letter sent by email to:
Jon.Schneider@mail.house.gov (Legislative Aide to Cong. Bishop) and
Tim.Bishop@mail.house.gov
Dear Congressman Bishop:
I am writing you in the hope that you will see
the moral imperative that calls out for us to
act to stop the violence the US is responsible
for in Lebanon and Palestine. I hope you will
speak out about this in Congress and that you
have signed on to House Con. Res. 450 (see below).
On Sunday Israel bombed a residential apartment
building in the Lebanese village of Qana, killing 57
civilians, including 37 children.
When U.S. soldiers killed civilians in Fallujah and
other densely populated areas of Iraq, the Bush
Administration claimed the "war on terror" justified
such actions. But nothing justifies bombing innocent
civilians, no matter who does it or in what country.
It is likely that U.S. weapons provided to Israel with
U.S.-taxpayer dollars killed the villagers of Qana.
According to The Washington Post, a bomb fragment
found at the Qana bombing site read "For use on MK-84,
Guided Bomb BSU-37/B." MK-84s are free-fall unguided
bombs; Boeing-produced Joint Direct Attack Munitions
(JDAMs) are attached to MK-84s to convert them into
GPS-guided "smart" bombs. Between 2002-2004, the
Pentagon notified Congress of impending sales of 6,000
JDAMs and 2,590 MK-84s to Israel through its Foreign
Military Sales (FMS) program -- valued at $346
million.
There is no military solution to the current conflict.
The Iraq war hasn't brought peace or security to the
people of Iraq or the U.S. Bombing civilian
populations has not and will not bring greater peace
or security to the people of Lebanon, Palestine, and
Israel.
The only way out of the carnage is an immediate and
unconditional cease-fire, followed by multiparty
negotiations to resolve the underlying political
disputes based on human rights and international law.
Most of the world agrees, but the governments of the
U.S., Britain, and Israel have so far rejected calls
for an immediate cease-fire.
So long as Washington provides military and diplomatic
support to Israel's indiscriminate killing of
civilians, a cease-fire will not be possible.
I hope you will sign on to House Concurrent Resolution
450. The resolution also calls for the United States
to send diplomats to multi-party negotiations.
House Concurrent Resolution 450 calls upon the
President to appeal to all sides in the current
crisis in the Middle East for an immediate cessation
of violence and to commit United States diplomats to
multi-party negotiations with no preconditions.
I call on you to endorse resolution 450.
Tony Ernst
Southampton
631-259-2482
