Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- >From: "Andrew Lichterman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Abolition USA (E-mail)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "ANA Full >(E-mail)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Abolition Caucus (E-mail)" ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [abolition-caucus] Dellums backs Lee vote against armed force >Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 11:59:45 -0700 > > Oakland Tribune Tuesday September 18 2001 > > Dellums backs Lee vote against armed force > By Lisa Friedman > WASHINGTON BUREAU > WASHINGTON -- Former Oakland congressman Ron Dellums was >watching > television with his wife, witnessing endless footage of the >attacks > Sept. 11 at the Pentagon and World Trade Center and its >aftermath of > grief and twisted metal, when he learned Congress would be >asked >to > approve a declaration of war. > "How would you vote on that?" Dellums said his wife asked. > "I looked at her and I said, 'I would vote no,'" he answered. > It was a gut response, born out of a lifetime of conviction >that >war > is a statement of desperation. Yet days later, after long >hours >of > introspection, Dellums said he believes his instinct was >right, >and > that that his faith in nonviolence is as strong now as it ever >was. > "It's during these moments of fear and anxiety and pain that >your > belief system is tested to the limit," Dellums said during a > 75-minute telephone conversation Sunday. But, he said, "The >peace > movement is not just something you name yourself. It's a way >of > thinking. > "It is not an accident that the Gandhis and the Kings and the > Mandelas of the world are a very small group. It takes courage >to > find another way to deal with these problems." > For many in Oakland and the Bay Area, the name Ron Dellums is > synonymous with opposition to war. His election to the U.S. >House as > an East Bay representative in 1970 came on an anti-Vietnam >platform. > National news reports screamed, "Afro-topped, bell-bottomed >radical > black man from Berkeley wins election!" > He left office nearly 30 years later, an expert in national > security, having earned the respect of his ideological foes, >and > having voted against every use of military force from Vietnam >to > Operation Desert Storm. > Dellums retired from public life in 1998 and now runs >Healthcare > International Management Co., a company that provides health > services in poor countries. Never one to court media attention >even > while in office, Dellums is these days more guarded than ever >of >his > privacy. He spoke to The Oakland Tribune this weekend because, >he > said, "now the drums of war are beating very loudly." > Ever since the first hijacked airplane struck the World Trade >Center > at 12 minutes before 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dellums said he has been >trying > to sort out his own conflicting feelings. > "Here we are as a people having experienced this incredibly >awful > thing, and we simultaneously feel pain, we feel sorrow, we >feel > anger ... and, if the truth be told, high anxiety and a great >amount > of fear," he said. > "Suddenly any act of violence is very possible any time and > anywhere. In many ways, America has been changed forever." > That, Dellums said, is precisely why he believes the president >and > Congress should not rush to vengeance. > "I have to hope, and I've been hoping every day, that what >happened > on Tuesday has not already set in motion events that will send >us > down the spiral of darkness. > "The American people need to feel, mourn the pain," Dellums >said. > "This is a very frightening and dangerous moment. This is not >the > time for us to make a decision about war and vengeance. We >live >in a > society of immediateness and quickness and 'let's block out >these > feelings.' Rational thought is not the order of the day. > "This is not the end. It's frightening to even contemplate >where > this can go. So, it behooves us to pause. ... I'm not sure if >we >as > a people have grappled with what it means to go to war in the >21st > Century," he said. > He may be right. Yet according to the latest CBS/New York >Times > poll, 85 percent of Americans are willing to find out. > According to the same poll, 68 percent of the country wants to >take > military action against those responsible for the attacks even >if it > means innocent people will be killed, and 60 percent said the >United > States should go to war even if "thousands" of innocent >civilians > are killed. > President Bush has spent the past few days preparing America >for >war > in no uncertain terms, declaring, "My message is for everybody >who > wears the uniform: Get ready." > Dellums said he is still praying that the country can find >another > way. > "War is just a statement that we have lost control. It's a >statement > of desperation. We've got to reach in and figure out, 'How do >we > overcome the desperation?' > "There has to be a better way than killing and dying and more > killing and more dying," he said. "It's not going to bring >back >this > incredible loss of life that we've had." > Congress did vote on the war resolution, a bill that >authorized > President Bush to use whatever military force necessary to >respond > to Tuesday's terrorist attacks. The House passed the >resolution >late > Friday by a vote of 420-1. > The lone dissenting vote belonged to Dellum's successor, Rep. > Barbara Lee. > Lee, Dellums said, came to her decision by her own path. He >said >he > is troubled by some of the visceral reactions to her decision, >the > callers to talk shows who call Lee a "national embarrassment," > "un-American" and worse. > "What are we defending if we're not defending the principle of > honest dissent in the marketplace of ideas?" Dellums asked. "I >think > people need to applaud courage in a moment when someone is >willing > to stand up against the tide. We have to care about the fact >that > > few people along the way have a different perspective. ... >What > could be more American?" > >1999-2001 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers > >Andrew Lichterman >Program Director >Western States Legal Foundation >1504 Franklin St. Suite 202 >Oakland, CA 94612 >USA > >phone: +1 (510) 839-5877 >fax: +1 (510) 839-5397 >web site: www.wslfweb.org >To subscribe to the Abolition Global Caucus, send an email from the account >you wish to be subscribed to: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" > > >Do not include a subject line or any text in the body of the message. =================== + =================== _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
