Town hall meeting set to protest Iran saber rattling
Is war with Iran imminent?
Local peace groups certainly hope not and are holding a town hall meeting Tuesday night to see what steps can be taken to diffuse the latest volatile situation in the Mideast.
"People don't understand just how serious the situation is," said peace activist Joy First. "Don't let the same thing happen in Iran that happened in Iraq."
A panel will prime the pump for discussion, including Joe Elder on the history of U.S. policy in Iran, Allen Ruff on U.S. covert operations, Tsela Barr on the context of the Iran crisis within the bigger Middle East picture, Jeff Patterson on the nuclear issue, and Majid Sarmadi on why we shouldn't go to war.
The town hall meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in UW-Madison's Lowell Hall, 610 Langdon St., Room B1.
Peace groups involved in the Iran town hall meeting include Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Madison Pledge of Resistance, United Nations Association-Dane County Chapter, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Health Writers and the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project.
"We are becoming extremely anxious about an imminent attack on Iran as (President) Bush continues his rhetoric, stating 'all options are on the table,'" First said, in an e-mail announcing the town hall meeting.
"We all know now that Bush is feeding us lies about the need to go to war with Iran, just as he did about the need to go to war with Iraq," she said.
War is a distinct possibility, First said.
"The Iranian president and Bush are puffing out their chests, acting tough with each other," First said. "The consequences of a war with Iran would be devastating for the world, and we can't let it happen."
First organized a local town hall meeting in April to protest the Iraq war.
She also was one of three activists arrested in March in Madison after entering a military recruiting station to talk about the Iraq war. The trespassing charges were dropped in June.
