October, 30 2015, 03:30pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Contact Paul Kawika Martin at 951-217-7285, or,email Paul,.,Contact Jon Rainwater at 510-469-3700, or,email Jon,.
Obama Disappoints Peace Groups by Breaking Troops on the Ground Promise in Syria
Peace Action, the nation's largest peace group, released the following statement from its spokesperson, Jon Rainwater, in response to President Obama's decision put troops on the ground in Syria:
WASHINGTON
Peace Action, the nation's largest peace group, released the following statement from its spokesperson, Jon Rainwater, in response to President Obama's decision put troops on the ground in Syria:
The announcement today that the President is sending U.S. ground troops to Syria was as predictable as it is disappointing. We should know by now that the first law of military conflicts is escalation. That's why sending these troops into battle should trouble all Americans. With the "no boots on the ground" promise broken there's no telling how many U.S. troops will ultimately be sent to Iraq and Syria.
Over a year into the U.S.-led bombing campaign what have we accomplished? The United States has spent over $4.75 billion on over 6,059 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. Watching the tragic refugee crisis spreading, we know that more bombing isn't making the Syrian people any safer. And as the United States drops thousands of bombs, angering thousands of people in two Middle Eastern nations, it's not making the American people any safer either.
On the contrary, a U.S.-led attack in Syria, with the inevitable civilian casualties, strengthens recruitment for ISIS. Adding U.S. ground troops is just throwing gasoline on the fire. Instead, we need sustained diplomacy to end the Syrian civil war and we need to significantly increase humanitarian aid for the victims of the conflict.
Peace Action is the United States' largest peace and disarmament organization with over 100,000 members and nearly 100 chapters in 34 states, works to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs and encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights.
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Public health advocates, federal lawmakers, and other critics responded with alarm to The New York Timesreporting on Friday that an attorney helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. select officials for the next Trump administration tried to get the U.S. regulators to revoke approval of the polio vaccine in 2022.
"The United States has been a leader in the global fight to eradicate polio, which is poised to become only the second disease in history to be eliminated from the face of the earth after smallpox," said Liza Barrie, Public Citizen's campaign director for global vaccines access. "Undermining polio vaccination efforts now risks reversing decades of progress and unraveling one of the greatest public health achievements of all time."
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According to the newspaper:
Mr. Siri is also representing ICAN in petitioning the FDA to "pause distribution" of 13 other vaccines, including combination products that cover tetanus, diphtheria, polio, and hepatitis A, until their makers disclose details about aluminum, an ingredient researchers have associated with a small increase in asthma cases.
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Ayman Chit, head of vaccines for North America at Sanofi, told the newspaper that development of the vaccine began in 1977, over 280 million people worldwide have received it, and there have been more than 300 studies, some with up to six months of follow-up.
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Multiple critics altered Trump's campaign slogan to "Make Polio Great Again."
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Without naming anyone, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor, put out a lengthy statement on Friday.
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