[2030] in peace2
more information on vote against kerry to voice opposition to
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Federico San Martini)
Wed Oct 30 15:29:27 2002
Message-Id: <5.0.2.1.2.20021030152602.01962008@hesiod>
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2002 15:29:09 -0500
To: <corrina@mit.edu>, peace-announce@mit.edu, peace-discuss@mit.edu,
greens@mit.edu
From: Federico San Martini <ico@MIT.EDU>
In-Reply-To: <1036009121.3dc03ea1ed347@webmail.mit.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
fyi --
following is:
1. Randall Forseberg's qualifications
2. Her letter to Senator John Kerry
3. Ways in which you can help
Dear Friends,
GREAT NEWS! Randall Caroline "Randy" Forsberg has
agreed to run as a write-in candidate against John
Kerry for U.S. Senator, to express our deep
disappointment and outrage at Kerry's vote for the War
Powers resolution.
On Oct. 21, Forsberg, a life-long Democrat and
first-time candidate for public office, registered
with the Secretary of the Commonwealth as a write-in
candidate for the U.S. Senate. If she wins, she will
replace a Democrat who voted for the Bush War Powers
Resolution with a Democrat who will work tirelessly
for peace, as she has done since 1968 when she first
joined the staff of the Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute.
Randall Forsberg founded and directs the
Cambridge-based Institute for Defense and Disarmament
Studies (IDDS), where she publishes the Arms Control
Reporter, a monthly reference journal used by
governments and think tanks worldwide
(see http://www.idds.org).
Forsberg has written many books and articles on
military, peace, and disarmament issues. She has
served as an advisor on disarmament issues to several
US administrations and met government officials in
many countries.
(For details, see http://www.forsbergforsenate.org.)
She has a Ph.D. from MIT in political science,
specializing in defense policy; and she received a
MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (the so-called 'genius
award') in recognition of her work in defense studies
and arms control. In 1980 she wrote the Call to Halt
the Nuclear Arms Race, the manifesto of the Nuclear
Weapons Freeze Campaign, and she helped found and lead
the campaign.
A write-in vote for Forsberg will be a referendum on
commitment to peace in Massachusetts, as well as an
expression of voters' anger at the breakdown of the
democratic process when Kerry voted to give President
Bush the authority to launch a unilateral US war
against Iraq. Through aides, Kerry admitted that the
20,000 people who sent him email in the last week
before the vote were overwhelmingly opposed to the War
Powers resolution; yet he voted for it.
Randall Forsberg is an internationally known expert
on nonproliferation and arms control, as well as an
eloquent advocate for peace and democracy. This was
illustrated in her three visits to Seoul, South Korea,
in 2001 to participate in panels on North-South Korean
reconciliation and arms reductions -- two at the
invitation of the South Korean military, and one at
the invitation of South Korean peace activists.
Forsberg brings to the race for the U.S. Senate the
qualifications of leadership, vision, and knowledge
needed during this period of crises with Iraq and
North Korea. She has solid, practical, well-developed
positions on how to address international terrorism,
how to prevent the spread of weapons of mass
destruction, and how to build a safer and more
peaceful world. For information on these positions or
on the write-in campaign, please see
http://www.ForsbergforSenate.org.
How to Write in: Under the U.S. Senate rows for Kerry
(Democrat) and Cloud (Libertarian), in the space
labeled Write in, put: Randall Forsberg, 950 Mass.
Ave, Cambridge. Then fill in the oval to right (if
there is one; some ballots may be different).
