Greenpeace activists anchored a large banner to a boat today, reading 'When Will the U.S. Disarm? No War' and sailed it in front of the United Nations headquarters.
Greenpeace activists anchored a large banner to a boat today,
reading "When Will the US Disarm? No War", and sailed it in front
of the United Nations headquarters in New York. The protest took
place as the world prepares for leader of the United Nations
inspection team, Mr. Hans Blix, to deliver his latest inspections
report on Iraq to the Security Council, scheduled for March 7,
2003.
The floating banner was part of the international environmental
group's call for all nations, including the United States, to
disarm themselves of weapons of mass destruction through peaceful
means. This demonstration follows a series of anti-war protests led
by Greenpeace around the world including in the United Kingdom,
Australia, China, and the Netherlands.
"'When will the United States disarm?' is a question that
Americans should begin to ask their government because disarmament
must begin at home to ensure global security," said John
Passacantando, Executive Director of Greenpeace in the United
States. "If the US is truly committed to disarmament, then this
country needs to stand behind the international efforts to
eradicate weapons of mass destruction, not walk away from global
arms agreements. And the US must let the UN's inspections work to
disarm Iraq."
The United States itself pulled out of the Anti-Ballistic
Missiles (ABM) treaty in June 2002, which was considered the
foundation of global arms control and disarmament. In addition,
arms control advocates say the Bush administration is exploring a
new class of bunker-busting nuclear bombs and threatening nuclear
retaliation for a chemical or biological weapons attack. (Reuters,
February 25, 2003).
"There is no justification for violence against Iraq," continued
Passacantando. "If the United States is motivated by Iraq's oil
reserves then the solution is to reduce our dependence on oil
through the development and use of clean energy, such as hydrogen,
wind and solar energies. If the United States'motivation is to
disarm Iraq, then the US must work for peaceful disarmament, and
disarm at home as well. The world needs the US to recommit itself
to global arms control and peaceful disarmament to promote real
global security."
Greenpeace advocates global disarmament through peaceful means
and has challenged the testing and proliferation of nuclear weapons
around the world since its founding in 1971. The international
environmental organization is opposed to all wars, including a war
in Iraq because, as well as tragic loss of life, war causes
environmental degradation and pollution and can lead to the use of
weapons of mass destruction.