FW: Military Options: Where Would They Lead?

["michael pugliese" <debsian@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>--- Original Message ---
>From: Institute for Public Accuracy <instpa@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: institute@xxxxxxx
>Date: 9/19/01 4:01:09 PM
>

>Institute for Public Accuracy
>915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
>(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>___________________________________________________
>
>         PM Wednesday, September 19, 2001
>
>         Interviews Available
>
>         Military Options: Where Would They Lead?
>
>AS'AD ABUKHALIL, abukhali@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Associate professor of political science at California State
University at
>Stanislaus and fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
at the
>University of California at Berkeley, AbuKhalil is author of
the article
>"Islam and the Study of Central Asia." He said today: "Learning
about Islam
>is not terribly instructive here, just as Christian theology
is not a good
>framework to explain David Koresh. Non-religious political factors
are
>involved.... There are up to 3 million refugees in Afghanistan
and they are
>basically forced to stay there while they may be bombed. The
Afghani
>people, despite their ethnic divisions, historically always
rally against
>outside aggressors. The Afghani people and fellow Muslims would
find any
>punishment of the people and the country as unfair and unjust.
After all,
>the Taliban were not voted in with free elections, but were
thrust on the
>country due to direct Pakistani military and intelligence support,
with
>tacit U.S. agreement."
>
>JAY TRUMAN, hermit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, http://www.downwinders.org
>Truman grew up in Southern Utah, where he watched mushroom clouds
rise from
>the Nevada Test Site. Today, as director of the Downwinders
organization,
>he is one of the nation's foremost authorities on nuclear weapons
policy.
>He said today: "Rumsfeld declined to answer whether the U.S.
would rule out
>the use of nuclear weapons. Rumsfeld's assistant, Paul Wolfowitz,
has
>stated that the Pentagon is poised to unleash 'a very big hammer.'
The
>administration could be angling to use earth-penetrating nuclear
weapons,
>which they were already planning to test. Contrary to the administration

>claims that these weapons are almost surgically clean, these
weapons are
>incredibly 'dirty'; by their very nature they will produce a
great deal of
>intensive local radiation and massive widespread fallout for
hundreds of
>miles, as tests of similar cratering devices in Nevada have
already shown."
>
>WILLIAM HARTUNG, hartung@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
>http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms
>Hartung is senior research fellow at the World Policy Institute
and
>co-author of "Toward a New Nuclear Posture: Challenges for the
Bush
>Administration" and "Tangled Web: The Marketing of Missile Defense,

>1994-2000." He said today: "It certainly seems as if these attacks
are
>being used as an excuse by the military and the political right
to
>basically take all their pet projects ... and label them 'anti-terrorist.'

>In the name of 'national unity,' the Democrats have for the
most part
>agreed to roll over and give the president anything he asks
for in the
>military and intelligence spheres -- hardly a sterling example
of democracy
>at work. The $20 billion increase for the Pentagon was rubber-stamped

>without debate, or even an outline of how the funds might be
spent. Before
>this increase, our military budget was already $343 billion
-- at Cold War
>levels."
>
>ROBERT JENSEN, rjensen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, http://www.nowarcollective.com,

>http://www.commondreams.org,
>http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/%7Erjensen/freelance/freelance.htm
>Author of the forthcoming book "Writing Dissent" and an associate
professor
>at the University of Texas at Austin, Jensen is among activists
who are
>planning nationwide gatherings to begin Sunday. He said today:
"The
>resistance to hyper-aggressive U.S. plans is deepening. In five
days I have
>received 1,200 personal email messages and calls in response
to my writing,
>which argues for the Bush administration to drop its belligerent
stance.
>The majority of these people are terrified of what the U.S.
is planning and
>desperate for a solution based on justice, not retribution and
power
>politics. The notion that Americans all have a blood lust is
simply not true."
>
>For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
>Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
>
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