(516)741-4360 – email:lipeace@verizon.net – www.longislandpeace.org

For Immediate Release Contact: Margaret Melkonian, 516-640-0980 (cell)
April 15, 2008 516-538-0299 (h) or Email: mmelmc@yahoo.com

LONG ISLAND TAX BILL FOR IRAQ WAR
$10.8 BILLION SO FAR

The war in Iraq that has lasted more than five years has cost Nassau taxpayers $5.5 Billion so far. Suffolk taxpayers have paid $5.3 Billion.

According to the National Priorities Project (www.nationalpriorities.org), the $10.8 Billion spent on the war could have provided 1,981,739 people with Health Care; 61,090 affordable housing units; 124,473 new elementary school teachers; 1,224,414, Head Start places for children; 3,755,387 children with Health Care; and more – school lunches, renewable energy for millions of homes, and medical and educational benefits for returning veterans.

“The money spent on war…does not stimulate the economy as much as money spent on hospitals or research or schools…”according to Stiglitz and Bilmes, authors of The $3 Trillion War.

$5,000 every second. $720 every day. $12 Billion a month. The war in Iraq has cost over $520 Billion since it began in 2003. According to Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, the $12 Billion a month does not include the “future costs of caring for the estimated 40% of returning veterans that are likely to suffer from disabilities” and those requiring long-term care.

With the deaths of over 4000 US soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and many more wounded, taxpayers should be aware of the human and economic costs of this tragic war. “The only winners have been the defense and oil companies and military contractors, like Blackwater, says Megan O’Handley, Alliance Co-Director.

“Taxpayers should be asking some tough questions this week as we pay taxes - $16,500 for every family of four. When LI representatives are asked to vote for another $110 billion in ‘emergency’ funding for the war in Iraq, the LI Alliance and others will urge them to vote NO on more war funding,” says O’Handley.

According to Hofstra economist, Martin Melkonian, “There are increasing pressures on local and state governments to cut essential programs and services because of federal budget cutbacks. Long Islanders are also feeling the pain in rising food, gas, electricity and housing costs. This is unsustainable in the long haul and demonstrates the economic consequences of the war and a huge military budget.”
For more information, contact:
Megan O’Handley, 516-741-4360, www.longislandpeace.org

 

 

Newsday.com March 18, 2008

LI groups mark Iraq anniversary with anti-war vigils
BY RHODA AMON

rhoda.amon@newsday.com

Press conference at the press room in the NYS Supreme Court Building in Mineola by the Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives. From left: Sr. Mary Beth Moore, SC, of Pax Christi LI, Sue Donnelly, Code Pink LI, Edward Ciaccio, MoveOn Nassau/Queens, in back row Vicki Loudis, MoveOn, Margaret Melkonian, LI Alliance, and Martin Melkonian, Economist, Hofstra University. (Newsday/ Ken Spencer / March 19, 2008)

Hundreds of peace activists will demonstrate and hold vigils Wednesday to mark the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, remembering the nearly 4,000 American troops and more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians killed since the start of the war.

One of the largest demonstrations will start at 5 p.m. at Old Country and Glen Cove roads, opposite the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City. Others are scheduled in Patchogue, Huntington, Commack, Shirley and Valley Stream.

The Long Island events are part of nationwide end-the-war demonstrations planned in Washington, D.C., and 600 other communities. More than 200 people are expected to attend the Old Country Road vigil with signs, banners and drums to "visibly demonstrate strong support on Long Island for an end to the U.S. occupation in Iraq and for bringing our soldiers home as quickly as possible," said Margaret Melkonian, co-director of the Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives.

The alliance is coordinating the Garden City vigil with other peace groups, including MoveOn Queens/Nassau, Long Island Veterans for Peace, CodePink Long Island Women for Peace and Pax Christi Long Island, the Catholic peace movement.

The Rev. William Brisotti, of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Wyandanch, will celebrate a Mass for Peace on Tuesday night on behalf of Pax Christi.

The events have no political ties, said Sister Mary Beth Moore, coordinator for Pax Christi Long Island. "We encourage all people of good will to join us in the fight for peace," she said.

In Washington, plans call for "a massive day of creative, nonviolent action and civil disobedience," according to United for Peace and Justice.

The focus will be on "interrupting business as usual for those promoting and profiting from war," according to the Web site 5yearstoomany.org.

On Long Island, groups will also visit congressional offices to "demand that Long Island representatives vote no on [ President George W.] Bush's additional supplemental request of $102.5 billion for continuing the war and occupation," according to Melkonian and Megan O'Handley, her co-directors of the Long Island Alliance.

The groups will ask that funding be provided instead for medical care for returning veterans and rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. "The war has cost over $500 billion," Melkonian said.

Sites of other peace vigils today:

The armed forces recruiting center on East Main Street in Patchogue at 6 p.m.
War Memorial at the split of Veterans Highway and Jericho Turnpike in Commack at 7 p.m.
William Floyd Parkway and Montauk Highway in Shirley at 4 p.m.
Main Street between Route 110 and Wall Street in Huntington at 7 p.m.
Peninsula and Gibson boulevards in Valley Stream at 7 p.m.

Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.

 

LI ALLIANCE WILL MOURN DEATHS OF ALMOST 4000 U.S. SOLDIERS
AND MARK THE 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR IN IRAQ
AT A VIGIL ON MARCH 19, 2008

The Long Island Alliance and other peace groups will mark the 5th Anniversary of the War in Iraq at a Peace Vigil on Wednesday, March 19th from 5 to 6 p.m. on the corner of Old Country and Glen Cove Roads across from the entrance of Roosevelt Field in Garden City.
More than 200 Long Islanders are expected to demonstrate their strong support for an end to the U.S. occupation in Iraq and for the rapid withdrawal of all U.S. soldiers.
Long Islanders will be joining thousands of citizens who will mourn the deaths of almost 4,000 U.S. soldiers and an estimated 1 million Iraqis. Actions will take place in Washington D.C and in hundreds of communities around the country. For information about national actions, www.5yearstoomany.org or contact United for Peace and Justice at 1-212-868-5545.
In addition to the Peace Vigil, groups will visit congressional offices to make clear their demand that L.I. representatives vote no on Bush’s additional supplemental request of $102.5 Billion for continuing the war and occupation. Instead, funding should be approved to provide medical care for returning veterans and for the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq. So far, the war has cost over $500 Billion.
The March 19th Peace Vigil is being organized by the LI Alliance with MoveOn Queens/Nassau, Great Neck Peace Action, Pax Christi LI, The Interfaith Alliance LI, Social Justice Committee of the UUCSR, LI Veterans for Peace and Code Pink LI.
For more information: contact Margaret Melkonian Megan O’Handley, LI Alliance at 516-741-4360.

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