{news} GP RELEASE: US warships nearing Iran may ignite global war, warn Greens

[Justine McCabe]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805,
starlene at 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
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
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


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