Physicians for Social Responsibility is circulating the following
statement for health professionals to endorse. Please respond to PSR,
contact information below.
**kpomeran@gwu.edu**
(DO NOT REPLY OR SEND TO: kpomeran@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu)
Karyn L. Pomerantz, MLS, MPH
Distance Education Program
GW School of Public Health & Hlth Svcs.
2300 I St., NW, #202; Washington, DC 20037
202/994-2976, 202/994-9867 (fax)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 15:58:33 -0400
From: Alicia Johnson <ajohnson@psr.org>
To: Alicia Johnson <ajohnson@psr.org>
Subject: Health Care Professionals Statement and Sign-on Regarding
September 11th
Dear Colleagues -- Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) has
developed the following health care provider statement in response to the
events of September 11. The American Public Health Association (APHA) is
joining in support of this statement. We are seeking sign-ons by a wide
audience of health professionals and health organizations and ask that you
join us in supporting the following statement. Please feel free to
distribute this widely.
Please email your name, degrees, title and affiliation to
response@psr.org. Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.
Best, Susan
Susan T. West, MPH
Director
Environmental Health Programs
Physicians for Social Responsibility
1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 1012
Washington, DC 20009
Phone -- (202) 667-4260, ext: 224
Fax -- (202) 667-4201
swest@psr.org
*********************************************
Dear Colleagues,
In response to the September 11 attack on the United States, Physicians
for Social Responsibility (PSR) has initiated the attached statement urging
restraint and respect for law for the widest possible sign-on by individuals
and organizations in the medical and health community.
The American Public Health Association and its Executive Director Mohammad
N. Akhter, M.D., M.P.H. have agreed to be initial signers.
Please respond as rapidly as possible if you want to sign this letter as
an individual and please list your name, degrees and any affiliation as you
would like it listed. This letter is designed to include health care
professionals (namely physicians, nurses, doctorates in health sciences,
M.P.H.=s and other public health professionals, and graduate and
professional level degree students in related fields). Please note that we
will include a disclaimer stating that affiliations are for identification
purposes only.
We plan, at a minimum, to deliver this statement to President Bush and the
Congress and, if it gains sufficient response, to the media and possibly in
display ads.
Please respond by e-mail to: response@psr.org
JUSTICE AND SECURITY: NOT REVENGE
As individuals and organizations drawing upon the ancient tradition and
values of physicians and health professionals as healers, teachers, and
servants of the health and well-being of individuals and societies
regardless of their condition or beliefs, we members of the medical and
public health community call upon President Bush and the nation to exercise
restraint in seeking to bring to justice those responsible for the heinous
terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
We specifically are concerned at this critical moment that the nation live
up to its highest ideals which include respect for human life, democracy,
human rights and the rule of law. We call for justice and security, not
revenge.
We therefore do not believe that terrorism is best prevented by the
massive preparations for retaliatory air strikes and other large military
operations currently underway.
In an interdependent world where cities, financial systems,
communications, mass transportation systems, and the infrastructure of
advanced societies are so easily attacked and disrupted, traditional
military responses and outmoded security thinking are of rapidly diminishing
value. Indeed, most casualties in conflicts of all kinds have, in recent
history, been suffered by civilians, especially the most vulnerable (women,
children, the elderly and the infirm) across the globe.
Broad scale military attacks on nations harboring terrorists run the risk
of creating civilian casualties and provoking further cycles of revenge and
terror. Our response must not lead to escalation that risks the use of
weapons of mass destruction whether nuclear, chemical, or biological in the
future. What is needed at this turning point in American history is a
reassessment and redefinition of our national security policy. America needs
to reassume its role of cooperative leadership with the rest of the
international community in building an interdependent, just, peaceful and
sustainable global society. This will, indeed, require patience and
perseverance from us as a nation. However, if these horrific events of
indiscriminate violence against America teach us anything, it is that the
old security paradigms of the 20th Century no longer suffice.
