DIRK ADRIAENSENS
George W. Bush is now in Brussels. Adriaensens is coordinator for SOS Iraq and an organizer for the Brussels Tribunal, a hearing committee composed of academics, intellectuals and artists in the tradition of the Russell Tribunal, set up in 1967 to investigate war crimes committed during the Vietnam War. Adriaensens is participating in demonstrations in Brussels today.
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JOCHEN HIPPLER
Chair of the Institute for Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, Hippler is author of a number of books including Pax Americana? He said today: “The policies of George W. Bush have changed the perception of the United States in most parts of Europe. While still appreciating the U.S. society and many of its values, very many people in Europe distrust and even fear and despise George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and their policies. The current U.S. government has demonstrated its disrespect for the United Nations, for its allies, and for international law. To wage war in Iraq, the current government has lied to the UN Security Council in regard to weapons of mass destruction, has broken international law by attacking without UN authorization, and has weakened human rights by establishing secret prisons outside [of the] regular legal system….”
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SUSAN GEORGE
Bush will be meeting with French President Jacques Chirac this evening. George is a French citizen born in the U.S. and is associate director of the Transnational Institute. She said today: “Bush has miles to go before he achieves reconciliation with Europe — assuming that’s what he really wants. The gap between the universal sympathy and identity Europeans felt for Americans and the United States on 12 September 2001 and the mistrust and hostility most of them feel today has grown to a chasm. Bush had the chance to unite the world, including the Muslim world, against poverty, despair and terrorism and chose instead to make war, alienate his natural allies and expose the United States itself to greater danger. In Europe, we will believe in a change of heart when we see the proof.” George’s most recent book is Another World Is Possible If…
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ARMAN FARAKISH
Based in London, Farakish is chair of Iranian Civil Rights Committee. He said today: “In this trip, one of the main points on the agenda of George Bush will be Iran. It’s a country where violation and negation of the most basic human and civil liberties has been legislated. … In such a society, military action or even its threats is viewed as a ‘godsend’ to the Islamic Republic authorities. After all, people in Iran have witnessed the outcome of such an action in the neighboring Iraq.”
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For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
