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TITLE: 10 Years Since Desert Storm: Stop the War on Iraq! |
AUTHOR: Bruce Cooley |
PUB: |
DATE: January 16, 2001 |
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A teach-in on the war and the movement against it under Bush/Cheney/Powell St. Aloysius Parish, 900 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC ~ (240) 355-4608 As part of a week of actions commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the launching of Desert Storm and leading up to the protests of the inauguration of George W. Bush, activists from around the country are holding a public forum on the ongoing war against Iraq. Sponsored by the National Mobilization to End the Sanctions Against Iraq and other organizations, the forum will emphasize the human toll of the war and will focus on the growing movement to end it. U.S. policy toward Iraq is at a crossroads. An estimated 1.5 million Iraqi civilians have died as a result of bombings and economic sanctions, a decade of war that has destroyed a once-modern society. The sanctions regime is in tatters internationally and has lost credibility in the eyes of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The "no-fly zones," imposed by the longest U.S. military air campaign since the Vietnam War, provide the rationale for 10 years of large-scale U.S. military presence in the Gulf. Many in the new administration consider Iraq "unfinished business" from the Bush, Sr. years, raising the prospect of direct military confrontation with Iraq in the near future. The president-elect's nominee for Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell, once an opponent of economic sanctions, has promised to reinvigorate the international isolation of Iraq that costs the lives of an estimated 4,000 Iraqi children each month. But especially in the past three years, a vibrant and growing movement has emerged to challenge the sanctions and U.S. policy in the region. Panelists: ¨ Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies, author of Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today's UN ¨ Rania Masri, Iraq Action Coalition ¨ Rima Meroueh, National Mobilization to End the Sanctions Against Iraq ¨ Anthony Arnove, contributing editor International Socialist Review, and editor Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War Additional sponsors include the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, Middle East Research and Information Project, International Socialist Organization, Justice Action Movement, Life for Relief and Development, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Water Project, Muslim Student Association Iraq Project and the DC Coalition to Stop the War Against Iraq. END |