Candidate Brouillet Protest Arrest

Press Release

Green Party Congressional Candidate Carol Brouillet was arrested at a protest in front of Lockheed Martin on Good Friday in an action sponsored by Pacific Life Community (wevigil.org), an organization founded in 1974 to oppose the continuing development of nuclear arms and the escalation of the arms race. Lockheed Martin is the world's largest arms exporter and the manager for the Trident class of nuclear missiles. It is the Krupp of the contemporary world, selling arms to combatants on both sides of most conflicts.

Pacific Life Community states: "Instead of devoting over half of the government budget to arms and wars, the government could be providing better health care, building up our infrastructure, reopening and improving our schools, and helping all to find a decent place to live…In 2008 Lockheed-Martin received and average $260 from each taxpaying family--a figure that grows each year as a result of corporate-dominated Pentagon spending."

Ms. Brouillet opposes our continued war in Afghanistan and the global reach of the U.S. military through its 761 military bases on foreign soil. "We must pull our troops out of the quagmire of Afghanistan and bring them home as quickly as possible. Then we must begin to shut down our intrusive military bases throughout the world, especially in places like Okinawa where citizens demonstrate daily against our presence there," states Ms. Brouillet.

Heartened by the recent polls that show the majority of Americans support an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, Ms. Brouillet continues: "Why would we want our troops in a place called "the graveyard of empires'? Alexander the Great, the Persians, the Romans, Genghis Khan, the British Empire and in our era the Soviet Union all were unable to pacify Afghanistan. What hubris to think that we can solve their problems for them."

But at the heart of Brouillet's campaign and the Green Party platform is non-violence: the resolution of conflicts through diplomacy and united, peaceful, action with the world community. A timely dismantling of our military apparatus would literally free up $500 billion to $1 trillion every year, money desperately needed to fund social services and job programs to put our country back to work and provide a strong safety net for the most vulnerable members of our society.

In contrast, Ms. Brouillet's 20-year incumbent opponent voted to authorize the use of force in Afghanistan and has repeatedly voted to fund the wars. "At almost every turn," Ms. Brouillet concludes, "my opponent has chosen war over peace. It is time we retire her and have a peace candidate representing the people of the 18th district."

Ms. Brouillet states in her blog (communitycurrency.org) "I greatly appreciated the spirit, courage and persistence of those who stood in solidarity, knowing that we really did represent the vast majority of people who oppose nuclear terrorism, endless war for endless profits, and yearn for a healthy, peaceful world for their children and all children."

Source