FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 9, 2002

Security Council Capitulates to Intense U.S. Pressure, Passes Resolution Setting stage for New U.S. War Against Iraq.

"Now Only the People Can Stop the War," Says Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark

Global People's Anti-War Referendum  www.VOTENOWAR.ORG  Aims to Collect Millions of Votes Against U.S. Invasion of Iraq

A.N.S.W.E.R. Act Now to Stop War & End Racism Coalition Calls for Mass March & People's Peace Congress in Washington DC, Martin Luther King Weekend, Jan. 18-20

After seven weeks of intense U.S. pressure, the UN Security Council passed a resolution on Nov. 8 which sets the stage for a new U.S. war against Iraq.

"The Security Council resolution was achieved only through the heavy application of U.S. power against the other countries on the council," said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the International A.N.S.W.E.R. Act Now to Stop War & End Racism Coalition's national steering committee. "We do not yet know all the details about the behind-the-scenes deals that were cut or the threats and bribes offered to other members of the Security Council by the representatives of the world's lone superpower. But there can be no doubt that every lever of power was used by Washington to gain its desired results."

"The Bush administration is not really interested in Iraq's much exaggerated weaponry," said Richard Becker of the San Francisco A.N.S.W.E.R. chapter. "The resolution was written in such a way to make it impossible for Iraq to both comply and retain its sovereignty as an independent country."

 "What the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld 'axis of oil' is seeking is the takeover of Iraq's rich petroleum fields," said Becker. "Washington's intention is to recolonize Iraq and turn its oil over to U.S. companies (with France, Britain and others cut in as junior partners). If they succeed, the U.S. stranglehold on the entire region which holds two-thirds of the world's oil reserves  would be immensely strengthened."

Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General, responded to the event of recent days with a statement that read in part:

"Two events leave popular action the only recourse for peace. The November 5 elections showed most people did not see a choice worth voting for. They saw that incumbency and wealth — which wants war — decide who wins.  The will of the people was nowhere to be seen. The media, which is the voice of those in power, rushed to promote the White House proclamation that the vote was a mandate for war. We know that is a lie.

"We participated in the Washington D.C. demonstration on Oct. 26, which was so vast that as the front of the march completed encircling the White House, it met the last quarter of the march that had not begun moving toward the White House. People filled Washington's wide boulevards and sidewalks shoulder-to-shoulder for 25 city blocks, over two miles.

"On Nov. 8, after two months of threats and bullying, the UN Security Council passed a draconian inspections resolution that will give President Bush a pretext for war  unless we stop him. It allows inspectors to remove any Iraqi from the country for questioning. Immediate demand could be made to interview Saddam Hussein and Iraq's generals at U.S. prisons in Guantanamo, Cuba or even Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Imagine the U.S. agreeing to allow its officials to be abducted by a foreign power!"

The International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, which organized the mass marches of 200,000 in Washington DC and 100,000 in San Francisco on Oct. 26, has called for intensified efforts to stop the war. "In response to the UN Security Council vote, we are globalizing the People's Anti-War Referendum (www.votenowar.org)," said New York City A.N.S.W.E.R. spokesperson Larry Holmes. "We know that the vast majority of people in the world are opposed to a new war against Iraq. We urge everyone who is against the war to register their opposition at the www.votenowar.org web site, and to circulate the referendum to their neighbors, co-workers and fellow students."

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is calling for a massive march and rally and a People's Peace Congress in Washington DC during the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, Jan. 18-20, 2003. "There is no better way to honor the memory of Dr. King than to take a stand against war and racism on a holiday commemorating his life," said Holmes.

For more information or to interview an A.N.S.W.E.R. spokesperson, call 202-332-5757 in Washington; 212-633-6646 in New York; 415-821-6545 in San Francisco.

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