Let's Move!

international | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Monday January 17, 2005 11:40 by Henk Ruyssenaars - Foreign Press Foundation fpf at chello dot nl The Netherlands

An Appeal to the Global Conscience

To those who consider the war a mistake but still fear the consequences of military withdrawal, we ask these questions: when will enough be enough? If not now, when?

GLOBAL VERSION OF 'AN APPEAL TO GLOBAL CONSCIENCE'


Mon Jan 17, 2005 - On the very professional and informative web site 'Information Clearing House' * - an 'Appeal to Global Conscience' by Alternet is published, which, centering on the US, the so called 'allies' and their illegal warfare*, makes a global version necessary.

Below is the draft by Tom Hayden*, which here is rewritten in a global perspective:

A WORLD APPEAL TO THE PEACE AND JUSTICE MOVEMENT, CALLING FOR A LONG-TERM STRATEGY FOR UNDERMINING THE FOUNDATIONS OF WAR.
 
01/17/05 - Foreign Press Foundation - This is an appeal to all peace and justice movements to stand together as a conscience of the world, against the Bush and other administration's bloody occupation of Iraq and drive towards an American Empire. We may be in for a long war. We who stand for global democracy, in the United States and all other countries, should continue and widen our protests especially at local community levels to: 
*
Oppose any further funding for war and occupation;
 
*
Develop global public support for military withdrawal;
 
*
Support global, national and local referenda on withdrawal and peace candidates in 2006 and 2008;

*
Globally build non-partisan peace alliances across all national and party lines, from left to right;

*
Support dissenting combat veterans, reservists and their families, of any nationality; 

*
Call for boycotts and termination of profiteering from war and occupation by American and all other corporations of whatever nationality or construction in Iraq;

*
Global transition from fossil fuel dependency to renewable resources, conservation and energy efficiency. 

*
A global behemoth (giant/colossus) can only be fought through global resistance, locally based in all countries. We express gratitude to all global peace movements for further advocating and activating world opinion against all forms of collaboration with the U.S. occupation, and call for further efforts, including:

*
Moral and economical support for asylum seekers in Canada and all other nations, for all soldiers who have the moral strength and decency to refuse - for reasons of conscience or otherwise - to fight in any kind of illegal wars.

*
More global demonstrations and political mobilizations against President Bush's frustrated search for 'willing', bullied and bribed 'allies', forced to kill in the inhumane US's "War OF Terrorism"

*
Continued efforts to force the withdrawal of Israeli 'torture instructors' and 'Special Forces', British, Italian, Polish, Dutch, and all other foreign troops - like the Japanese - from the illegal occupations;
 
*
Opposition to any form of participation in military training of Iraqi troops for an illegitimate U.S.-dominated or other kind of forced and illegal regime.
 
Together we can undermine the foundations of war and occupation, make it impossible for the American government to continue its course, and begin to plant the pillars of peace. 
The time has come to recognize that the violent invasions and occupations - by the U.S. and it's so called allies - is the principal cause of the violent insurgency and growing civil war.
We disagree with those who, while admitting that that the war was a mistake based on fabricated evidence, nevertheless claim it would be a bigger mistake to end the occupation and withdraw.

US AND ALLIES TORTURED

We ask the question, raised decades ago during another unwinnable war: who can justify sending more Americans - or human beings of any other nationality - to die for America's greed, lies and 'mistakes'?

And being tortured, because Bush and the neocons make Alberto R. Gonzales -- the man who 'legalized' global US-torture - it's Attorney General?

Over 40 million Americans- and globally hundreds of millions more - already say we should withdraw from this war. These are not uncaring isolationists, but thinking people who know better than to kill and die for a mistake, to throw good money after bad, and to ruin the little which is left of our good name and image in the world.
 
These tens of millions of Americans - and many more people in the rest of the 199 countries surrounding the US - are often, and through manipulation - completely unrepresented. Nor allowed to get any influence in the political process and biased c.q. brainwashing mainstream media, which are in majority owned by the same global mega-industries, which are instigating and advocating the wars.

It is time that the american - and overwhelming global - frustration of the majority who consider the US and it's 'allies' warfare a mistake, be met with more than cowardly silence in the halls of power of the bad geniuses of the so called 'New World Order'.
 
To those who say the war must continue three, five or 10 more years, we demand to know what will be left of countries like Iraq and many others they claim 'to have saved' (in order to destroy it?) or say they are in the process of 'saving'?

What loss in lives, what cost in money wasted, what level of anti-American/Israeli hatred in the world, are they willing to bear? Pretending they are Canadian or some other not-so-hated-nationality, to ensure safe passage and stay overseas?*
 
To those who consider the war a mistake but still fear the consequences of military withdrawal, we ask these questions: when will enough be enough? If not now, when?
 
We further believe the struggle to stop the occupation of Iraq is a first and essential step to unite forces against the U.S. government's and some 'allies' current political designs for global dominance.

We all oppose any ambitions anywhere to create an empire dominated by any state or states, supported by their own collaborating warmongering media and US/Israeli global networks of capitalism. Nor do we believe that the issue of terrorism can be addressed by permanent war, increased secrecy and suspensions of democratic liberties, but principally through an all-out effort to bring hope to billions of people now festering in humiliation and poverty.
 
We stand with those who believe in the reality of a multi-polar and multi-cultural world, and especially with those who believe "another, better world is possible".

Through social movements in every country - fighting for enforceable standards of human rights, fair trade, social justice and environmental protection, and for new institutions that foster a just distribution of global wealth and power and respect for the dignity of the human spirit.

The challenge - for all of us in the whole world - is to imagine, strive for, and begin to live a better life beyond an 'Empire' altogether.

[FPF-txt-HR - andend]
 
Footnotes/links:

''Look out world, here come the Americans again'': Paul Harris - Canada - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/328w2

BBC - 'The Iraq war is illegal' says UN-Annan - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/5pl2v

Pretending to be Canadians, to ensure safe passage overseas - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/45574

Tom Hayden biography - Url.: http://www.alternet.org/authors/1234/

Original 'Appeal'-text US version - Url.: http://207.44.245.159/article7701.htm

Martin Luther King's Acceptance Speech, on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Peace Peace Prize in Oslo, December 10, 1964 - Url.: http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1964/king-acceptance.html

FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
http://tinyurl.com/5uvtv
Editor : Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/5uvtv
The Netherlands
FPF@Chello.nl

The Dutch author has this far worked abroad for 4 decades for international media, as a foreign correspondent, of which 10 years - also during Gulf War I - in the Arab World and the Middle East.

Seeing worldwide that every bullet and every bomb breeds more terrorism ! ( Former) US Senator Hollings agrees: http://tinyurl.com/2ylmv

Evil triumphs when good men, women and we journalists remain silent: - http://tinyurl.com/3tgqa - Let's fight today, because tomorrow it may be too late...

Help the troops come home ! We need them badly to fight our 'governments': http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/

HR

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