Nuclear Threat
Initiative Warns of Dangers of Unsecured Nuclear Materials.
by Raina Rippel
The Maine Win Without War Coalition is poised to begin a new campaign:
developing and publicizing an alternative foreign policy in sharp contrast
to the reckless, aggressive, counter-productive foreign policy being
sold to
Americans by our current administration. On May 27th, representatives
of the
organizations included in the Coalition met to discuss and approve a
foreign
policy proposal which brings together the ideas of Maine WWW Coalition
and
the foreign policy priorities identified by Peace Action and Physicians
for
Social Responsibility at the national level.
When the Maine Win Without War Coalition was formed, we took our lead
from
the National Win Without War approach, reaching out to mainstream citizens
with a focused message objecting to the administration's insistence
on a
pre-emptive, unilateral war against Iraq. Nationally, the organization
has
also broadened the message beyond opposing the Iraq War to advocate
for an
alternative approach to foreign policy. National WWW staff members are
consulting with retired government officials and experts on foreign
policy,
as well as national coalition member organizations, to craft an alternative
foreign policy statement with as much legitimacy as possible, and expect
to
release their version in the fall of 2003.
In Maine, our coalition continues to grow, with 30 local and statewide
organizations involved to date. The coalition will continue to work
with all
networks of peace and justice activists in the state, drawing on the
tremendous momentum and energy generated in opposition to the Iraq War.
With
the 2004 elections on the horizon, the Maine WWW Coalition will present
our
alternative foreign policy platform to candidates and the voting public.
The
Coalition is also actively participating in the growth of a movement
of
citizens from across Maine and across the political spectrum who are
ready
and willing to say no! to the ill-advised policy of global military
domination, the lack of diplomacy, and general lack of cooperation with
the
world community so favored by this administration.
Members of the Maine Win Without War Coalition are: Bridges for Peace,
Brunswick Friends Meeting, Chaplaincy Institute of ME, Common Cause
ME,
Forest Ecology Network, Friends Committee on Maine Public Policy, Greater
Brunswick PeaceWorks, Hancock County Democratic Committee, League of
United
Latin American Citizens, ME Council of Churches, ME Green Independent
Party,
ME Lawyers Against War, Midcoast Peace & Justice Group, NAACP/Portland,
National Association of Social Workers/Maine Chapter, NOW/Maine, NE
District
UUA, Pax Christi ME, Peace Action ME, Peace & Justice Center of
E. ME, Peace
& Justice Group of Waldo County, Peace & Justice members of
Deer Isle, Peace
through Interamerican Community Action, Physicians for Social
Responsibility/ME, Resources for Organizing and Social Change, Sacopee
Valley Forum, Sierra Club/ME UNA/ME Chapter, Western Mountains Peace
Action
Workshop, Whole Health Center in Bar Harbor
For more information on the Maine Win Without War Coalition, contact
Raina
Rippel at 772-6714, email
psr_maine@yahoo.com.
Back to Peace Talk Index,
Summer, 2003