JUSTICE AND SECURITY: NOT REVENGE (sign-on statement)
http://www.psr.org/s11/s11signon.html

This statement initiated by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) urges restraint and respect for law and is aimed at obtaining sign-ons by individuals and organizations in the medical and health community. PSR represents more than 20,000 physicians, nurses, and health care professionals devoted to nuclear disarmament, violence prevention, and environmental health.

PSR Statement on the events of September 11, 2001.

Physicians for Social Responsibility is saddened and shocked by the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 on our nation's capital and the financial center of New York. We grieve at the horrific loss of innocent lives and condemn in the strongest possible terms such attacks on the United States, especially the cowardly use of hijacked civilian passenger aircraft as weapons of terror. Terrorist attacks like this indeed strike at the very heart of civilized society around the globe.

We call on physicians and health professionals throughout the nation to do all in their power to assist in the extraordinary efforts needed to provide medical care to the large numbers of injured and traumatized citizens who have suffered from these attacks. Our thoughts and prayers are especially with those families whose loved ones have been killed or whose fates are as yet unknown.

PSR also acknowledges with profound gratitude the large number of messages and resolutions of condolence and support that we have received here in Washington from physicians and organizations around the world.

We recognize and approve UN Security Council Resolution 1368 of September 12 which calls on all states to work cooperatively to bring the perpetrators of these terrorist attacks to justice under law. It is only within the framework of international cooperation and law that terrorism can be effectively addressed.

As an organization committed to preventing war and to reducing violence and its causes, PSR calls on the United States government to expeditiously investigate and apprehend those people and organizations responsible for these horrible deeds. As Americans, we are experiencing deep feelings of anger and sorrow. Nevertheless, we strongly caution against commencing a cycle of retaliatory attacks and reprisals that will only fuel further violence and erode the rule of law. We also believe that all Americans and our government must at this moment cling steadfastly to the ideals of openness, tolerance, civil liberties, and robust debate that are the hallmarks of our democracy at its best.

PSR is also reminded of the very real need for the our nation to reassess our security priorities in the wake of this heinous attack. Clearly, our government's current proposals to build at great expense a vast missile defense system would have proved useless on September 11th. We believe that such immense sums would be better spent in improving security within the United States, in reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, in helping to rebuild and assist victims in New York and Washington, and in beginning to address the inequities in our society and in the world that help breed hatred, violence, and terrorism.

As we weep for our country and take pride in the compassion and heroism that so many of our fellow Americans have shown in this hour, we know that such scenes of human devastation--whether from war, civil conflict, terrorism, poverty, environmental degradation, starvation, or disease--are all too frequent around the globe. These are our true common enemies. PSR believes, as with any disease, that it is the prevention of violence that will be our most effective remedy. If there is any hope to be found in this tragedy, it is that Americans and the world may at this time more deeply recognize our common humanity, its preciousness and fragility, and the need to commit ourselves once again to building a more just, equitable, and peaceful global society.