Joint APL-Akbayan statement for 9/11

AKBAYAN and the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) today stormed the US Embassy to stage a picket protest a day ahead of the anniversary of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center three years ago.

“We remember and honor the memory of those whose lives were shattered on that very sad day,” said AKBAYAN Representative Risa Hontiveros. “Yet we express outrage and condemnation at how the US continues to muscle its dominance in the fight against terrorism through the Coalition of the Willing,” the lady solon said.

“It is unconscionable for the US to even use the tragedy in Russia to prop up the sagging credibility of President George Bush and his indispensable role in the fight against terrorism,” said Hontiveros. “It has been exposed that he went to Iraq on the basis of a lie; and for the sake of private profiteering,” she added “and if that is what defines Bush’s war on terror, then we are all in big trouble.”

“Our government decision to withdraw troops from Iraq was to save the life of Angelo de la Cruz, but has not translated into a withdrawal of support for the US-led war on terrorism, which still makes us a target for attacks,” said APL Chairperson Danny Edralin.

“As we therefore recognize the unnecessary sacrifice made by the victims and families of the World Trade Center attacks, let us continue to assert that what the US Pres. Bush did in Iraq is also a form of terrorism,” Edralin added.

“Terrorism will never go away for as long as we fight violence with even more violent means, nor will we make the world a safer place through the barrel of a gun,” Edralin said. “It is only through equitable growth and the sincere pursuit of peace can we truly stem the flow of terrorism, even in the Philippines,” he explained.