[Peace-discuss] Press Conference in DC

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Please distribute.

thanks,
doug 


NEWS ADVISORY     __      NEWS ADVISORY ___ NEWS ADVISORY

NEWS ADVISORY                   CONTACT: Ryan Fletcher or Adam Eidinger
March 4, 2003                                              202-232-8997 or 
202-986-6186

Congressional Leader, Veterans to Bush:
Troops "Not Prepared" for Bio-Chem Attacks

WASHINGTON, DC - Former military leaders, Members of Congress, Gulf War 
Veterans, military families and others will demand that President Bush 
guarantees the safety and protection of U.S. troops in the event of 
biological or chemical attacks in Iraq.  

National Press Club
Thursday, March 6, 2003
            9:30am, 13th Floor, Zanger Room
In his February 8, 2003 radio address, the President stated the 
administration has intelligence "that Saddam Hussein recently authorized 
Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons." Army investigations show 
between 60 and 90 percent of its chemical-biological warfare protective gear 
malfunctions and as many as 250,000 defective protective suits are missing.  
Isratex, the company that manufactured the gear, was prosecuted by the 
Federal Government for selling defective merchandise to the Pentagon and is 
now out of business. 

A letter from Ret. Admiral Jack Shanahan and other retired military officers 
to President Bush, demanding he ensure troop safety before commencing a war 
with Iraq, will be released at the news conference.
Speakers will include:

Congressman John Conyers

Ralph Nader 

Stephen L. Robinson, Executive Director, National Gulf War Resource Center, 
former Sergeant First Class with the Pentagon's Office of the Special 
Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses (OSAGWI). 

Dr. Jonathan Tucker:  Chemical and Biological Weapons Expert, Senior Fellow 
at the United States Institute of Peace (on leave from Monterrey Institute 
for the Center of Non-Proliferation Studies), served as part of Iraq UN 
Weapons Inspections Team in 1995 with UNSCOM.

Col. Carl Bernard:  30 year military veteran, former professor of Military 
Science at Berkeley, CA

Sergeant James Landrith:  Gulf-War Veteran and member of Veterans for Common 
Sense

Christian Bauman:  Veteran from Somalia & Haiti, Author of "The Ice Beneath 
You"

Stephen Clegborn: Spokesman for Military Families Speak Out
Other Veterans, Military Families, and Vets suffering from Gulf War Syndrome 
will be available for comment.        


**My contribution**
Supporting the Troops
Dr. Doug Rokke

As war looms while the sons and daughters of our nation are deployed for
participation in combat we must consider how to support our troops. Today,
first hand experience, numerous reports and congressional hearings have
verified that gas masks and chemical protective clothing that are essential
to survive when Iraq, United States, or British forces use weapons of mass
destruction are defective and will not protect the health of our troops.
Numerous reports also verify, just as during Gulf War I, that training and
education is inadequate to enable our troops to operate effectively and
survive during combat. As the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
confirmed Gulf War I casualty count exceeds 221000 on disability and over
10000 dead we must reconsider the potential casualty count from any Gulf War
II combat actions.   During Gulf War I we blew up Iraq's chemical and
biological stockpiles and nuclear reactors that the U.S. gave him. We
destroyed Iraq's infrastructure. Consequently we left Iraq, Kuwait, and
Saudi
Arabia a toxic wasteland exposing Gulf War I warriors to a toxic soup that
has devastated their health. We know based on actual reports and current
experience that medical care for Gulf War I casualties is ineffective and
thus we can expect the same inadequate medical care for new War II
casualties. During Gulf War I the United States military used depleted
uranium munitions that contaminated air, water, and soil and that have left
a
trail of death and illness. We must ban the use of depleted uranium (DU)
munitions, provide the mandated medical care for "all" DU casualties, and
clean up the DU contamination.  VA Secretary Tony Principi recently asked
President Bush and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld what the expected Gulf War
II casualty count may be and given the current state of medical care he
suggested that it is critical that we reconsider combat actions in the Iraq
and Kuwait because that region is a toxic wasteland due to Gulf War combat
actions. If we go into combat once more with defective equipment, inadequate
training, and a broken medical care system thousands more of America's
finest
sons and daughters will become disabled. If we use 'SHOCK AND AWE" as
planned
we will devastate God's earth and cause unacceptable collateral damage.  As
a
combat veteran I must urge that we support the troops by ensuring that
defective equipment is replaced, essential combat education and training is
completed, effective medical is available, and that before we engage in
combat that a viable threat to our nation's sovereignty exists.  The
technology of war has exceeded our capability to resolve the health and
environmental effects of war. THEREFORE WAR IS OBSOLETE. We must do what is 
right for God and the citizens of the world. In conclusion, "Supporting the
Troops" means keeping them home and out of harms way. PEACE MUST REIGN ON 
EARTH!