YOUNGSTOWN Group: U.S. is spreading terrorism

The greatest number of war victims will starve to death through no fault of their own, the group said.
By MARALINE KUBIK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Waging war on Afghanistan won't rid the world of terrorism, but rather it perpetuates the problem, according to Peace Action Youngstown.
"The people of Afghanistan aren't terrorists. The people of Afghanistan are being victimized much as the people in the World Trade Center were victimized," said Julie Stout, a member of the organization, which voiced its concerns Wednesday.
One of the most tragic results of continuing attacks on Afghanistan is the crippling effect it has on humanitarian relief efforts. Food cannot be distributed while the attacks are taking place, Stout said. Because of that, the people of Afghanistan -- not the terrorists -- are suffering.
"The Taliban rulers aren't going hungry," she said.
Starvation: Some 1.5 million Afghanis face imminent starvation, said Pat McKinney, Peace Action chairwoman, and that is expected to climb to 7.5 million by this spring.
To alleviate the suffering, Peace Action strongly supports the call from the United Nations to immediately halt military strikes so that desperately needed food can be distributed. "We call for the United States to respect international law by seeking the most peaceful means to justice," the group said.
Peace Action member Ray Nakley said, "The most powerful nation in the world does not use the organization that they created." He said the U.S. could work through the United Nations to come to a peaceful means of achieving justice and stopping terrorists' attacks on the U.S., but chooses to ignore international law, waging attacks on a country where most of the casualties will be innocent people.
"We are as American as apple pie, and we fully support our country," Nakley said, "but a catastrophic humanitarian disaster is looming."
Permanent solution: A temporary cease-fire until food can be distributed will not solve the problem, added Tom Sabatini. "To be meaningful, it would have to be permanent. People need to eat every day."
"While the leaders are battling each other, they are making the rest of us victims," Glorianne Leck said, not only in Afghanistan, but in the U.S., where thousands of innocent people died as a result of the terrorist attacks and others have contracted anthrax.
While the U.S. may not have initiated the terrorist attacks, "we are spreading the terrorism by how we handle it," she said.
Peace Action has some 180 members in the Youngstown area.