The local anti-war group ACTIVATE strongly denounces the presence of former Secretary of Defense William Cohen who is speaking in Grand Rapids tonight. As Secretary of Defense Cohen participated in numerous war crimes such as the 1998 bombing of a pharmaceutical plant in the Sudan and the bombing of innocent civilians in Kosovo.

The larger crimes were committed in Iraq, where in addition to numerous bombings of civilian targets, former Secretary Cohen was also complicit in the US imposed sanctions on Iraq, which according to UNICEF caused the deaths of 500,000 children under the age of 5.

Cohen also supports the current US occupation of Iraq according to a statement he made in the Grand Rapids Press on April 9. He stated that leaving Iraq now would leave the country “unstable,” which not only doesn’t take into account that most Iraqis want the US to leave, such a statement doesn’t acknowledge that the “instability” has been caused by the US military occupation and its brutal campaign against the Iraqi resistance.

For more information that takes a critical look at William Cohen go to http://www.mediamouse.org/features/040707forme.php