OntheWilderSide

Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein  said today she opposes the escalating efforts by President Obama and some members of Congress to push the United States toward war against Iran. Dr. Stein said that Obama is engaged in the same kind of “loose talk of war,” if not quite as extreme, as ultranationalist Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

“A hallmark of a Stein administration will be respect for international law and a rejection of the Bush doctrine of preemptive war that Obama and his party have come to embrace. The interests of the American people are not served by illegal attacks on other nations based on hypothetical future transgressions. Yet President Obama is threatening Iran with attack by saying that ‘all options are on the table’. It’s a terrible replay of Bush’s run-up to the invasion of Iraq over the mythical weapons of mass destruction, ” noted Stein.

Thirty two members of the U.S. Senate have introduced a resolution encouraging military action against Iran for merely having the “capability” to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran, however is in general compliance with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, including the required inspections, and has not shown intentions of violating the treaty. And a recent NY Times story reported that the consensus view of America’s sixteen intelligence agencies is that “there is no hard evidence that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb.” 

Instead of attacking Iran, Stein supports the call for a regional agreement to ban weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, including nuclear weapons. A WMD-free zone is called for by a 1974 U.N. General Assembly resolution.

Stein noted that “A U.S. or Israeli airstrike on Iraq would have severe repercussions for the American people. It would produce a global oil supply crisis that would send our entire economy into a tailspin. And it could lead to retaliatory attacks on Israeli and American citizens. We need to take a clear stand against nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, but preemptive attacks, especially for a problem that is not even in evidence, are counterproductive and must not be on the table. The mindset that every problem requires a military response has gotten us into trouble again and again, and its disappointing to see the Obama Administration going down that road yet again. ”

“A major cause of our federal budget deficit and our struggling economy has been the expense of a decade of senseless wars. I am calling for us to go in a different direction and use our tax dollars to rebuild the American economy and improve the quality of live for the average American. Rebuilding America is an urgent need, and our dollars need to go there instead of being wasted on another needless war,” added Stein.

Filed under: 3rd party, activism, Election 2012, grassroots democracy, Green Party, international politics, News, Peace Tagged: | Iran, Jill Stein