Monday, September 19, 2005
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@greens.org
Rebecca Rotzler, Peace Action Committee Co-chair, 845-255-3122, rebelrot@yahoo.com
GREENS JOIN THE SEPTEMBER 24 ANTIWAR PROTESTS,
CALLING FOR IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ
Green Party events highlighted in schedule of
rallies planned for Washington, D.C.
"To announce that there must be no criticism
of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or
wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public." (Theodore Roosevelt, remarks in 1918 on
President Woodrow Wilson's suppression of dissent against U.S.
involvement in World War I)
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party members will join
united peace coalitions United For Peace & Justice and A.N.S.W.E.R.
and tens of thousands of other angry Americans at the September 24
rallies in Washington, D.C. against the war on Iraq.
"President Bush and the Republicans and
Democrats who have supported his war have betrayed the American
people," said Henry Duke, Alabama Green and member of the Green
Peace Action Committee (GPAX). "They lied to us. They set the
stage for terrorist attacks against civilians in London, Madrid, Bali,
and within Iraq, and placed all Americans at risk. They bear
responsibility for the deaths of nearly 2,000 American troops and tens
of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Protest is our moral duty, as
Americans and as citizens of the world."
The Green Party will have a strong media presence
on September 24, with GPAX organizers and other party leaders
available for interview.
Green events on September 24
GPAX is sponsoring a rally at the Iraqi Embassy at
9 a.m. and will present a solidarity letter to the people of Iraq,
calling for full and equal rights and a representative government.
"President Bush said the war was necessary to liberate the Iraqi
people, but the invasion turned Iraqis into the enemy, especially in
places like Abu Ghraib and Fallujah," said Jody Grage Haug,
co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.
Greens will then march south on 18th Street,
pausing briefly in front of the D.C. offices of Halliburton/KBR (18th
and M Street, NW), and head to McPherson Square at 14th and K Street,
NW, for a GPAX rally from 10 to 11 a.m. Speakers include Kevin Zeese,
Maryland Green candidate for the U.S. Senate; Rebecca Rotzler, Deputy
Mayor of New Paltz, N.Y.; Elena Everett, co-chair of GPAX; Michele
Tingling-Clemmons, co-chair of the Green Party's Black Caucus; Kevin
McCarron, member of of the D.C. Statehood Green Party and Veterans for
Peace; and others.
Greens will then join the main rally on the
Ellipse. Among the featured speakers will be Malik Rahim, recent Green
candidate for New Orleans City Council <http://www.gp.org/press/states/la_2005_09_03.shtml>.
The Operation Ceasefire Concert <http://www.opceasefire.org>,
2:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. under the Washington Monument, will be hosted
by Jello Biafra (a member of the Green Party) and will feature a
line-up of music stars, including hip-hop artist and Green Party
member Head-Roc, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Thievery Corporation, and
country star Steve Earle. Ms. Rotzler, who is also co-chair of GPAX,
will speak. The concert is being organized by a team that includes
Adam Eidinger and other Greens.
Greens stress immediate withdrawal, weak response
from Dems, impeachment of Bush
The Green Party of the United States has led the
political opposition to the war from the beginning. Greens sharply
criticized Republicans and Democrats who voted in October, 2002 to
transfer war power from Congress to the White House, calling it a
violation of the U.S. Constitution and an invitation for the White
House's abuse of power <http://www.gp.org/position/st_09_20_02.shtml>.
"As predicted, the U.S. invasion of Iraq
motivated greater support for al-Qaeda in the region and greater
support among many Iraqis for clerics who intend to establish a
theocratic government in Baghdad," said Marc Sanson, co-chair of
the Green Party of the United States. "President Bush has turned
Iraq into 'terrorism central', enabling al-Qaeda to set up operations
in Iraq, where its presence was negligible before the invasion."
The Green Party has called for the Bush
Administration to begin military withdrawal from Iraq immediately,
arguing that any continued presence will result in more dead and
injured American troops and Iraqi civilians, increased likelihood of
civil war in Iraq, and growing animosity against the U.S. from Iraqis
and people in other Muslim nations.
Greens thus oppose the position of mainstream
Democrats like Senators Joe Biden (Del.) and Hillary Clinton (N.Y.),
who call for new strategy and more troops in order to achieve victory
in Iraq, and the position of many liberal and progressive Democrats,
including Sen. Russell Feingold (Wis.), Progressive Democrats of
America, and MoveOn.org, who prefer a plan to remove U.S. troops by
the end of 2006.
"Every day we remain in Iraq, more American
soldiers and Iraqi civilians will get killed," said Nan Garrett,
spokesperson for the National Women's Caucus of the Green Party and
co-chair of the Georgia Green Party. "As the clerics gain power
and leverage over the new constitution, U.S. troops are dying
not for democracy but for theocracy, religious law, and suppression of
women's rights. They're dying so that U.S. corporations can plunder
Iraqi oil and other resources."
The Green Party has also called for:
-
Impeachment of President Bush and Vice
President Cheney, based on the administration's numerous
fraudulent claims about the presence of WMDs and conspiracy
between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, and violation of numerous
international laws and the U.S. Constitution (which limits use of
the armed forces to defense of U.S. borders and requires adherence
to international treaties to which the U.S. is signatory) <http://www.gp.org/position/st_2003_07_impeach.shtml>.
-
Rejection of the Bush Administration's revised
draft of nuclear weapons policy, which would allow military
personnel to use nuclear weapons for preemptive purposes.
-
U.S. pressure on Israel to comply with
international law, including scores of U.N. Security Council
resolutions demanding its withdrawal from the West Bank, including
East Jerusalem, and honoring the right of Palestinian refugees to
return to their homes. Greens have emphasized the link between
U.S. policies in Iraq and continued U.S. political and financial
support for Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.
-
Massive redirection of money now spent on
defense contracts, military programs, and the occupation of Iraq
to be spent instead on human needs, especially technology to
enable conversion away from fossil fuels and nuclear energy,
establishment of a national health insurance plan, and aid for
survivors of hurricane Katrina.
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX)
http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/
United For Peace & Justice
http://www.unitedforpeace.org
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/