Around 100 demonstrators called for an end to both the sanctions against Iraq, and the bombing of Afghanistan, at a rally at the University of Southern California (USC) outside of an auditorium where former Secretary of State Madeleine Albight gave a speech on foreign relations.
This evening around 100 demonstrators held a rally in the center of the USC campus, outside of the building where former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright gave a speech on US foreign relations. The focus of the demonstration, which was clearly visible to audience members as they filed into the auditorium, was two-fold: on the one hand, calling for an immediate end to the US-organized, international sanctions against Iraq, which Albight was instrumental in implementing both as the US Ambassador to the UN and as Clinton's Secretary of State. Many of the signs and banners at the rally bore witness to the devestating effects of these sanctions, which have led to an estimated 1 million dead. And, on the other hand, the demonstrators were calling for an immediate cessation of the bombing of Afghanistan, and an end to the "War" on terrorism, which former Secretary Albright has vocally supported.
Following Mrs. Albright's speech on US foreign relations, during the ensuing question and answer period, audience members occasionally heckled her; especially as she attempted to deflect criticism about the US policy of sanctions on Iraq.
The demonstrators' signs included these messages:
- Madeline Albright has blood on her hands!
- US War Against Afghanistan: This is not Justice.
- SANCTIONS Created to Control Hussein Only caused the DEATH OF MILLIONS
- Albright has blood on her hands [with a dramatic illustrarion of a blood-soaked hand]
- Albright is a Terrorist
- US Imperialism is Terrorism
- No Blood for Oil
- All victims of US Terrorism: Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Chile, Vieques...
- Sanctions on Iraq kill 5,000 Children a Month
- Uncle Sam wants YOU to blindly support the MURDER of Innocent People in the Name of Justice
- When Bush Says that We are Fighting a War for "Justice" what he really means is "$"
- Israel is an Apartheid State: Free Palestine
- What does Madeleine Albright think about the death of innocent Iraqi children?
Lesley Stahl: "We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, and you know, is the price worth it?"
Madeline Albright: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price -- we think the price is worth it."
From 60 minutes segment "Punishing Saddam" (May 12, 1996).
Please as Madeleine Albright: Why are children in Iraq denied basic vaccines and medicines?
Original: At USC, Protesters Oppose Albright, Sanctions, and War