Lawrence Davidson, Stephen Bronner & Michael Thompson11 maart 2008 – 15:44

March 19th will mark the 5th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. This invasion has produced millions of homeless, wounded and dead Iraqis. It has undermined international law and propagated the use of torture. It has brought into being a vast international prison system at the center of which sits the penal colony at Guantanamo Bay. And, it has led to a great increase in both state and non-state terrorism. Those who initiated this still growing list of crimes used misleading and often false information to produce a wave of national hysteria so as to achieve their ends. Yet these same responsible people sit securely in the seats of power in Washington DC. Will they ever be held accountable for their crimes?

It is our opinion that every effort should be made to hold them accountable. It is for this reason that we consider the work of the Brussels Tribunal so very important. Inquiries and indictments should be pursued with reference to the responsibility of all major figures of the Bush administration whose activities were in any way related to the Iraq invasion and ongoing consequences. Moreover, it is important to remember that these policies could not have been pursued without the active support of a large number of American Congressmen, Senators and members of the media who were too fearful or naïve to take a critical stance. Naming these people as accessories attendant upon an unnecessary war might be beyond the scope of the tribunal. However, in any report issued, their collective role should at least be forcefully pointed out. President Bush and his accomplices could not have turned Iraq into hell on earth without this “loyal” opposition.

Lawrence Davidson, West Chester University
Stephen Bronner, Rutgers University, coordinator NoLogo (Naomi Klein)
Michael Thompson, William Paterson University
Members of U.S. Academics for Peace

Bericht aan de Bevolking is een initiatief van Het beschrijf, in samenwerking met het B/Russell/s Tribunal. Een aantal auteurs van deze teksten treedt ook aan op de Literaire Wake n.a.v. 5 jaar oorlog in Irak, op woensdag 19 maart van 20 u. tot 24 u. in Literatuurhuis Passa Porta, A. Dansaertstraat 46, 1000 Brussel. Zie www.passaporta.be

Link naar het overzicht