PPRC Friday Rally and March Asks: "Has the Bush Regime�s War Made Us Safer?" , Calls on US to Change Policy in the Shadow of Latest Saudi Bombings

Event: PPRC Rally and March for Peace and Justice
Date: Friday, May 16th, 2003
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Place: Pioneer Courthouse Square

The Portland Peaceful Response Coalition Friday 5:00 p.m. rally and march at Pioneer Courthouse Square will focus on the failures of Bush�s so-called 'war on terror' and the vindication of CIA predictions of greater risks following the attack on Iraq. "It was only a matter of time before more Americans and other civilians would be targeted, as they were in Saudi Arabia this week," said Will Seaman, a spokesperson for the PPRC. "Bush has invaded two countries, killed thousands of innocent Afghans and Iraqis, caused the deaths of dozens of soldiers and journalists, but has only succeeded in inciting even more intense hatred towards our country and towards Westerners in general."

Seaman believes that the latest terror attack in Saudi Arabia should be seen as tragic and devastating evidence that the Bush administration�s military response to terror has put Americans at greater risk. "Whether this kind of violent, militarist policy is carried out by Ariel Sharon in the West Bank and Gaza, or by George Bush in Afghanistan and Iraq, the end result is the same: more dead and injured on both sides and the world is ever further from peace or security," said Seaman. "The Bush wars have not led to the capture of Osama Bin Laden, nor of Mullah Omar, nor have they dismantled al-Qa'ida, nor brought democracy to the Afghans or to the Iraqis, but they have secured the oil fields of Iraq and an oil pipeline plan for Afghanistan."

Seaman believes these failures and successes point to the real goals of the Bush adminstration�s post-9-11 policies. "The Cheney-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz strategy has been to use the terrible fear and uncertainty that Americans felt after 9-11 to build support for military conquests abroad, and political repression at home," said Seaman. "We must ask ourselves today, after two bloody wars and after Congress has trashed our Constitution in the name of 'homeland security', are we any safer?"

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