Friday, September 6, 2013

Why War Against Syria Is a Gas/Pipeline Issue -- YOUR ACTION NEEDED

Can it be true that the Syrian Bombing
Campaign is over a Natural Gas Pipeline??
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http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/aug/30/syria-chemical-attack-war-intervention-oil-gas-energy-pipelines
 
(also see note below by Martha Cameron)

What could this mean for those of us fighting pipelines in our backyards?


Please sign these 2 petitions, AND followup with
a PHONE CALL *and* EMAIL/FAX YOUR CONGRESSMAN.
  1. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/no-war-syria/QcTV4m0F
  2. http://dontattacksyria.com/


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Martha Cameron <marthacameron@earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 3:22 PM
Subject: Why War Against Syria Is a Gas/Pipeline Issue
To:


War Against Syria – Why Anti-Frackers and Pipeline Fighters Need to ACT

It's hard to focus on Syria. The endless war in the Middle East has become part of the background noise of our daily lives.

But for the people living there, it's not just background noise. It's real. People are dying every day. Ordinary people. Men, women, children, babies – people like you and me. They die from bombs and guns and gas and shrapnel and infected wounds. They die buried alive under collapsed buildings. They die from shock and fear and hunger and thirst. They die from grief.

These continuous wars in the Middle East – wars that the US wages directly with drones and cruise missiles and "boots on the ground," or indirectly with "military advisors" and massive arms supplies to this or that side in a civil conflict or this or that country in a proxy war – each one of these wars ups the ante for the next one.

Why should anti-frackers and pipeline fighters care?

Because a US attack on Syria is going to make the situation so much worse:

*  It will further inflame the region and put us on a direct collision course with Russia and Iran.
*  It will set back the conversion to renewable energy and bring more cuts to domestic programs.
*  It will vastly increase the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change.

This push to war has a lot to do with Great Power hegemony over oil and natural gas – over pipelines and markets.

And apart from the geopolitics, a US war against Syria will vastly increase pressure for extreme energy extraction here at home. Big Energy has already seized on the Syrian crisis to push the Keystone pipeline. More demands to dig, drill, and frack in the interests of "energy independence" are sure to follow. War is always a golden opportunity for the fossil fuel industry.

What can anti-frackers and pipeline fighters do? Something we're really good at – something we've had a lot of practice at – calling our reps and telling them to stop this war.

We have a very small window of opportunity. President Obama wants Congress to approve the war. The Senate has already done so – no surprise there. But many Democrats – and many Republicans – don't think a US war against Syria is a good idea. We need to let them know that this war is immoral, illegal, and monumentally stupid. And it will make things so much worse for the Syrian people.

What we do need now is diplomacy – international diplomacy, because a crime against international law has taken place. And a US attack on Syria will be yet another crime against international law.

So please, take five minutes to stop this war. Call your rep – don't send an email, don't delay, do it right now. Tell your rep that this war is not in the interests of the American people. It will make a terrible situation so much worse – for the Syrian people, for us, and for the planet.

And, please, repost this message to other lists and Facebook pages.

In peace and solidarity,

Martha Cameron
Brooklyn For Peace / Climate Action
www.brooklynpeace.org

--
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May you, and all beings
be happy and free from suffering :)
-- ancient Buddhist Prayer (Metta)

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