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Breaking News from America's Progressive Community... Latest Releases
The press releases posted here have been provided to NewsCenter by the one of the many progressive organizations we have selected to participate. If you would like more information about this press release, you should contact the organization directly. |
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| NOVEMBER 13, 1998 12:07 PM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Peace Action Sheila Dormody, Acting Organizing Director, 202.862.9740 ext. 3006 |
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| Peace Action Urges Calls to Clinton and Hussein to Prevent Bombing | ||||
| WASHINGTON - November 13 - Today Peace Action called on President
Clinton to end the brutal sanctions against the people of Iraq and to prevent bombing
attacks which could incite retribution and escalate tensions in the Middle East. The
nation's largest grassroots peace organization also sent a message to Saddam Hussein to
allow the UN weapons inspections to continue. "President Clinton has the opportunity to both resolve this crisis with diplomacy and to end the brutal sanctions against Iraq which are killing Iraqi children every day," said Gordon S. Clark, Peace Action's Executive Director. "These sanctions are both devastating to the people of Iraq and politically counter-productive. Over the past seven years these sanctions have not brought Hussein to the negotiating table, but they have provided justification for his prevention of weapons inspections." The world community has a vested interest in preventing Hussein from developing weapons of mass destruction and gaining his compliance with the UN-brokered agreement reached at the end of the 1991 Gulf War which forbid Iraq from producing any weapons of mass destruction. "Saddam Hussein should faithfully abide by this agreement and allow weapons inspections to continue," said Clark. "The world community needs to work vigorously through the United Nations under Kofi Annan's leadership to develop a diplomatic solution to the current crisis." Peace Action is urging the American public to both flood the White House Comment Line (202)456-1111 with calls opposing bomb strikes against Iraq and to fax Iraqi Ambassador Nizar Hamdoon at the Iraqi Mission to the United Nations (212)772-1794 to tell Saddam Hussein to allow weapons inspectors to proceed. "Demonstrations in dozens of cities from coast to coast in February and the audience reaction at the Ohio State International Town Hall Meeting made it clear to the President and the Secretary of State that a US bombing campaign would be met with a firestorm of protest across the United States," said Clark. "Bombing is the tool of terrorists-not democracies. The killing of Iraqi civilians will not bring the world closer to a solution for this conflict. The American people are not going to tolerate a bombing campaign that can be prevented." Peace Action supports the abolition of all weapons of mass destruction, including those covertly developed by Iraq and overtly by the United States. Peace Action is the nation's largest grassroots peace and disarmament organization with 60,000 members across the nation. ### |
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