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One
campaigner dressed in U.S. military uniform, while another lying
supine and covered with fake blood in an Esso station to protest
the U.S. war for oil
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Brussels,
June 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Belgium spearheaded an
international anti-U.S. boycott campaign to condemn the U.S. illegal war
on Iraq and the ongoing occupation of the war-scarred country, while
U.S. Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld hit out
on June 13 at the anti-war country over a law allowing lawsuits against
foreigners for war crimes.
Boycott
actions closed Esso and Texaco petrol stations in most Belgian
provinces.
At
an Esso petrol station in Gent a carpet of dead bodies, armed U.S.
marines and U.S. President George W. Bush, illustrated the link between
thousands of innocent victims, the important Iraqi oilfields and the
gasoline sold by U.S. oil-multinationals Esso and Texaco, ‘For Mother
Earth’ human rights organization and one of the organizers of the
"Boycott Bush campaign" said Saturday, June 14 in a press
release.
The
boycott organizers (a coalition of NGOs including Attac, America
Watchers, For Mother Earth and Christian Movement for Peace) declare
that the U.S. has been acting as "a rogue state" ever since
Bush was elected president.
With
the boycott of certain U.S. products the growing coalition of NGOs wants
to force the U.S. government to once again join the international
community, complying with the rules of the United Nations and
international law.
The
Belgium-based For Mother Earth organization listed the U.S. products
along with other
alternatives on its website.
It
also listed the companies which were regarded as the
largest donors to
the Republican Party election campaign 2000.
Using
hazard warning tape and banners, the non-violent campaigners
successfully closed Esso and Texaco petrol stations in Antwerp, Arlon,
Bruges, Brussels, Gent, Hasselt and Namur.
"There
is blood of thousands of innocent victims on the logos of Esso and
Texaco. Both U.S. multinationals -who together donated $2 million U.S.
to the 2000 Bush election campaign- are driving forces behind the
policies of the Bush administration," said Pol D’Huyvetter,
spokesperson for ‘For Mother Earth’.
"As
Bush ignored the U.N. and the international public opinion, today the
boycott is the most effective model of action we can offer to any
citizen. Everybody can easily register
his or her opposition to the U.S. foreign policy by boycotting our list
of U.S. products, or all U.S. products. Money is the language which was
used by the U.S. to coerce nations into their coalition. The boycott is
a language they understand in Washington," he added.
In
most cases the employees of the petrol-stations understood the
motivations of the campaigners, and dialogue was possible. Motorists who
received flyers calling on them to boycott U.S. oil companies reacted
most of the time with a smile and a thumbs-up.
Why
Boycott?
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With
the boycott of certain U.S. products, the NGOs wants to force the
U.S. to comply with the rules of the U.N. and the international
law
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With
these new boycott actions, the organizers condemn the illegal war
against Iraq and ongoing occupation of the country.
These
actions follow the statement of Paul Wolfowitz whose open
acknowledgement that oil was the main reason for the military operation
in Iraq, sparked anger with many people.
Wolfowitz
admitted that although weapons of mass destruction were presented as the
main cause for war, they were only a “bureaucratic
excuse” to get support for the military campaign.
"For
bureaucratic reasons we settled on one issue, weapons of mass
destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree
on," he told the Vanity Fair magazine.
The
recent news coverage of falsified reports
about Iraq’s of Weapons of Mass Destruction undermine any last legal
ground for the U.S. attack which claimed thousands of civilian victims.
"By
boycotting U.S. products, I want to put pressure on the U.S. government
to join the international community, complying with the rules of the
United Nations and international law. With the military attack and
invasion of Iraq in March 2003 the U.S. acted as a rogue state,"
the ‘For Earth Mother’ organization explained.
"With
the attack, the U.S. violated the U.N. charter. Today more than ever
U.S. companies seem to have a major impact on the policy of the U.S.
administration. The U.S. government policy has increasingly been marked
by arrogance and self-interest," it said.
Therefore
the boycott campaigners demand that the U.S. "allow the U.N. to
take over the civil administration in Iraq as soon as possible, end
'pre-emptive' attacks on other states, actively pursue a two-state
solution for Palestine & Israel and stop the use of double standards
concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction (e.g. those of Israel and the
U.S.'s own stocks)."
They
also demand the U.S. "ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty, adopt the Kyoto protocol to stop global warming, abandon
National Missile Defense & reinstates the ABM Treaty, recognize the
competence of the International Criminal Court to prosecute war
criminals and cancel all bilateral agreements, respect the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty and negotiate a Treaty for complete nuclear
disarmament, ratify Biological Weapons Convention, ratifies 1997
Landmine Treaty and strengthen the Chemical Weapons Convention."
