PHYLLIS BENNIS
Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-editor of Beyond the Storm: A Gulf Crisis Reader, Bennis said today: “In Bush’s speech we got no doctrine, no strategy, no evidence. What we did get was a lot of Wild West rhetoric — dead or alive material. In Afghanistan, 25 percent of the people were already dependent solely on foreign-aid food, and all international workers have left because of the U.S. threats. Today, the process of starvation begins. Bush said he would use everything at the U.S.’s disposal, but apparently that doesn’t include Washington’s formidable arsenal of diplomacy — instead he outright rejected negotiations or discussions. While condemning ‘self-appointed rulers,’ Bush rallied to the defense of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt — all examples of absolute monarchies or self-perpetuating regimes.”
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G. SIMON HARAK
A Jesuit priest with the West Side Jesuit Community in New York City, Harak said today: “If we in our turn plan on militarism, vengeance, and retaliation, if we steel our spirits against the suffering which such pursuits always cause to the innocent, in short, if we turn to the tools of death, then whatever hollow triumph we may trumpet, it will have been Death alone which has won.” Harak has visited the Mideast many times, he added: “When I’ve spoken to families in Iraq who have suffered from the economic sanctions and bombings; or with Palestinian fathers and sons tortured by an Israeli government which we back — they asked me the same question people have been asking: ‘Why does America hate us?'”
ELEIZA BRAUN
A junior at George Washington University, Braun said today: “Thousands of students across the U.S. held vigils, teach-ins and rallies on Thursday as part of a national day of peace and solidarity. We are shocked and saddened by the events of last week — and are dedicated to working towards policies that do not visit such tragedy upon others throughout the world via military action.”
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MICHAEL RATNER
Vice president of the Center for Constitutional Rights and an expert on war powers, Ratner said today: “The United States should deal with the events of September 11 as criminal acts, investigate and prosecute those guilty and do so with the backing of the United Nations Security Council.”
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FRANCIS BOYLE
Professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, Boyle said today: “The United States is under an absolute obligation to resolve this dispute with Afghanistan in a peaceful manner as required by UN Charter Article 2(3) and Article 33…. Accordingly, this dispute must be resolved by invoking the 1971 Montreal Sabotage Convention and the 1997 UN International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings. Furthermore, the United States should offer to submit this entire dispute with Afghanistan to the International Court of Justice in The Hague (the so-called World Court).”
BEAU GROSSCUP
Author of The Newest Explosions of Terrorism and professor of international relations at California State University in Chico, Grosscup said today: “The Israeli model is not only ineffective in dealing with terrorism, as the track record of anti-Israeli violence shows, but is also bankrupt both politically and morally…”
For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
