BTL:Groups Opposed to a New U.S. War Against Iraq...

Groups Opposed to a New U.S. War Against Iraq Organizing Nonviolent Civil Disobedience

Interview with Gordon Clark,coordinator of the Iraq Pledge of Resistance,conducted by Scott Harris

As the Bush administration works to undercut Saddam Hussein's offer to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to return to Iraq, the Pentagon is escalating its attacks against Iraqi air defenses. On Sept. 16, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced that in response to Iraqi anti-aircraft fire directed at U.S. and British warplanes patrolling northern and southern no-fly zones, he has ordered allied jets to attack command and control sites that operate Iraq's surface-to-air missile batteries. Many observers view these changes in tactics as a means to degrade Iraq's ability to defend itself in advance of a future U.S. attack.

As part of its preparation for war against Baghdad, the U.S. also recently announced that it will base B-2 bombers at a British airbase on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, 3,000 miles closer to Iraq than current bases in Missouri. In other signs, that the Bush administration is laying the groundwork for war, Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, is planning to move key sectors of his headquarters from Tampa, Fla. to Qatar by November.

As the drums of war beat ever louder, peace groups around the U.S. have responded by organizing teach-ins, protests and vigils. One of the projects now underway, the Iraq Pledge of Resistance, is modeled on an earlier effort to stop American military intervention in Central American conflicts during the 1980s. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Gordon Clark, coordinator of the Iraq Pledge of Resistance, who discusses this national movement being organized to oppose a new U.S. war against Iraq.

Iraq Pledge of Resistance can be contacted by calling (301) 608-2450; or visit their Web site at: http://www.peacepledge.org

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