Green Party Watch

From the Green Party of the United States:

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party candidates and leaders said today that the US must avoid a military confrontation with Iran by diplomacy based on the goal of ridding the Middle East and Asia of nuclear weapons, including Israel, Pakistan, and India.

The Green Party strongly opposes a military attack on Iran, a country that poses no threat to the US. Greens compared the deceptive rhetoric now being used to vilify Iran with the Bush Administration’s fraudulent justifications for a war on Iraq nearly ten years ago, with unconfirmed allegations about Iran’s plans for nuclear arms taking the place of Iraqi WMDs.

On Tuesday, Jan. 24, the Green Party’s presidential contenders will discuss foreign policy and other topics in a live online chat with viewer participation during President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address, to be aired on the Green Party’s Livestream channel (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=471).

Jill Stein, candidate for the Green Party’s 2012 presidential nomination (http://www.jillstein.org): “The threats of an assault on Iran by Israel or the U.S., or both, are igniting tensions that could erupt into a larger conflict. If we object to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the first step in resolving these tensions is to recognize that no nation has a ‘right’ to possess nuclear weapons. The possession of such weapons by any country in the region is a motivation for other countries to obtain them as well, and Iran has unfriendly nuclear nations on either side, being Israel and Pakistan. The United States should press Iran’s neighbors to divest themselves of their nuclear arsenals and to use such pressure as the basis for good-faith negotiation with Iran.” read more »

Carl Romanelli, 2006 Green Party candidate for US Senate in Pennsylvania, has written a piece at Citizen Voice entitled “What’s good for Iran is good for Pennsylvania; freedom of assembly, speech, due process”. Green Party watch has covered Carl Romanelli’s struggle with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party’s illegal campaign of harassment to deprive him of his right to run for office.

Last week Senator Robert Casey passed a resolution through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee which recognizes and demands that Iranian citizens be afforded freedom of assembly, speech and due process. To be clear, the U.S. Greens are in complete agreement with Pennsylvania’s junior senator on this issue. In fact, we recognize that such individual democratic freedoms are an essential component of any person’s basic human rights. The difference between Greens and Mr. Casey is that Greens expect the rights of free speech and due process everywhere in the world, including here in Pennsylvania.

At first glance the above statement might seem over-the-top, but not so to those following the developments in the scandal known as Bonusgate. read more »

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders, activists, and members across the US plan to participate in mass rallies, marches, coordinated local and regional demonstrations, and other forms of protest to take place on and around Saturday, October 17 calling for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The National Assembly to End the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars (https://www.natassembly.org/Home_Page.html) is coordinating the nationwide mid-October protests. October 2009 marks the eighth year of the US war in Afghanistan and seven years since Congress passed a resolution authorizing an invasion of Iraq.

Check the list of October 17th anti-war protests for an action near you, make arrangements with fellow Greens to attend, and convince our friends in the peace movement to join the Green Party – the only national peace party. read more »

Earth Times is reporting that the German Green Party is applying pressure on the Angela Merkel government to persuade the US government to abandon cluster bombs.

Children are often victims of the weapons, which can remain lodged in the ground for years after being fired, since they sometimes mistake the so-called bomblets for toys.

According to the Laotian government, more than 300 children a year die because of “bomblets” left over from the war in Vietnam and the surrounding nations.

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Legend has it that in A.D. 64 the emperor Nero (A.D. 37 – A.D. 68), last of the Caesars, set fire to Rome to see ‘how Troy would look when it was in flames’ and to serve as a suitable background for a recitation of his poetry while accompanying himself on the lyre.” Recent history in Iraq indicates that the Maliki government is seeking to fiddle while Kurdistan burns.

“TIKRIT, Iraq (AFP) — Thousands of Sunni and Shiite Arabs took to the streets across Iraq Saturday to defend Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki against criticism from leaders of the country’s Kurdish minority. Demonstrations were held in the northern Sunni town of Tikrit — the hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein — the once-restive Sunni town of Hawijah, and the mostly Shiite southern cities of Karbala, Najaf, Nasiriyah, Samawah, and Hilla, AFP correspondents said.”

There is a rising tide of actions by both the government in Baghdad and the sectarian militias and political parties to provoke conflict so they can prevent the implementation of Article 140. “Kurdish Parliamentary President Adnan Mufti led the session [of the Kurdish Parliament] to discuss bringing regional armed groups into line with the Iraqi army as well as power-sharing arrangements with the Kurdistan Regional Government and the central government in Baghdad. On the topic of the Peshmerga, the Kurdish militia, Parliament noted the force is the legitimate protector of Iraqi Kurdistan, according to the state constitution.” It is vital for Kurds in the Diaspora and in the region to present the Kurdish issue to governments that have disregarded it far too frequently in their policies.
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In a press release the Green Party (US) is coming out critical of Barack Obama and his recent statements regarding Iran:

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders and candidates expressed alarm that presumed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has joined President Bush in threatening a US attack on Iran

In a speech last week before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Sen. Obama said, “I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Everything in my power. Everything.” The speech confirmed Sen. Obama’s earlier claim that the Iranian government is “a threat to all of us” and “we should take no option, including military action, off the table.” read more »