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| Vandenberg
Air Force Base, California, July 6, 2000 (10:00 a.m PST) - Escalating
its protest against the Pentagon's "Star Wars" missile program, the international
anti-nuclear organization Greenpeace is sending its vessel MV Arctic Sunrise
into waters off the launch site at Vandenberg Air Force base where a test
launch is scheduled for Friday evening. The vessel is headed towards waters designated as a hazard zone by the Air Forces for the purposes of the missile test. The Air Force issued a request Tuesday that ships stay clear of these kind of zones before the test proceeds. Late yesterday Greenpeace USA Executive Director Ellen McPeake sent an urgent letter to President Clinton urging him to cancel this test and the entire Star Wars program before it does any more damage to existing arms control agreements and sparks a new and dangerous nuclear arms race. "Mr. President, you have the finger on the Star Wars button. We urge you take it off and make the world a safer place," the letter read. Aboard the 164 foot Dutch-registered Arctic Sunrise are 23 people, including activists from United States, Russia, France, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, India, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Cook Islands and Turkey. "The Star Wars program is wrong and must be scrapped," said Greenpeace spokesperson John Sprange aboard the Arctic Sunrise. "We want President Clinton to stop this test which puts the United States and the rest of the world at grave risk." Outside Vandenberg's Air Force Base's front gate, Greenpeace continues to maintain an around the clock vigil, with disarmament experts on hand to provide background information to the public the media. |
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