(Howie Hawkins appeared with former Green Party presidential candidate and former Congressmember Cynthia McKinney on Sept. 12 in Brooklyn to discuss the issue of war and imperialism. Part of it will be played on City Watch this Wed. the 15 at 10 AM on WBAI NYC.)
Supports an End to the War on Terrorism
Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for NYS Governor, said today that he hoped that 9th anniversary of September 11th could be used as an opportunity to heal the wounds that still pain so many New Yorkers.
"The emotions that we all confront from 9/11 are complex. We want justice for the many New Yorkers that were murdered that day. We want our loved ones to be protected from the threat of such future attacks. But our grief should not become a blind demand for revenge, used to justify hatred or bigotry. Our collective healing process should embrace the best attributes of our country, making us stronger, providing an example of moral leadership that other countries should seek to emulate," said Hawkins.
Hawkins said it was important for religious, civic and political leaders to speak against seeking to blame the Islamic faith for the actions of a handful of criminal terrorists. He applauded the many faith leaders who in recent weeks that have done so in the controversy over the construction of an Interfaith Islamic Center near Ground Zero.
Hawkins said he opposes the "war of terrorism" as the wrong response to 9/11, which has failed to make America more secure while it has wasted trillions of dollars in increased military spending and resulted in the deaths of, and injuries to, tens of thousands of American soldiers and several million innocent civilians in the Middle East. Spending on the military, already excessive, has increased by two-thirds since 2001. America now spends more on the instruments of war than the rest of the world combined.
"Muslims, residents of the Middle East, and poor people in Third World countries are not the enemies of the American people. Treating the rest of the world's populations as our friends and seeking to build a world that provides a decent standard of living and security for all is the best way to make America secure. We need to bring our troops home from the Middle East and the more than one hundred other countries where they are stationed. We need to divert our military budget into rebuilding America, funding a WPA-style jobs program, investing in renewable and clean energy sources to deal with climate change, putting more money into education, housing, infrastructure, investing in the American people," said Hawkins.
"Bringing the relatively small number of terrorists to justice is best pursued by international cooperation on intelligence and police action. The US wars of occupation in the Middle East and Southwest Asia are breeding terrorists, not eliminating them," he added.
Hawkins also said as Governor he would pursue a criminal investigation to prosecute all of those who were responsible for murdering three thousand individuals at the World Trade Center. This include individuals who provided intelligence and financing for the attack.
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