12 October 2007 Media Statement

Anderton joins campaign for apology

Progressive leader Jim Anderton is signing an online petition asking National's John Key to apologise for his comment that the war in Iraq is over.

The petition at www.thewariniraqisnotover.com was set up after Mr Key told Radio New Zealand on Wednesday, 3 October that his party didn't mention Iraq in its foreign policy because,

“Frankly, the war in Iraq is over”.

"It defies belief that a political party could release a foreign policy that doesn't even mention Iraq," Jim Anderton said.

"Iraq is a defining issue in global affairs. The omission of any mention suggests the party really does believe the war is over.

"National's contentment about Iraq is appalling when thousands of coalition troops are being killed there, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis − most of them non-combatants, like children, who get caught in the mess.

"Many New Zealanders are outraged and disgusted by the ongoing killing in Iraq and John Key owes an apology to them as well as to the families of Iraqis whose suffering he hasn't bothered to understand."

The online petition can be seen at:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/iraq_apology/

ENDS

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