FRIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIAN PEACE COMMITTEE OZPEACE CAMPAIGN FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND DISARMAMENT (CICD) PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT(PND) W.A., IRAQ WEAPONS INSPECTIONS WELCOMED: LETS HAVE WMD INSPECTIONS FOR EVERYBODY

As UN weapons inspectors return to Baghdad, Australian peace groups have welcomed the inspections. So welcome are the inspections in fact, according to the groups, that everybody, and especially the US, Russia, China, France, the UK, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel should have them too.

Last week, a team of 'Citizen Nuclear Weapons Inspectors' was prevented by police from inspecting the main US nuclear weapons laboratories at Lawrence Livermore in California.

According to the peace groups: "It's clear enough from their statements that the Bush administration does not wish the inspections to be a success at all, and is looking for a 'tripwire' that it can use at the slightest excuse to initiate war. It is also clear from the reports that the inspectors themselves are determined to do as good a job as possible in the circumstances. Nonetheless, the recent UN resolution contains many 'tripwires' for war."

"Instead of looking for an excuse to commence hostilities, what the world should really be doing is trying genuinely to solve the problem of weapons of mass destruction. If the US really had the slightest interest in doing that it would commence inspections not only of Iraqi WMD, but of weapons of mass destruction in the countries that we know for certain actually have them - starting with the 12,000 nuclear warheads in the US, the 22,000 in Russia, the 400 in France and China, the 250 in the UK, and the unknown numbers in India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, before looking at the most probable zero warheads in Iraq."

"The prevention of a citizens inspection for weapons of mass destruction at Livermore Laboratories last week shows that the US in fact has no interest in solving the problems posed by weapons of mass destruction, and only wants an excuse to go to war with Iraq."

"The Australian government should be telling the US that it will have nothing to do with a gratuitous and hypocritical war on Iraq."

November 30/December 1 will be a weekend of nationwide protests against war with Iraq, with actions in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin, Canberra, Brisbane, and Perth. The Sydney 'Walk Against War', will commence at 12 noon Nov. 30 at the Town Hall and will be addressed by John Pilger, Sharan Burrows, Bishop Pat Power, Sheikh Taj Aldin Al Hilalli, Jenny Morris, and others.

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