For Immediate Release

Contact: Dexter Kamilewicz 653-0770
Debbie Atwood 504-1918

Dexter Kamilewicz, the Independent candidate for Maine’s 1st Congressional District, calls U.S. led sanctions on North Korea hypocritical.

“The U.S. says that North Korea and Iran are wrong to be building nuclear weapons of mass destruction because they are ‘evil.’ At the same time the U.S. has over 7,000 nuclear weapons of its own. In addition, the U.S. is now building new generations of ‘mini-nukes’ and space weapons. Seymour Hersch at The New Yorker magazine reports that these new battlefield nuclear weapons are being considered for use by the Pentagon in a pending U.S. attack on Iran. I call on my opponents in this race to speak out now against American nuclear hypocrisy,” Kamilewicz says.

Kamilewicz reports that Rep. Tom Allen voted in favor of the U.S.-India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act on July 26, 2006. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll411.xml The bill lays the groundwork to promote the expansion of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in a region of Southern Asia that is already considered a flashpoint for nuclear war. India has refused to sign the U.N.’s Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and the new legislation excludes a requirement for India to sign the NPT. Most progressive members of the House of Representatives voted no on the bill.

“Once again I find that Tom Allen is speaking out of both sides of his mouth. He joins the criticism of North Korea and he voted for a resolution calling for regime change in Iran and then votes for the U.S.-India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act. Peace activists in India are saying that this deal would help the Indian government build 30-40 more nuclear weapons per year on top of the 100 they already have and inflame tensions with their neighbors Pakistan and China. This amounts to a new arms race in Asia. Only the weapons corporations will profit and the world will be more dangerous as a result of this deceptive bill.” Kamilewicz says.

“I am against nuclear weapons, period. The U.S. should dismantle its entire stockpile of nuclear weapons and instead should work for a nuclear weapons free world, including North Korea and Iran. The U.S. is ignoring its responsibility under the NPT that calls on us to destroy our nuclear weapons, not build new generations of them. To help India expand its nuclear program is sheer hypocrisy. It is no wonder that people all over the world believe that America has gone crazy,” Kamilewicz concluded.

www.dexterforcongress.org

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