Iran: War is Not The Answer

Catherine Thomasson, MD, the national president of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), will talk about what peaceful solutions lay ahead for Iran and the United States at UCSF today, June 21.

An educator and advocate for peace, Thomasson visited Iran in March as part of a friendship delegation sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. She attended meetings with Iranian religious, educational and political leaders and others.

“We were warmly greeted and advised that the people of Iran love the people of America,” she wrote on March 7. “They clearly differentiate between the people and the government. Several senior physicians and health professionals with
whom I met clearly and emphatically emphasized that sanctions and the threats of war from the United States strengthen the hand of the hard-liners in Iran -- and that if any military attack were to occur that military and social repression within the country would create ‘a country with more repression than North Korea.’ It is evident as well that this action would undoubtedly convince the hard-liners that nuclear weapons are justified for national security. Hardly the desired outcome.”

Thomasson, an internist who works at Portland State University Student Health, will discuss common misconceptions about Iran and what missteps the Bush administration has taken in its relationship with Iran. Thomasson also will share her insights into Iranian history and political structure.

The presentation is co-sponsored by the UCSF Iraq Action Group and San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Physicians for Social Responsibility is a nonprofit advocacy organization that is the medical and public health voice for policies to stop nuclear war and proliferation and to slow, stop and reverse global warming and toxic degradation of the environment.

Related Links:

Fellowship of Reconciliation: A Letter from Catherine Thomasson
http://www.forusa.org/programs/iran/thomasson070307letter.htm

Iraq Action Group at UCSF
http://www.iraqactiongroup.org/

Physicians for Social Responsibility
http://www.psr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Home

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Open to the public. Free.