US Presidential candidate in Colombo, slams Iraq war

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2004, 12:52 GMT]
''The US is the most disruptive force on the planet. The US invasion and occupation of Iraq is a war crime carried out in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions. American media did not bother to independently investigate claims made by the Bush administration for invading Iraq. Instead, they behaved like ministry of propaganda. This is because US media is controlled by big corporations like General Electric, one of the biggest arms producers in America'', said Mr. Bill Van Auken, a US presidential candidate, addressing a press conference in Colombo Wednesday.

Mr. Auken is contesting the American Presidential elections as candidate of the US Socialist Equality Party.

''We do not want millionaires to rule us'', Mr. Auken declared, pointing out that even the democratic candidate, John Kerry comes from one of the richest families in America.

He said the working class is oppressed in US, that the poor are getting poorer as the American government is making huge cuts in education and welfare in order to reduce taxation on the rich.

Mr. Auken said many in the US are against the war in Iraq. He said America saw the largest demos in its history against the invasion of Iraq.

''We want the US to fail in Iraq'', Mr. Auken said.

He said the media creates the illusion that there are only two parties in the US Presidential race.

''I know that I won't make it to the White House. We (US SEP) do not see the US presidential election as a horse race. We consider it a mechanism for political development to raise the level of debate on Iraq and economic policies in the US'', Mr. Auken said.

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