Wells Staley Mays 207 409 0778 (On site)
Dan Muller 917 217 6809 (On site)
June 28, 2007- As President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin gather in Kennebunkport, people throughout Maine are voicing their concern over the US direction towards a new arms race and endless warfare. For 2008, US military expenditures are estimated to be over $640 billion dollars, much of which is for increasing costs for war in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as missile defense programs that are increasing weapons production throughout the world.
“One of the first things the Bush administration did upon taking office was withdraw the U.S. from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty with Russia. This treaty banned the testing and deployment of so-called “missile defense” systems,” stated Bruce Gagnon, Advisory Board member of Peace Action Maine. “Since that U.S. withdrawal, Bush has aggressively moved to fund and deploy the technologies that will give the U.S. first-strike capability of any other nuclear power. As we witnessed with the 2003 U.S. preemptive attack on Iraq, first-strike is now the official military doctrine of the U.S.”
As much as there is an increase in tension between the US and Russia over missile defense, Bush and Putin have received strikingly similar criticisms from their own citizens and the global community. Both leaders have used the ‘war on terror’ to engage in preemptive military action and to decrease the civil liberties of citizens within their respective countries. Both Bush and Putin have shown a disregard for human rights and have done little to end the genocide in Darfur. Critics point out how the US war in Iraq and military action in Chechnya are both closely linked to each countries’ energy policies, and reflect a war for resources more directly than they relate to security concerns.
Concerned residents throughout Maine are gathering this weekend in Kennebunkport to voice their concern. Peace Action Maine’s members will be present in large numbers. Both native Russian and Sudanese contingents will be present to add their voice to the protest. Peace Action Maine will also speak at the rally on Sunday in Kennebunkport.
For more information on Peace Action Maine’s position, call 207 772 0680 or visit www.peaceactionme.org.
To speak with organizers of the protest in Kennebunkport, please contact Jamilla El Shafei at 207 439 5800 or visit www.maineimpeach.org