Goals for Security and Justice
We therefore believe the United States should work persistently and
patiently with a broad international coalition under international law to
trace and capture those responsible for the September 11 attack. We further
believe that such actions should be carried out without infringing upon or
reducing the civil liberties and freedoms of the American people. The
current national security emergency must not be used as an excuse to
undermine the long-range interests of the American people in maintaining
their freedom, their human rights, an equitable and just society, and a
sustainable and healthy environment.
As physicians and health professionals, we are committed to the promotion
of human health in this country and the rest of the world, and to the
prevention of violence. In the coming weeks and months, we will work with
concerned Americans from all walks of life to promote and implement the
following goals:
a.. Renew America's commitment to international cooperation,
international institutions and international law. The elimination of
terrorism and the building of a more safe, secure, healthy and equitable
world can only be carried out with proper regard for principles embodied in
the United States Constitution, the United Nations Charter, and the
Declaration of Human Rights. In the latter two documents, the US and its
allies codified their efforts after World War II to prevent war and genocide
and to promote global equity and justice. We need a renewed commitment from
America and the international community to put these principles into
practice.
b.. American foreign and economic policy must be restructured to
prioritize international cooperation and economic aid to reduce poverty and
inequity, hunger and disease, and to increase education and human rights at
home and around the globe. High tech weapons and withdrawal from
international treaties and agreements will not protect us from terrorism,
nor create a more just and peaceful world.
c.. Restrict the use of force to actions sufficient to apprehend and
bring to justice those responsible for terrorist attacks on the United
States. We must not validate the values of the terrorists themselves by
using indiscriminate violence in pursuit of our goals. We must be willing to
be both patient and persistent to achieve these fervently desired results.
d.. Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are the ultimate vehicles of
indiscriminate violence. They are useless to prevent or to respond to acts
of terrorism. The proliferation of WMD is the single greatest threat to
American security and to human survival worldwide. America must now move on
an urgent basis to eliminate nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass
destruction from the face of the earth, including chemical and biological
weapons. America must lead the international community to immediately
renounce their use. We must begin by implementing Article VI of the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, and signing, ratifying and abiding by currently
existing treaties banning the production, stockpiling or use of other
weapons of mass destruction. As the leading military power on earth at this
time in human history, America is in a unique position to lead this major
step in the evolution of humanity. We must do this now, not after a
terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction that could destroy a
large city, or more. Our medical infrastructure would be rapidly and
completely overwhelmed and totally unable to deal with even one such
catastrophic event. The only prevention is elimination through verifiable
treaties and unanimous international participation. It is in no one's
interest for WMD to exist.
e.. America must stop the development and deployment of national missile
defense systems and preserve the ABM Treaty. We must forgo the temptation to
unilaterally place offensive weapons in space. This is incompatible with our
highest purpose in leading the world to abolish all weapons of mass
destruction. The tremendous resources involved can be used instead to combat
the real threats to American security: the proliferation of WMD,
environmental degradation and pollution, overpopulation, hunger, disease and
gross economic inequity in the world.
As physicians and health professionals, we hold that life on Earth is
precious, powerful and vulnerable and that human life draws vital sustenance
and coherence from the ecological and social systems in which it
participates. Our commitment to future generations requires that we respond
with vigilance, security and justice to terrorism. At the same time, our
response must strive to lessen the problems of violence, militarism, global
environment degradation and social inequities rather than increase them.
Mere revenge will only leave our children and grandchildren with a more
dangerous, destabilized and chaotic world.
Respectfully,
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Robert K. Musil, Ph.D., M.P.H., CEO and Executive Director
Lee Francis, M.D., M.P.H., President
Roy Farrell, M.D., President-Elect
American Public Health Association
Mohammad N. Akhter, M.D., M.P.H., Executive Director
Michael E. Bird, M.S.W., M.P.H., President
Additional Signers
Howard Frumkin, MD DRPH, FACP, FACOEM
Louis Borgenicht, MD
Harry Keyserling, MD
Robert Gould, MD
Jill Stein, MD
Peter Wilk, MD
Andrew Harris, MD
Joel Chinitz, MD
Erica Frank, MD, MPH
John Shepherd, MD