Des Moines: Conference on 9/11 to Assess Global Security on Third Anniversary of War on Terrorism
The public is welcome
A unique educational event will take place in Des Moines on September 11.
The conference, “National Security and the New Arms Race: Impact on our Health, Environment and Humanity”
will explore critical questions about achieving collective and
individual health and security in an increasingly unstable and violent
world. George E. Moose, United States Ambassador, will be the keynote
speaker. A panel of physicians and nuclear weapons experts will discuss
the escalating unhealthy costs of the new nuclear arms race to health,
the environment and the economy.
The
conference will open with an interfaith memorial to all who have
suffered or died as a result of the attack on 9/11 – both in the U.S.
and abroad. At the conclusion of the memorial, conference participants
will consider whether on the eve of the 4th year of this war, the world
is more secure or less than it was before 9/11. Conference
participants, including health care, religious and academic leaders,
students and peace and justice activists, will be encouraged to explore
ways to work together to abolish the threat of terrorism and weapons of
mass destruction.
“We hope
the conference will motivate a diverse group of concerned Iowans to
seek alternative responses to terrorism. Investing in diplomacy,
communicating ideas and sharing common values with alienated and
persecuted peoples and nations, and addressing the root causes of
terrorism will help us reclaim our role as peacekeepers and conflict
mediators,” according to The Rev. Paul Fraser of Ecumenical Ministries
of Iowa, one of the conference’s co-sponsors. The conference will
present Physicians for Social Responsibility’s SMART Security Platform:
a Sensible, Multilateral, American Response to Terrorism. This platform
has been affirmed by a diverse group of religious leaders in Iowa.
Sponsors
include the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of
Medicine and Physicians for Social Responsibility in cooperation with
Ecumenical Ministries of Iowa, Drake Center for Global Citizenship,
American Friends Service Committee and Iowa United Nations Association.
The conference will be held on September 11 in the Des
Moines Botanical Center, and will open at 8:30 a.m. and adjourn at 4:30
p.m. Conference registration is $35.00 for general public and
$20.00 for students. To register, contact mickiq@earthlink.net or visit www.iowa-psr.org. Walk-ins will also be welcome on the day of the event.
On the eve of the Conference, Friday, September 10
at 8 p.m., Ambassador Moose will address “The US Role in Globalization:
Present and Future” at the Drake University’s Performing Arts Hall of
the Harmon Fine Arts Center on 25th and Carpenter in Des Moines.
A brochure is available to download at http://www.iowachurches.org/
Blog For Iowa 