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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12227340&method=full&siteid=50143 The Mirror September 25, 2002 WE PLOT WAR WHILE INNOCENTS STARVE Tony Benn on why we cannot ignore civilian lives that will be lost THE Prime Minister took this country a step nearer war in the House of Commons yesterday and tried to win support for it by publishing a dossier which he believed would back up his case. But this dossier - produced only hours before the debate - made it quite impossible for MPs to assess its value, and, to add insult to injury, the Government made it impossible for a vote to be taken at the end of the day for fear it might reveal the number of members who want peace and not war. MPs heard the Prime Minister almost in silence and most people there knew perfectly well that this was all laid on to persuade Britain to support President Bush in his determination to make war whatever the United Nations might say. The dossier itself made no suggestion whatever that Saddam Hussein had had anything whatever to do with the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, for the very good reason that this was the work of the al-Qaeda network which Saddam hates. Nor did it give us an accurate account of the history of Iraq's chemical and other weapons, because it was the Americans who supplied many of them, as when Donald Rumsfeld visited Saddam Hussein in 1983 Iraq was fighting Iran with full support from Washington and London. But the most important thing that Tony Blair left out was his attitude to George Bush's announcement last week that in future the USA would feel free to attack any nation which it regarded as hostile and which possessed weapons of war. The policy of pre-emptive action tears up the Charter of the United Nations and takes the world back to the jungle with no international law to help us sort out our differences. Since 1945, the United States, which has by far the biggest arsenal of weapons that the world has ever known, has bombed 19 countries, has bases in almost 100 others and Bush has published a list of nations which he has described as being part of an Axis of Evil - any one of which he claims he has the right to attack. What I find most frightening is the massive media build-up to war, especially on TV, where a parade of so-called experts are lined up almost every day to put the case for war and brainwash us into believing that it is inevitable. Everyone in Britain must know now that the real issue is not Saddam and his weapons but America's need for oil and its determination to gain and keep control of the major oil-producing countries such as Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia. The number of world leaders who oppose this war is truly impressive. They include Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, just re-elected in Germany on an anti-war programme, and Al Gore who served as vice-president under Bill Clinton in America and has now spoken out for caution, like many of his fellow Americans who share our own concerns. There are also other issues affecting Iraq because the sanctions imposed after the Gulf War have cost the lives of 500,000 children, according to UN estimates, and the bombing that has been going on has damaged the water supply and other essential services which has caused widespread disease. ALL this has actually strengthened Saddam in Iraq as any nation attacked from outside will rally round its leader as members of all political parties did around Winston Churchill in the blitz on London in 1940. Eighteen thousand children die every day of starvation and it should come as no surprise that millions and millions of people worldwide desperately want the money wasted on war, which it is estimated will come to �2billion, to be re-directed to meet their own urgent need for food and shelter, health care and schools - which could be done. What is really wanted is a United Nations Peace Conference dealing with all the many problems in the Middle East including Iraq but covering the tragedy surrounding both Israel and Palestine, where Sharon - who possesses even more weapons of mass destruction, including an atom bomb - is also defying UN resolutions by denying the Palestinians a homeland of their own, occupying their own territory and feeling free to invade the Lebanon. On Saturday afternoon, there is a huge peace demonstration in London marching at 12.30pm from the Embankment to Hyde Park and I hope everyone who possibly can come will do so. We must stop this war and save the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people - men, women and children, who will die in the next few months if Bush and Blair get their way. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
