Posted on 09/22/2001 11:49:03 AM PDT by Irma
Celebrities, Activists Say No To WarEducation/Discussion Purposes Only(CNSNews.com) - A coalition of Hollywood celebrities, left-wing groups and pacifists are calling on the United States and President Bush to suspend any planned military response to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
As U.S. warships and planes head to the Middle East under Operation Infinite Justice, many who have traditionally preached non-violence are voicing concern about the use of military force.
Hollywood celebrities Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover have signed a petition entitled "Justice Not Vengeance," sponsored by the left-leaning think tank the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).
In the petition, they state: "We foresee that a military response would not end the terror." The petition warns of "escalating violence" and "new acts of terrorism" if the U.S. uses military force.
Eric Leaver, the project associate at IPS, said Bush has been "war mongering" since the September 11 attacks. He particularly faults Bush for stating the fight is between "good and evil."
"That again comes from the vantage point of the U.S. being the good force in the world," said Leaver. "It's a very U.S. centric position. I am sure that many other countries in the rest of the world would take exception to that."
The Progressive Magazine, a long time voice for pacifist policies, has also joined the call for a peaceful response to the largest act of terrorism in U.S. history.
"Violence is not the answer. It will water the roots of terrorism," stated Matthew Rothschild, the editor of the magazine.
While he expresses sympathy for the victims and their families, Rothschild accused the media of "serving as a drum and bugle boy for the Pentagon."
"They have quickly suspended all the veneer of objectivity ... and they have put on their red, white and blue and are cheering America into war," he argued.
Alternative Solutions Proposed
Leaver of IPS believes that if the U.S. does undertake military action, it should only be done with the permission of an international body.
"I think we should look through ways of using the United Nations to try to help us to authorize a strike, if that's what's needed," he explained.
In Leaver's mind, the U.S. would be justified in using a "minimum" amount of force to capture international terrorist Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the terrorist attack, only if all diplomatic options failed.
Rothschild of The Progressive maintains that the US should only "apply maximum diplomatic pressure to extradite" bin Laden.
"If that fails, the international anti-crime agencies should try to find him and bring him to a court of justice. Interpol is designed to track down these people who are wanted in every country," he said.
Throwbacks to a Bygone Era
Frank Gaffney, a leading national security analyst and president of the Center For Security Policy, thinks much of this sentiment is "a throwback to the Vietnam War era and the sort of counterculture that hated America."
"It has been actively promoted by the left in our academic institutions and the media and many other influence-shaping operations around the country," Gaffney said.
He rejects the notion that the no distinctions can be made between the U.S. and terrorist actions. "To endorse it is to suggest that the U.S. was wrong in trying to terminate WWII without further loss of life, and that the U.S. was wrong to oppose totalitarian communism in places like Vietnam," Gaffney said.
As for economically aiding the Middle East to eliminate the root causes of terrorism, he said, "it's laughable that people think that improving the quality of life of the people would make any difference in what the leadership does, let alone end the problem that the leadership poses toward us."
Gaffney also dismissed calls for an international court to bring bin Laden to justice, saying, "This isn't just a criminal act. This is an act of war.
who f*&%^g cares
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