August 20, 1998
50 W. 96th Street, #3D
New York NY 10025
President William J. Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20500
An Open Letter to President Clinton,
The undersigned librarians, library workers, information professionals and
library school students deplore the bombing of Afghanistan and Sudan in
retaliation for the terrorist attacks of the American embassies in Kenya
and Tanzania.
While there is no doubt that the perpetrators of the cowardly and deadly
embassy attacks should be apprehended and tried, and their co-conspirators
brought before the international bar of justice, this kind of collective
punishment carried out by US forces at the command of President Clinton
only fuels the flames of hatred which underlie these conflicts. It is also
irresponsible, unethical, a probable violation of international law itself,
and of dubious value in defending the US against terrorism.
We call on the president and Congress to stay the hand of further military
response in the interests of justice, peace, and stability, and urge that
the capture and punishment of those responsible for the American embassy
bombings be conducted according to international law.
Sincerely,
Mark Rosenzweig, Hofstra University
and
J.C. Anemaet, Oregon State University
Carol Barta, Barton County Community College
Sanford Berman, Hennepin County Library
Kate Bradley, Bellevue Community College
M. Michelle Brown, Alemany High School Library
Antonio Calvo, San Jose State University
Sherman Clarke, New York University
Diedre Conkling, Lincoln County Library
Sarah Demb, Peabody Museum,
Harvard University
Jan DeSirey, Hennepin County Library
Chris Dodge, Hennepin County Library
Sharon Downs, Drexel University
Ian Duckor, New York State Library
Kim Edson, Hennepin County Library
Sabah Eltareb, California State Library
Sean Fitting, University of San Diego
Jenna Freedman, University of South Florida
Victoria Geissinger, San Jose State University
Lisa R. Giron, Indiana
Peter Graham, Syracuse University
Mora Gregg, University of Manitoba
Elaine Harger, W. Haywood Burns School Library
Valerie Harris, University of Chicago Library
Allen Hengst, Bethesda Public Library
Julie Herrada, University of Michigan
Alison Heyman, San Jose State University
Noha Ismail, Hennepin County Library
Linda Israelson, San Jose State University
Ron Jacobs, University of Vermont
Nick James, University of Leicester UK
Al Kagan, University of Illinois-Champaign/ Urbana
Oliver Kay, Washington
Angelynn King, University of Redlands
Christina Krupp, University of Vermont
Kim Leith, Wayne State University
Rory B. Litwin, San Jose State University
Kenneth Lyons, San Jose State University
Peter McDonald, Cornell University
Michael Malinconico, University of Alabama
Donna Mandel, San Jose State University
Mike L. Marlin, URS Engineering Library
Lianda Martin, South African Library, Cape Town
Chris Mays, San Francisco State University
Brent Miller, California State Library
Mev Miller, Independent Consultant
Sal Morano, Corona Public Library
Daphne Muse
Solveig Nilsen, Hennepin County Library
Gabriela Nocito, San Jose State University
Andrew Osmond, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Linda Lopez Otero, California
Ralph Papakhian, Indiana University
Miriam Pickens, Wayne State University
Linda Pierce, Gonzaga University
Daniella Prag, Stanford University
Laura Quilter, San Francisco CA
Carol Reid, New York State Library
Patricia Rivers, RN, San Jose State University
Lea Rude, San Jose State University
Richard Sapon-White, Oregon State University
Mahir Saul, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Illinois
Mark Scheu
Penny Scott, University of San Francisco
Lisa Sloniowski, York University
Ann Sparanese, Englewood Public Library
Thomas Stuart, Hyde Park NY
Geoffrey D. Swindells, University of Missouri-Columbia
Jennifer L. Till
Theresa A. Tobin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Samuel Trosow, University of California-Berkeley
Mary Tyler, Southern California Library for Social Science and Research
S. Viczko, Saskachawan Workers Compensation Board
Jessamyn West
Celia White, University of Buffalo
Charles Willett, Crises Press
Asako Yoshida, University of North Dakota
Dr. Maurice J. Freedman, Director, Westchester Library System (NY)
Andrea V. Grimes, San Francisco Public Library
Margo Brault, Librarian, Louisiana State University
Catherine M. Bremer, San Francisco Public Library
Suzanne Tronier Salt Lake County Library System
Mary Engle, University of California
Terry Link, Michigan State University
Cathy Camper, Minneapolis Public Library
Zoia Horn, retired librarian
Jim Dwyer, California State University-Chico
Deborah A. Richards, graduate student at Simmons College
Sarah Springer, MLIS student, University of Pittsburg
Note: Above institutional and/or organizational affiliations provided for
information only.
Opinions expressed in this letter are those of the individual signers, and
not necessarily their institutions.
cc Kofi Annan, General-Secretary United Nations
El-Fatik Mohamed Ahmed Erwa, Representative to United Nations from
Republic of Sudan
Mahdi Ibrahim Mohamed, Ambassador to United States from Republic of Sudan
Dr. Ravan A.G. Farhadi, Representative to United Nations from Afghanistan
Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State
William Cohen, US Secretary of Defense
Bill Richardson, Representative to United Nations from United States
United States Congress
Elaine Harger
49 Osborne Terrace
Newark NJ 07108
973/623-7642 home
212/569-0290 ext. 404 work
eharger@tao.agoron.com
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