United Neighbors

[IM_Moore]

The article below is from an Arizona newspaper. It raises an interesting question weapons of mass destruction. The last two sentences should be of special note, apparently our weapons are special while everyone elses are considered dangerous.

 

I would like for each of you to take the time to read this article ... then pray for peace -please.

 

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8 protesters arrested at Tucson Raytheon site

DAVID PITTMAN

Tucson Citizen

Feb. 13, 2003

Eight people were arrested for trespassing by Pima County Sheriff's Police just after noon today in a peace protest at the main gate of Raytheon Missile Systems.

Clad in yellow hard hats, white lab coats and "U.N." arm bands, the eight people arrested were part of a group of 50 protesters who came to the facility "to interview Raytheon scientists and inspect documents and production facilities for evidence of illegal weapons production."

The group called itself "United Neighbors" and Keith McHenry, one of those arrested, was identified as "general secretary" of the group.

"We are here to enforce international law," said McHenry, who led protesters to the main gate of Raytheon, 1151 E. Hermans Road, which is south of Valencia just off Old Nogales Highway. "We want to verify that no weapons of mass destruction are here," he said.

Once at the main gate, protesters were told by plant security to leave the property or they would be arrested by Pima County Sheriff's deputies who were on hand for the scheduled protest.

"You folks are trespassing and we are asking you to leave," said a plant security guard. "If you folks don't leave now I will ask the sheriff's department to arrest you."

Eight protesters refused to go, insisting they wanted to inspect the facility. They were immediately arrested and the rest of the group agreed to leave.

Those arrested were given citations for trespassing at the scene, placed in a van and driven off the property and released.

Bill Moeller, 49, a Tucson carpenter, was among those arrested.

"The police behaved very honorably," he said. "They did stop us from inspecting the facility."

Moeller said that if allowed into the plant, the group would have taken pictures of missile production and searched documentation and sent that information to the United Nationas.

"Frankly, we didn't think we would get in," he said, "but we were prepared to do that if we had been allowed."

Moeller is supportive of the U.N. inspectors looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but said it is hypocritical of the United States "to demand others stop producing weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. is the biggest producer of such weapons in the world."

Moeller said his citation calls on him to appear in Pima County Superior Court for an initial court date March 7.

Sara Hammond, a Raytheon spokeswoman, said the company's plant is "a secure facility" and that the only people allowed in are "employees, contractors and others who have business here."

Hammond said Raytheon does not produce weapons of mass destruction.

"Our weapons are tactical and precision guided," she said.

[Guest Merlin]

International Law does not prohibit our nuclear weapons, but it does prohibit the spread of such weapons to other countries. There is to be sure an inconsistency there but the treaties were designed to prevent the proliferation. It would be nice if we could destroy all our mass weapons, but that will not be possible until the time comes when it will be possible to destroy them all over the world and be certain that no new ones are created. The treat of Mutual Assured Destruction by nuclear weapons is what prevented the Cold War from becoming World War III. But that mutual threat will not work if mass weapons fall into the hands of suicidal fanatics. They are quite willing to commit suicide to be with a hundred virgins in paradise, and we cannot retaliate against the terrorists with mass weapons because we do not know where they are and we would kill thousands of innocent civilians.