CoDE PINK DISRUPTS RUMSFELD

[Chris Brady <cdbrady@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

CoDE PINK ACTIVISTS DISRUPT RUMSFELD SPEECH AT DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
CONFERENCE

by Code Pink
Email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Phone: (202) 393-5016

September 26 2003

Washington, DC - Code Pink activists confronted Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld tonight, as he delivered a speech to over 500 members of
the armed forces, academics and representatives of corporate interests
during a dinner at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade
Center.

Rumsfeld was a keynote speaker at the dinner, marking the 2003 Dwight D.
Eisenhower National Security Conference (September 25-26). The
conference is the culmination of the annual Dwight D. Eisenhower
National Security Series. The theme of this year?s series and conference
is National Security for the 21st Century - National Power in an
Unpredictable World. According to the conference website, this year?s
conference will explore the evolution of national power and its role in
the world. (For more information see: http://www.eisenhowerseries.com)

In the middle of Rumsfeld?s speech, two Code Pink Activists hung a
?RUMSFELD, RESIGN!? poster off the balcony to the right of Rumsfeld and
then addressed him directly, invoking a timeless warning of
Eisenhower?s. Rumsfeld, taken totally off guard, stopped talking and
looked up.

?Excuse me Mr. Rumsfeld,? the first activist began, ?but in his farewell
to the nation in 1960, Eisenhower warned against acquisition of
unwarranted influence by the military industrial complex. He foresaw the
potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power, and we have seen
his dire prediction come true in the current administration...?

Then, speaking down to Rumsfeld and an entirely silent and attentive
audience, the second Code Pink Activist recited loudly Dwight D.
Eisenhower?s exact words:

?We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether
sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential
for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.?

The Code Pink activists then quoted a different speech of Eisenhower?s:

?Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired
signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not
fed...?

As the Code Pink activists were being escorted away by the officers of
the federal protective service and secret service, they called on
Rumsfeld to resign.



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