RESPONSE BY CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE GORDON CLARK TO REVELATIONS OF COVERT C.I.A. OPERATIONS IN IRAN

Silver Spring, Maryland (July 3rd, 2008) - 8th District congressional candidate Gordon Clark released the following statement today in reaction to ongoing covert C.I.A. operations inside Iran:

"While our Democratic-led Congress claims to oppose the Bush Administration's reliance on military action and war in the Middle East, it appears they are actually partners in inciting a new war with Iran. For just as Congress is approving potentially disastrous resolutions calling for a blockade of Iran (H. Con. Res. 362 and S.Res.580), we now find out in the Washington Post that Congressional leaders have known about – and last year tacitly approved – the Bush Administration's secret plan to destabilize the Iranian government with $400 million for covert operations.

"It is remarkable that in the face of apparent past diplomatic success (last year's National Intelligence Estimate concluded that Iran ended its active nuclear weapons program in 2003, in part due to diplomatic efforts by the West), as well as their government's apparent openness to negotiations, our own government continues its obdurate refusal to talk directly with Iran. Do Congress and President Bush want peace in the Middle East, or do they actually desire war with Iran?

"The covert operations are even more preposterous when you consider the U.S.'s past attempts to undermine Iran's government. The 1953 CIA-orchestrated overthrow of elected Iranian President Mohammed Mossadegh not only destroyed the only functioning Muslim democracy in the Middle East, it led directly to the bloody twenty-five-year reign of the Shah of Iran, which in turn spawned the anti-U.S. Iranian revolution in 1979. Are Congress and President Bush determined to repeat this terrible history?

"War with Iran – whether directly or via covert attempts to undermine their government – would be a political, economic, and human catastrophe for the Middle East, and for the world. The Washington Post noted that Congress can challenge such covert actions by denying funding. This is precisely what Congress needs to do – in addition to stopping the passage of highly threatening resolutions such as H. Con. Res. 362, and instead start aggressively promoting dialogue with Iran."

Gordon Clark, the Green Party candidate for U. S. Congress from Maryland’s 8th District, has for over twenty years been a community activist in the peace, environmental, nonviolence, and social justice arenas. He is a former National Executive Director of Peace Action, the founder of Iraq Pledge of Resistance (now the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance), and a former Field Director for Public Citizen's Congress Watch.

For more information on the Clark for Congress campaign, call (301) 589-2355, email info@clarkforcongress.net, or visit www.clarkforcongress.net and www.myspace.com/clarkforcongress.

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