Forsberg's Letter to Senator John Kerry - 10/18/02
Dear John,
I have decided to run as a write-in candidate for
Senate on Nov. 5th. I wanted to inform you before this
was announced publicly, and explain the reasons. I
have supported you as a Massachusetts Senator since
you were first elected to the Senate, and I have
appreciated the good work and strong positions you
have taken on various issues over two decades. I was
asked to oppose you as a write-in candidate by many
peace activists from around the state, who, as I am
sure you know, are extremely disappointed that you
voted in favor of the War Powers resolution. I share
that feeling. The purpose of my candidacy is for me
and them to register that disappointment publicly and
strongly. My view on the issues at stake is this: I
probably agree with most of your votes on domestic
issues, and I think that it is extremely important for
the United States to have a Democratic congress and
administration. For this reason, if you were in a
close race, I would not oppose you. But for the
President to launch a unilateral war when such a war
is not warranted by the degree of threat nor
sanctioned by the international community undermines
the entire body of international law that has been
developed since the end of World War II. And for the
United States to dismantle virtually the entire web of
arms control agreements developed with enormous effort
since 1960 while at the same time taking it into our
own hands to change a foreign government because of
the prospect that in a few years that government might
(but not necessary would) acquire one or a few nuclear
weapons undermines US security and will bring down the
wrath of the world on us in many different ways,
including increased terrorism. For these reasons, I
think that it is a very bad idea for the President and
particularly this highly partisan administration,
which has taken so many bad positions on military,
arms control, and foreign policy issues -- to be
empowered to take the matter into his own hands. I
realize that you expressed the view that the President
should not act except as a last resort. But in my
view, it would have been much better to have that
debate, and that vote, at the time when it became
necessary, not in advance, which gives the President
free reign. As the head of the opposition in the
French parliament said recently (broadcast on C-SPAN
with English voice-over), if the UN is put in the
position of rubber-stamping a US decision that has
already been made that destroys the credibility and
independence of the UN.
Politically, the numbers of Democrats who opposed the
resolution in the House and the Senate, and the
specific individuals who opposed, made it clear that
this was a vote of conscience.
I hope that as a candidate for the Democratic
nomination for President, and if you should become the
nominee or the President, you will be committed to
strengthening international law and international
institutions, and to cooperative international
approaches to security that reduce the risk of war,
including arms control and disarmament agreements.
Randy
Randall Caroline Forsberg
You can help! We hope to assemble a huge crew of
volunteers to get the word out about this candidacy.
It will be a lightening speed campaign. The first step
is contacting people around the state: please send
this email far and wide and help us contact every
peace and progressive group in the state, to let them
know Randy is running and get people out to vote.
Endorsements are welcomed. If you personally, or your
group, would like to endorse Randall Forsberg for U.S.
Senate, please see Endorsements on
http://ForsbergforSenate.org.
Perhaps you can put a sign outside your house, or
stand on a street corner with a sign. Or help
distribute flyers at every peace event from now to
Nov. 5, as well as at other events, churches,
campuses, through mailing lists, and so on. We have a
one or two-page flyer (front page only, or front and
back) in pdf form at
http://ForsbergforSenate.org
for you to download, print, and distribute.
Finally, we hope to have people at the polls in as
many as possible of the 2000 precincts in the state on
Nov. 5 to hand out flyers describing how and why to
write-in Randall Forsberg for U.S. Senate. If you can
help for an hour or two that day, be sure to email or
call us with the town and the precinct number (or
voting place address). If you can help in any other
way before Nov. 5, particularly to recruit or
coordinate other volunteers, please fill in our
volunteer page on-line or contact Amy at 617-354-1635
or amy@forsbergforsenate.org.
Media: Call Pat O'Brien at 617-576-0649 for
questions, suggestions, or assistance regarding media
scheduling, interviews, press announcements, and
outreach.
How to Write in: Under the U.S. Senate rows for Kerry
(Democrat) and Cloud (Libertarian), in the space
labeled Write in, put: Randall Forsberg, 950 Mass.
Ave, Cambridge. Then fill in the oval to right (if
there is one; some ballots may be different).
At 03:18 PM 10/30/2002 -0500, corrina@MIT.EDU wrote:
>----- Forwarded message from Luke Phelan <lphelan@MIT.EDU> -----
> Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2002 15:01:07 -0500 (EST)
> From: Luke Phelan <lphelan@MIT.EDU>
>Reply-To: Luke Phelan <lphelan@MIT.EDU>
> Subject: send an f.u. to kerry
> To: nutso-flaming-pikans@mit.edu
>
>from yesterdays globe.
