APHA Passes Interim Policy Against the War

Submitted by Karyn L. Pomerantz, Distance Education Program, SPHHS, GWU

The American Public Health Association (APHA) held its annual meeting from October 21-25 under the theme of “One World - Global Health.” Chief among many discussions in the scientific sessions and plenaries was the war in Afghanistan and the public health response to emergency situations in the U.S.

This was also a major topic for APHA's policy bodies. Each year, the Governing Council, APHA's representative legislative body, and its sections, caucuses, Special Interest Groups, and affiliates consider approximately 40 resolutions on environmental health, social concerns, medical care, and public health programs that serve as a basis for APHA's national and local advocacy work. This year, the Governing Council passed resolutions calling for increased funding for the public health infrastructure to deal with emerging and routine outbreaks of disease, for social justice, and an end to the war in Afghanistan. These resolutions will be published in a later issue of the American Journal of Public Health and posted on the APHA web page at http://www.apha.org under policy and legislative affairs.

The following are excerpts from the resolution, “Opposing War in Southwest Asia,” passed as interim policy:

“The American Public Health Association, affirms its historic mission of promoting the public health and . affirms its opposition to wars motivated by economic objectives, such as dominance over regions rich in petroleum reserves . and considers that economic conflicts on this scale are not in the interests of ordinary civilians or the soldiers of the countries concerned, rather that these economic conflicts serve the needs of energy corporations interested in exploiting resources in the region of conflict.”

The resolution declares its opposition to military actions in the region and calls on the government to end these actions, use international organizations to bring the perpetrators to justice, and provide substantial humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. This political and economic explanation for the “war against terrorism” is not one commonly seen on the media channels of CNN, Fox News, and the New York Times. The following resources offer a sample of alternative explanations for the war and the effects of US policy on civilian populations in the Middle East and Asia. For information professionals, the control of information is especially relevant. The last two references cite an article and web page documenting examples of U.S. government and media control of information channels and content; the final reference links to Palestinian web pages whose information and perspectives are routinely absent from major news sources.

1. Horton R. Commentary: Public health - a neglected counter terrorist measure. The Lancet. October 6, 2001;358:1112-3. Describes the health status of Afghani people and calls for social justice and humanitarian support.
2. Yergin D. The Prize: The Epic quest for oil, money and power. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1991. Relates the history of national and global conflicts over the control of oil. “The fierce and sometimes violent quest for oil and the riches and power it conveys will surely continue so long as oil holds a central place.” (P. 781).
3. United States Energy Information Administration of the US Department of Energy web pages (country specific) detail the oil and gas reserves, and pipelines of each country. See the pages for Afghanistan and Iraq at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/afghan.html and http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/iraq.html. Viewed on October 19, 2001.
4. Klare M. The Geopolitics of War. The Nation. http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20011105&s=klare. Also see The Nation's page of links to articles and web pages from U.S. and non-U.S. publications on Islam, the Taliban and women, U.S. foreign policy, activist groups, and organizations collecting donations for restaurant and janitorial workers killed on September 11. http://thenation.com/special/wtc/index.mhtml. Viewed on October 28, 2001 [Ed. note: Link no longer active].
5. List of articles on the web from alternative media sources, such as Z Magazine (including an incomplete list of U.S. military and political interventions in the U.S. and world), Mother Jones, Counterpunch, and many more. From the anti-war group, War Is Not the Answer, at http://fargo.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/~rb578/peace/.
6. Challenge-Desafio, the revolutionary communist newspaper of the Progressive Labor Party,http://www.plp.org. Viewed on October 28, 2001. Carries analyses of the economic and political rivalries between Bin Laden, the U.S. oil companies and government, and the Saudi rulers. Encourages unity among the public of all countries to protect common needs and interests.
7. U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century. Report (also known as the Hart-Rudman Report). Published in 1999, it crafts a national plan for homeland defense and predicts assaults on U.S. territory. Executive summary at http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/terror/01013102.htm. Viewed on October 28, 2001. Full report at http://www.nssg.gov.
8. Duncan Campbell. U.S. buys up all satellite war images. Guardian. October 17, 2001. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4278871,00.html. Viewed on October 28, 2001. Reports on “shutter control” - how the U.S. military bought satellite pictures of the bombing in Afghanistan to “prevent western media from seeing highly accurate civilian satellite pictures of the effects of bombing in Afghanistan.”
9. FAIR: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting web page. Links to many online articles that document biased portrayal of the news on terrorism, Islam, peace demonstrations, humanitarian aid, and other timely topics. http://www.fair.org. Viewed on October 28, 2001.
10. The Complete Guide to Palestine's Web Pages by Bir Zeit University. Includes links to organizations involved in the arts, tourism, politics, and human rights, including B'Tselem, the Israeli Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories at http://www.btselem.org. Overall site at http://www.birzeit.edu/links/glance.html. Viewed October 28, 2001.

Return to the PH/HA Newsletter Winter 2001/02 Issue