{news} GP RELEASE Greens: US aid to Israel + threat to Iran = next US military disaster

[Justine McCabe]

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

For Immediate Release:
Monday, October 8, 2007

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


New US military aid to Israel and the Lieberman-Kyl amendment bring the US 
closer to war with Iran, say Greens

. Greens: Bush has no credibility on Iran, but Democrats and Republicans are 
lining up behind Bush's next military disaster


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders strongly cautioned that the 
combination of a $30 billion military aid package for Israel and growing 
threat of a US or US-backed Israeli attack on Iran could trigger a major 
regional conflagration in the Middle East.

"There's little doubt that the $30 billion in US taxpayers money sent to 
Israel will be used for two things: to maintain Israel's illegal and 
murderous military occupation of Palestinian lands, and to prepare for a 
military assault on Iran," said Paul "zool" Zulkowitz, a member of the Green 
Party's Peace Action Committee (GPAX).  "The new military aid for Israel and 
the Lieberman-Kyl amendment, passed on September 26 with strong bipartisan 
support, have brought the the US closer to war with Iran."

Greens stressed that White House claims that Iran is assisting Shiite 
militias in Iraq and plans to produce nuclear weapons for possible use 
against Israel or western nations have been contested.  Iran has denied such 
intentions; Greens noted that such use would amount to suicide for Iran.

"The Bush Administration, after its deceptive rationales for invading Iraq, 
should have no credibility on Iran or any other foreign policy," said 
Justine McCabe, Connecticut Green and co-chair of the party's International 
Committee.  "Unfortunately, Democrats -- especially presidential candidates 
like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- have signed on to the 
AIPAC-Neocon-Republican line that an attack on Iran is 'not off the table.'  
If a global war starts because Bush ordered an attack, it'll be a bipartisan 
disaster, like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the continuing Middle East 
crisis."

In one scenario, confirmed by Newsweek, Vice President Cheney considered 
asking Israel to launch a missile attack either on a nuclear power site in 
Natanz, Iran, or on an alleged Syrian-Iranian-North Korean nuclear 
installation in northern Syria, which might result in a retaliatory strike 
that would motivate a larger US military assault on Iran.  Israel has 
already launched an air strike on the suspected Syrian site in September.

"The Lieberman-Kyl amendment designates Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as 
a 'foreign terrorist organization.'  The amendment makes the Iran military a 
target in President Bush's 'war on terror.'  This is a major step towards a 
military confrontation with Iran, whether the attack comes from the US or 
Israel or both," said John V. Walsh, delegate from the Massachusetts 
Green-Rainbow Party to the Green Party's National Committee.

The Green Party has called for an international effort towards nuclear 
disarmament of all Middle Eastern and western Asian nations, including 
Israel and Pakistan, which are known to possess nuclear weapons, as part of 
a greater global nuclear disarmament project.  Greens have called the Bush 
Administration hypocritical for condemning Iran while expanding US nuclear 
weapons programs and after removing the US from antinuclear treaties.  The 
party has called for the US to rejoin the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, 
ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and eliminate American nuclear 
weapons.  Greens have also accused the Bush Administration of squandering 
pro-US sentiment that exists among many Iranians in its attempt to vilify 
their country.

The Green Party has sharply criticized both Democrats and Republicans for 
maintaining support for Israel's six-decades-long violations of civilian 
human rights and bowing to the demands of AIPAC and certain Christian 
rightwing lobbies that the US endorse the Israeli government's military 
ambitions and ethnic policies.  (Israel has placed the Gaza Strip under 
siege and threatens to cut off water and fuel supplies, to punish civilians 
over rocket attacks launched by militias.)

The Green Party calls for negotiation by both sides in the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict; a cut-off in US military aid to Israel; and an 
economic boycott of Israel until the latter recognizes full human rights, 
including the right of return for Palestinians and abolition of internal 
apartheid laws.  Greens have called for support for Israeli and Palestinian 
groups seeking peaceful resolution, observance of human rights, and a halt 
to all violence and coercion directed against civilians.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
. Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
. Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
. 2007 national Green Party meeting in Reading, Pa.: video footage, blog and 
media coverage http://www.gp.org/meeting2007/

Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX) http://www.gp.org/committees/peace
GPAX Blog http://gpax.wordpress.com

International Committee of the Green Party 
http://www.gp.org/committees/intl/


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