OntheWilderSide

New US military aid to Israel and the Lieberman-Kyl amendment bring the US closer to war with Iran, say Greens

Green Party: Bush has no credibility on Iran, but Democrats and Republicans are lining up behind Bush’s next military disaster

Green Party leaders strongly cautioned that the combination of a $30 billion military aid package for Israel and growing threat of a US or US-backed Israeli attack on Iran could trigger a major regional conflagration in the Middle East.

“The new military aid for Israel and the Lieberman-Kyl amendment, passed on September 26 with strong bipartisan support, have brought the the US closer to war with Iran,”  said Paul Zulkowitz, a member of the Green Party’s Peace Action Committee (GPAX).

“The Bush Administration, after its deceptive rationales for invading Iraq, should have no credibility on Iran or any other foreign policy,” said Justine McCabe, Connecticut Green and co-chair of the party’s International Committee. “Unfortunately, Democrats — especially presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama — have signed on to the AIPAC-Neocon-Republican line that an attack on Iran is ‘not off the table.’ If a global war starts because Bush ordered an attack, it’ll be a bipartisan disaster, like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the continuing Middle East crisis.”

In one scenario, confirmed by Newsweek, Vice President Cheney considered asking Israel to launch a missile attack either on a nuclear power site in Natanz, Iran, or on an alleged Syrian-Iranian-North Korean nuclear installation in northern Syria, which might result in a retaliatory strike that would motivate a larger US military assault on Iran. Israel has already launched an air strike on the suspected Syrian site in September.

“The Lieberman-Kyl amendment designates Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a ‘foreign terrorist organization.’ The amendment makes the Iran military a target in President Bush’s ‘war on terror.’ This is a major step towards a military confrontation with Iran, whether the attack comes from the US or Israel or both,” said John V. Walsh, delegate from the Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party to the Green Party’s National Committee.

The Green Party has called for an international effort towards nuclear disarmament of all Middle Eastern and western Asian nations, including Israel and Pakistan, which are known to possess nuclear weapons, as part of a greater global nuclear disarmament project. Greens have called the Bush Administration hypocritical for condemning Iran while expanding US nuclear weapons programs and after removing the US from antinuclear treaties. The party has called for the US to rejoin the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and eliminate American nuclear weapons. Greens have also accused the Bush Administration of squandering pro-US sentiment that exists among many Iranians in its attempt to vilify their country.

The Green Party has sharply criticized both Democrats and Republicans for maintaining support for Israel’s six-decades-long violations of civilian human rights.  Recently, Israel has placed the Gaza Strip under siege and threatens to cut off water and fuel supplies, to punish civilians over rocket attacks launched by militias.

The Green Party calls for negotiation by both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; a cut-off in US military aid to Israel; and an economic boycott of Israel until the latter recognizes full human rights, including the right of return for Palestinians and abolition of internal apartheid laws. Greens have called for support for Israeli and Palestinian groups seeking peaceful resolution, observance of human rights, and a halt to all violence and coercion directed against civilians.

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