Fw:WRL on Attacks

[christinekaratnytsky at juno.com]

New York, New York FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 11, 2001

Statement on September 11 Attack

As we write, Manhattan feels under siege, with all bridges,
tunnels, and subways closed, and tens of thousands of people
walking slowly north from Lower Manhattan. As we sit in our
offices here at War Resisters League, our most immediate
thoughts are of the hundreds if not thousands of New Yorkers
who have lost their lives in the collapse of the World Trade
Center. The day is clear, the sky is blue, but vast clouds
billow over the ruins where so many have died, including a
great many rescue workers who were there when the final
collapse occurred.

Of course we know that our friends and co-workers in
Washington, D.C. have similar thoughts about the ordinary
people who have been trapped in the parts of the Pentagon
which were also struck by a jet. And we think of the
innocent passengers on the hi-jacked jets who were carried
to their doom on this day.

We do not know at this time from what source the attack
came. We do know that Yasser Arafat has condemned the
bombing. We hesitate to make an extended analysis until more
information is available but some things are clear. For the
Bush Administration to talk of spending hundreds of billions
on Star Wars is clearly the sham it was from the beginning,
when terrorism can so easily strike through more routine
means.

We urge Congress and George Bush that whatever response or
policy the U.S. develops it will be clear that this nation
will no longer target civilians, or accept any policy by any
nation which targets civilians. This would mean an end to
the sanctions against Iraq, which have caused the deaths of
hundreds of thousands of civilians. It would mean not only a
condemnation of terrorism by Palestinians but also the
policy of assassination against the Palestinian leadership
by Israel, and the ruthless repression of the Palestinian
population and the continuing occupation by Israel of the
West Bank and Gaza.

The policies of militarism pursued by the United States have
resulted in millions of deaths, from the historic tragedy of
the Indochina war, through the funding of death squads in
Central America and Colombia, to the sanctions and air
strikes against Iraq. This nation is the largest supplier of
"conventional weapons" in the worldand those weapons fuel
the starkest kind of terrorism from Indonesia to Africa. The
early policy support for armed resistance in Afghanistan
resulted in the victory of the Talibanand the creation of
Osama Bin Laden.

Other nations have also engaged in these policies. We have,
in years past, condemned the actions of the Russian
government in areas such as Chechnya, the violence on both
sides in the Middle East, and in the Balkans. But our nation
must take responsibility for its own actions. Up until now
we have felt safe within our borders. To wake on a clear day
to find our largest city under siege reminds us that in a
violent world, none are safe.

Let us seek an end of the militarism that has characterized
this nation for decades. Let us seek a world in which
security is gained through disarmament, international
cooperation, and social justice not through escalation and
retaliation. We condemn without reservation attacks such as
those which occurred today, which strike at thousands of
civiliansmay these profound tragedies remind us of the
impact U.S. policies have had on other civilians in other
lands. We also condemn reflexive hostility against people of
Arab descent living in this country and urge that Americans
recall the part of our heritage that opposes bigotry in all
forms.

We are one world. We shall live in a state of fear and
terror or we shall move toward a future in which we seek
peaceful alternatives to violence, and a more just
distribution of the world's resources. As we mourn the many
lives lost, our hearts call out for reconciliation, not
revenge.


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