Antiwar progressives now find themselves put in the uncomfortable position of
combatting disinformation about Iran originating from pro-war forces while
defending themselves from the accusation that they have become apologists for a repressive theocratic regime. An impressive list of progressive leaders has come up with a solution: a strong antiwar statement that condemns Iran's human rights abuses while insisting that U. S. and other nations employ only peaceful means to encourage change.
The details and how you can join the effort after the break.
The Campaign for Peace and Democracy, an ad hoc group of progressives concerned about the Bush administration's runup to war, has begun a petition that includes both a call for peace and a frank discussion of Iran's human rights abuses. Well-known signatories include Noam Chomsky, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Cornell West and Howard Zinn.
The statement strongly condemns the Bush administration's manipulations aimed at excusing another agressive, illegal war:
Just as it did before its invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration is manufacturing a climate of fear in order to prepare public opinion for another act of aggression -- this time against Iran. Three years ago it was the specter of Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction; today it's the threat of a possible Iranian nuclear bomb. Washington's immediate goal is to get the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran and, in all probability, to justify a military attack on Tehran's nuclear facilities -- a job that may be outsourced to Israel. The White House even insists on keeping the catastrophic "nuclear option" on the table -- that is, using tactical nuclear weapons to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, many of which are located in or near civilian population centers. Although a full-scale invasion of Iran is highly unlikely at the moment, there can be little doubt that the neoconservatives in the Bush administration have a grand strategy that includes, eventually, "regime change" in Tehran as a way of further enlarging U.S. imperial power.
The petition also criticizes repressive Iranian policies like these:
Iranian women lack some of the most basic human rights. They cannot dress, work, travel or choose spouses freely. "Honor killing" is legal, and by law women can be hanged or stoned to death for "unchaste behavior." Millions of Iranian women find ways to at least partly circumvent these restrictions, and relatively few suffer the most extreme penalties. Women vote and sit in parliament, and there are significant numbers of women both in university and at the workplace. But the fact remains that there are few countries in the world where women face legal handicaps as severe as those in Iran.
The Iran government's policies oppressing gays and trade unions are also condemned.
The statement urges "a new democratic U. S. foreign policy" that would encourage positive change in Iran without violence or violation of sovereignty. This new approach would embody these principles:
- Renouncing the use of military intervention to extend and consolidate U.S. imperial power, and withdrawing U.S. troops and bases from the Middle East.
- Ending U.S. support for authoritarian and corrupt regimes, e.g. Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and Egypt.
- Opposing all forms of terrorism worldwide -- by Al Qaeda, Iraqi death squads, and Palestinian suicide bombers, and by U.S.-backed forces like the Colombian paramilitaries and the Israeli military in the Occupied Territories -- as well as the brutality and humiliation inflicted on Iraqis every day by U.S. occupation forces and Washington's ominous threats against Iran.
- Supporting the right of national self-determination for all peoples in the Middle East, including the Kurds, Palestinians and Israeli Jews. Ending support for Israeli occupation of the West Bank and oppression of the Palestinian people.
- Taking unilateral steps toward renouncing weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, and vigorously promoting international disarmament treaties, instead of obstructing even minimal efforts to end the arms race.
- Abandoning the effort to impose, through the IMF/World Bank or unilaterally, neoliberal economic policies of privatization and austerity that bring mass misery to people in large parts of the world. Initiating a major foreign aid program directed at popular rather than corporate needs.
The Campaign for Peace and Democracy has come together before to issue statements about Iraq and Cuba that were published in national print media including the New York Times and the Nation.
Tikkun's website (Rabbi Lerner is the editor) had this to say about the statement:
The statement above, signed by Rabbi Lerner, does not represent the full position of the Network of Spiritual Progressives. It ignores the need for a Global Marshall Plan to end global hunger, poverty, inadeaquate health care and inadequate education. It does n ot focus on the need for a strategy of GENEROSITY but instead thinks taht a "democratic US foreing policy" would be enough. Nevertheless, Rabbi Lerner signed on to it because it represents an attempt to at least clarify why progressives should oppose a US attack on Iran which may happen between now and the end of the year. Sometimes to form alliances it makes sense to sign on to statements that don't fully express your own thoughts if the demands are ones you agree with.
If you would like to add your name to the statement or donate money so that it can be published in print media, you can go here.