The boycott organisers (including Attac, America Watchers, For Mother Earth and Christian Movement for Peace) declare that the US has been acting as a rogue state ever since George W. Bush was elected president. With the boycott of certain US products the growing coalition of NGO’s wants to force the US government to once again join the international community, complying with the rules of the United Nations and international law.

Using hazard warning tape and banners, the non-violent campaigners successfully closed Esso and Texaco petrol stations in Antwerp, Arlon, Bruges, Brussels, Gent, Hasselt and Namur. In most cases the employees of the petrol-stations understood the motivations of the campaigners, and dialogue was possible. Motorists who received flyers calling on them to boycott US oil companies reacted most of the time with a smile and a thumbs-up.

With these new boycott actions, the organisers condemn the illegal war against Iraq and ongoing occupation of the country. These actions follow the statement of Paul Wolfowitz whose open acknowledgement that oil was the main reason for the military operation in Iraq, sparked anger with many people. Wolfowitz admitted that although weapons of mass destruction were presented as the main cause for war, they were only a “bureaucratic excuse” to get support for the military campaign. The recent news coverage of falsified reports about Iraq’s of Weapons of Mass Destruction undermine any last legal ground for the US attack which claimed thousand of civilian victims.

Therefore the boycott campaigners demand the immediate withdrawal of the US occupying forces from Iraq.

They also demand that the US:

allow the UN to take over the civil administration in Iraq as soon as possible

end 'pre-emptive' attacks on other states

actively pursue a two-state solution for Palestine & Israel

stop the use of double standards concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction (e.g. those of Israel and the US's own stocks)

ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

adopt the Kyoto protocol to stop global warming

abandon National Missile Defence & reinstate the ABM Treaty

recognize the competence of the International Criminal Court to prosecute war criminals and cancel all bilateral agreements

respect the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and negotiates a Treaty for complete nuclear disarmament

ratifies Biological Weapons Convention

ratifies 1997 Landmine Treaty

strengthens the Chemical Weapons Convention

“There is blood of thousands of innocent victims on the logos of Esso and Texaco. Both US multinationals –who together donated 2 million US dollars to the 2000 Bush election campaign- are driving forces behind the policies of the Bush administration. As Bush ignored the UN and the international public opinion, today the boycott is the most effective model of action we can offer to any citizen. Everybody can easily register his or her opposition to the US foreign policy by boycotting our list of US products, or all US products. Money is the language which was used by the US to coerce nations into their coalition. The boycott is a language they understand in Washington.” declared Pol D’Huyvetter, spokesperson for For Mother Earth.

Other US multinationals close to the Bush administration, and regular donors to the Republican party, have been the target of boycott activists since the Iraqi crisis. They include Kraft, Philip Morris, Microsoft, Walt Disney, Coca Cola and Pepsi. Consumers can find more information about the boycott and alternative products on http://www.motherearth.org/USboycott/