Middle East
For more from Mr. Nader on the Middle East, click here.
Nader/Gonzalez would reverse the current policy in the Middle East.
The current political strategy of pre-emptive war in the Middle East is a disaster for both the American people and the people of the Middle East. It has bloated the already wasteful military budget and has cost at present over 4,000 American lives, nearly 100,000 American injuries, and over a million Iraqi civilian lives, plus the destruction of their country.
Nader/Gonzalez propose a rapid withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
A target of withdrawing troops in six months will be set.
Fifty-eight percent of Americans want troops withdrawn from Iraq and a January 2006 poll shows that 72 percent of American soldiers in the field in Iraq wanted the U.S. out of Iraq within six to twelve months.
The war is costing taxpayers nearly $4,600 every second — and that doesn’t include the long-term reconstruction costs.
Nader/Gonzalez proposes that a rapid negotiated withdrawal from Iraq, with UN sponsored elections, is the first step toward delivering peace to Middle East.
On Israel/Palestine, a recent Haaretz poll showed that 64 percent of Israeli people want negotiations for peace between Israel and Hamas, while only 28% oppose it.
The Israeli people want peace. The Palestinian people want peace.
All kinds of people to people peace groups are forming in Israel and Palestine.
Among them:
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The Combatants for Peace – fighters on both sides of the divide who have put down their guns to join together for a non-violent solution.
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The Bereaved Families for Peace – the brave Israelis and Palestinians who have lost a loved one to the conflict and who are joining together to seek a non-violent solution.
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The Arab-American and Jewish Americans who have stood up courageously together for a non-violent solution to the unending conflict.
And of course, the majority of the American Jewish community want peace.
By a 46-to-43 percent plurality American Jews continue to support the creation of a Palestinian state. Other polls show even higher support, among Jewish Americans, for a two-state solution.
Instead, both Democrats and Republicans reflexively support the militarists in Israel.
Israel has militarily occupied Gaza for forty years. It pulled out its colonies in 2005 but maintained an iron grip on the area — controlling all access, including its airspace and territorial waters.
Its F-16s and helicopter gunships regularly shred more and more of the areas’ public works, its neighborhoods and inflict collective punishment on civilians in violation of Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The Israeli government’s blockade of Gaza prevents critical food, medicine, fuel, electricity and other necessities from coming into this tiny enclave through international relief organizations.
The resulting humanitarian crisis is received with predictable silence or callousness by members of Congress, including John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Nader/Gonzalez will continue to speak out about this humanitarian crisis and side with the strong and courageous Israeli/Palestinian peace movements who are working for a peaceful two-state solution.
