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http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-06/15/article09.shtml Belgian "Boycott Bush" Campaign Closes U.S. Oil Stations 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 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? 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 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." _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk