US Warships Nearing Iran May Ignite Global War, Warn Greens

Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

September 27, 2006

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org 
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@greens.org 

U.S. warships nearing Iran may provoke a global conflict, warn Greens

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party candidates and leaders alleged that the Bush Administration may be trying to provoke a confrontation after the nuclear aircraft carrier Eisenhower and other warships were ordered to head to Iran. Greens warned that such a confrontation may spark a wider regional or global conflict.

"A military assault on Iran will backfire even worse than the Iraq invasion," said Chris Lugo, Tennessee candidate for the U.S. Senate <http://www.chris4senate.com>. "An attack will inflame Middle East rage against the U.S., create new security problems, anger and alienate U.S. allies who already blame President Bush for the growing Iraqi civil war and widespread death and ruin in Iraq, and may lead to a global conflagration."

"A classified U.S. intelligence paper recently confirmed what Greens and other opponents of the war have been saying, that the invasion and occupation of Iraq have provoked Islamic radicalism and led to a greater threat of terrorism. If U.S. warships launch an attack on Iran, it'll be seen in the Middle East as a declaration of war on the whole Muslim world," Mr. Lugo added.

The Bush Administration bases its threats on Iran's alleged desire for nuclear weapons, but Greens note that the White House has not objected to the equally dangerous nuclear arsenals of Israel, Pakistan, and India, and has even promoted nuclear deals with Pakistan and India.

"If Mr. Bush were serious about discouraging Iran from its purported nuclear ambitions, he would take steps to ensure a nuke-free Middle East, beginning with pressure on Israel to get rid of its nuclear weapons," said Carol Brouillet, Green candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in California's 14th District <http://www.carolforcongress.org>. "He would also press for nuclear disarmament of India and Pakistan and other U.S. allies, while rejoining the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and eliminating American nuclear weapons." 

Policy analysts from various political backgrounds who spoke on a Green Institute panel in Washington, D.C. on September 20 agreed that the Bush Administration's entire Middle East policy has been a disaster both to homeland security and to prospects for peace in the Middle East ("Analysis: Mideast woes alarm U.S. experts", UPI, September 21, 2006 <http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060921-022118-2810r>).

Greens listed several Bush Administration policies and actions that may lead to a global conflict:

• The U.S.-Iran standoff on Iran's nuclear capabilities and increasing likelihood of a U.S. attack.

• The build-up of nuclear arsenals in Israel, Pakistan, and India.

• International anger over deteriorating conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan as a result of U.S. invasion and occupation, and the refusal of the Bush Administration to consider a plan for withdrawal. The Green Party has called for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and has sharply criticized Democrats and Republicans who have called for continued occupation or delayed withdrawal.

• The U.S. role in Israel's invasion of Lebanon this past summer, which resulted in hundreds of Lebanese civilians deaths.

• U.S. support for Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian territories; Palestinians living in Gaza, suffering economic strangulation, Israeli military incursion, and daily killing and maiming of civilians, now live in siege conditions.

• Anger at abuses in U.S. detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and secret locations, especially torture and detention without due process of terror suspects (many of whom have been later revealed to be innocent) in violation of the Geneva Conventions. The recent deal brokered by the White House and congressional Republicans allows torture to continue in secret at the President's discretion.

"We in the Green Party are concerned about inequality for women and human rights violations in Iran and other theocratic countries, but attacking Iran will not help the victims of such abuses," said Kathleen Culver, Green candidate for Congress in Tennessee's 7th District. "American bombs don't liberate, they kill. Furthermore, a U.S. attack will give theocratic rulers greater power as the people of Iran and other Middle Eastern nations rally in Iran's defense. Nor can we ignore the fact that human rights abuses are equal or worse in some governments favored by the Bush Administration, especially oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Equatorial Guinea."

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 campaign listings, news, photos, and web sites http://www.gp.org/2006elections 
Database of 2006 Green candidates http://www.greens.org/elections 
Video clips of Green candidates http://www.gp.org/2006elections/media.shtml 
Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml 

The Green Institute: Nonpartisan center for research and policy based on the global values of the Green movement: nonviolence, grassroots democracy, social justice and sustainability
http://www.greeninstitute.net/subpages/Home.asp 

"War Signals?"
By Dave Lindorff, The Nation, September 21, 2006
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061009/lindorff