>
>KERRY FACES WRITE-IN CANDIDATE OPPOSING HIS VOTE ON IRAQ FORCE
>
>
>
>Author(s): JJJGlen Johnson, Globe Staff Date: October 29, 2002 Page: A3
>Section: National/Foreign
>WASHINGTON - A Cambridge arms control specialist and peace activist is
>mounting a write-in campaign against Senator John F. Kerry, hoping to
>register public disapproval for his recent vote authorizing President Bush
>to use military force against Iraq.
>
>
>Randall C. Forsberg, a Democrat with a doctorate from MIT who serves as
>director of the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies, conceded
>yesterday that she does not have a strong chance of unseating Kerry next
>week. Instead, she said she hopes that the votes she receives will send an
>antiwar message. Forsberg has registered her candidacy with the secretary
>of state's office so that any vote for her will be tallied under her name
>rather than lumped into an "Other" category when ballots are counted.
>
>
>"I think it's important for every person in Massachusetts who opposes war
>in Iraq to vote for me," Forsberg said. "It won't only send a message to
>Kerry, but also sends a message nationally that there are an awful lot of
>peple who are opposed to war in Iraq.
>
>
>"Iraq does not have nuclear weapons," she said. "I think for the United
>States to conduct a unilateral war against Iraq is the worst thing the
>government can do for the country at this time. It undermines
>international law. It hurts the economy. We will occupy a country and take
>on its oil fields and add to our superpower status in a threatening
>manner. For all those reasons, it's likely to increase terrorist attacks
>on US citizens and interests abroad."
>
>Kerry has no Republican opponent in his bid for a fourth term. His only
>other challenger is Michael E. Cloud of Wayland, the Libertarian Party
>nominee.
>
>
>In a statement, Kerry said: "While we agree that war is a last resort and
>that we must act with the international community, I am convinced that
>Iraq's weapons of mass destruction pose a serious threat to this country
>and to the world. I continue to believe that a tough resolution combined
>with the hard work of diplomacy is the best way for the UN to finally hold
>Saddam Hussein accountable."
>
>
>The Massachusetts Democrat announced Oct. 9 that he would support a
>congressional resolution authorizing the use of force, if necessary, to
>ensure there are inspections for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
>Kerry announced his decision after spending months criticizing the
>administration's military response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, its
>handling of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians, and its early
>threats of military action against Iraq.
>
>
>Instead, the senator counseled diplomacy, especially involvement of the
>United Nations and a multinational approach to any military action. In his
>speech announcing his support for the Bush administration, Kerry said the
>Democrats could claim credit for pushing the president into accepting that
>approach.
>
>
>"That shift has made it possible, in my judgment, for the United States
>Senate to move forward with greater unity, having asked and begun to
>answer the questions that best defend our troops and protect our national
>security," he said.
>
>Kerry opposed a similar resolution in 1991 that authorized military force
>in response to Iraq's occupation of Kuwait. The switch raised questions
>about whether the senator was changing policy to bolster his expected
>candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. All of the
>other expected Democratic candidates, except for Governor Howard Dean of
>Vermont, voted in favor of the latest resolution on Iraq.
>
>
>"The safer vote was to vote with the president, because in most states,
>Democrats would have paid a price from Republicans for being soft on
>defense," said William Schneider of the American Enter prise Institute.
>"It's a vote they didn't want to cast. It puts them all on the spot. And
>it is angering some liberals. He's not facing a Republican opponent, but
>now it's from some of his own Democrats."
>
>Forsberg, 59, said that after graduating from Columbia University in 1965,
>she moved to Sweden and worked from 1968 through 1974 at the International
>Peace Research Institute in Stockholm. In 1980 she founded her arms
>control institute and wrote the "Call to Halt the Nuclear Arms Race,"
>which became a manifesto for the nuclear freeze campaign. She received a
>MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the so-called genius grant, in 1983 and a
>doctoral degree from MIT in 1997.
>
>Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.
>
>
>the article is on-line at:
>http://nl9.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=0F6FDE4AFB131
>BD8&p_docnum=2
>
>forsberg's website is:
>www.rforsberg.com
>
>--puke
>
>pop beats poetry
>
>
>----- End forwarded message -----
******************************************************
Federico San Martini
Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT
tel: 617-253-0285
fax: 617-258-0546
email: ico@mit.edu
******************************************************
