WOMEN REITERATE CALL TO END THE U.S. WAR OF AGGRESSION : QC IMC

NEWS RELEASE
13 August 2004

Reference: EMMI DE JESUS, Secretary General (0917 3221203)
GABRIELA Public Information Department (3712301/3743451)

On the 59th year commemoration of the end of World War 2

WOMEN REITERATE CALL TO END THE U.S. WAR OF AGGRESSION

Fifty-nine years ago, World War 2, the last of the imperialist wars of aggression, ended with the surrender of Japanese troops to the invading American forces. “The end of World War 2 ushered the colonial influence and continuing dominance of the United States in world politics and economy,” said Emmi de Jesus, Secretary General of the women’s group GABRIELA. “Under the guise of the War on Terrorism, the US continues to impose its imperial armed might to Afghanistan and Iraq. As a second front of this war, the US continues to justify its intervention in our political, economic and even military affairs, even after we supposedly declared independence more than fifty years ago.”

De Jesus stressed that thousands of women and children in Afghanistan and Iraq became victims of the US war in the same way that thousands were killed, maimed and traumatized during World War 2, including comfort women, who until now continues to seek justice and redress. “Considering that the US war has been declared unjust, the loss of lives and the disregard for the welfare of women and children, are unforgivable. With this, our country’s unilateral disassociation with the Coalition of the Willing (COW) by the US is actually welcomed by women because we do not want to have the blood of Iraqi women and children in our hands.”

She was also quick to add that the country’s removal from the COW never mattered in essence because the Arroyo government remains to be an out and out US puppet. “All the evidences of the Arroyo government’s support to the US war remain intact. The Visiting Forces Agreement, the Balikatan military exercises, which incidentally ends today, and the fact that the government is considering to send back Philippine troops to Iraq, are proof that US interest is still its primary concern.”

GABRIELA vowed to continue its call for the withdrawal of Philippine support for the US war and its campaign against US aggression. As part of its international campaign, the organization will discuss the US war of aggression in one of its workshops on its coming Women International Solidarity Affair in the Philippines (WISAP) on August 21. Women from various countries such as Canada, US, The Netherlands, Haiti, North Korea, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India and others are expected to attend the Affair. Women representatives from Iraq and Afghanistan also signified their intention to attend the 2-day activity. ###