that has been overlooked over the past few days is that Osama bin
Laden, the prime suspect in the attacks, received his training from the
US. He was one of a number of militants trained in 1986 in guerilla warfare
by the CIA to fight the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. When the Soviet
Union fell, the US cut its guerillas loose, unleashing them on a war-ravaged
and starving Afghani people.</font>
<br><font face="Garamond">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Another
commonly neglected fact is that, between 1994-96 the US supported the rise
of the Taliban. Funding the Taliban fit in with US efforts to isolate Iran
in the region, and promised rich pickings for US oil companies wanting
to bring oil-pipelines through southern Afghanistan. The current plans
for a ?war on terrorism? amount to an inadequate attempt to treat a symptom.
In order to prevent future violence, we must address the complex causes
of terrorism and resentment against the US, and the role of US government
foreign policy in these causes. This is our responsibility.</font>
<br><font face="Garamond">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The
two million dead from the US war in Vietnam, the one million dead as a
result of US-led sanctions against Iraq, the continued US sponsorship of
death squads in Latin America all point to one unavoidable lesson. Violence
begets violence. There is every reason to think that a military campaign
will breed more resentment toward the US, and more violence against the
innocent. Ending the cycle of violence - ending it now - is the only way
to avoid creating new monsters for the next generation.</font>
<br><font face="Garamond">Source: Chomsky et al Znet</font>
<p><b><font face="Garamond"><font size=+2>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Thousands
more innocent people will die.</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Garamond">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Over
five thousand people died on September 11th. The scale of war envisaged
by the government is guaranteed to kill more people. Innocent men, women
and children are certain to be casualties of the national war on terrorism.
Already one person has been killed in the US because of the racial hatred
and fear that have followed the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
Racial violence and harassment are on the increase. And if the war on terrorism
continues in its current vein, the bloodshed at home and abroad cannot
but increase.</font>
<p><b><font face="Garamond"><font size=+2>5.&nbsp; War is not an effective
response.</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Garamond">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jeanette
Rankin, the first women member of Congress, who voted against World War
I and World War II, once said about war, ?you can no more win an earthquake.?
President Bush himself has said that terrorism is a new kind of war. It
is far from clear that it is a war that can be won by military means. Just
as with the Oklahoma City bombing, the surest way to stamp out these heinous
crimes is not through more bombing, but through the course of justice.
Source: Mohkiber and Weissman</font>
<p><b><font face="Garamond"><font size=+2>What you can do:</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Garamond">&Oslash; Write or call your elected representatives,
United States President George W. Bush and other world leaders urging them
to avoid war and demanding that those responsible for the bombings be brought
to justice in US courts.</font>
<br><font face="Garamond">&Oslash; Oppose categorically the militarization
of this conflict.</font>
<br><font face="Garamond">&Oslash; Oppose categorically the racist attacks
on Arab Americans, Muslims, immigrants, refugees and others in your area.</font>
<br><font face="Garamond">&Oslash; Talk to your children.</font>
<br><font face="Garamond">&Oslash; Join us in mobilizing for justice, not
war!</font>
<p><font face="Garamond">(This campaign is initiated by The Ithaca Coalition
for Global Justice (a.k.a. the Sharks) which meets every Monday from 7-9
p.m. at GIAC, corner of Court St. and Albany St.)</font>
<br>&nbsp;
<br>&nbsp;
<center><table BORDER=0 COLS=1 WIDTH="75%" BGCOLOR="#666666" >
<tr>
<td ALIGN=CENTER>
<br><font color="#FFFFFF">"An eye for an eye only leaves the whole world
blind?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ~&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gandhi</font></td>
</tr>
</table></center>

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