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Please take five minutes NOW to call or fax Rep. Nancy Pelosi and say "No!" to Rep. Tom Lantos as Chairman of the House International Affairs Committee. (See below for Pelosi's contact info.) And, if you can, also contact as many other House Democrats as possible.

Reportedly, Democrats in the House of Representatives will choose their leaders as soon as tomorrow (Thursday, November 16).

Reportedly, Representative Tom Lantos--whose 12th district includes southwest San Francisco and Peninsula cities south of San Francisco--is slated to become Chairman of the House International Affairs Committee.

As Chairman, he would have a great deal of control over what kind of legislation is or isn't allowed to emerge from the Committee to be considered by the full House.

But on matters of war, peace, and diplomacy--especially concerning the Middle East--Tom Lantos seems to be anything but a "San Francisco Liberal."

Consider Rep. Lantos' perspective on Iraq, as reported on September 30, 2002 by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz:

"'My dear Colette, don't worry,' said Tom Lantos, the California congressman, as he tried to calm MK Colette Avital of the Labor Party, who was visiting Capitol Hill last week as part of a delegation of the Peace Coalition. 'You won't have any problem with Saddam,' the Jewish congressman continued. 'We'll be rid of the bastard soon enough. And in his place we'll install a pro-Western dictator, who will be good for us and for you.' Lantos explained to his guest from Israel that there's no lack of Iraqi opposition figures in exile, but until they learn how to run a state, 'we'll be there.'"

(For the full article, see www.informationclearinghouse.info/article1548.htm)

Consider also how Rep. Lantos helped "market" the first Gulf War:

"In 1990, Congressman Thomas Lantos organized hearings of the House Human Rights Caucus, which he is co-chair of, and brought a 'nurse' to testify that she had seen Iraqi soldiers pull 'incubator tubes out of babies in a Kuwaiti hospital.' This allegedly 'nurse' that Lantos had brought to his hearings happened to be a Kuwaiti ambassador's daughter, and had never been in the hospital at the time of the invasion. This 'hearing' took place just before the vote to initiate the Gulf War and was used to get the votes for the war. In reality, Citizens for a Free Kuwait, organized by the exiled Kuwaiti government, had hired Hill & Knowlton to gain support for the US counterstrike. Hill & Knowlton was paid US $14 million by the US government for its help in promoting the Gulf War. It was not revealed until later that the girl was actually the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US. Frieda Construe-Nag and Myra Ancog Cooke, two maternity nurses in that ward, later said that they had never seen Nayirah there and that the baby-dumping had never happened."

(From "Nurse Nayirah" at www.visualstatistics.net/East-West/Nurse%20Nayirah/Nurse%20Nayirah.htm)

For much more on Rep. Lantos, download yesterday's (November 14's) "Flashpoints" show from KPFA/Pacifica Radio, at www.flashpoints.net. Also, check out his ratings at www.peacemajority.org--and compare his ratings to those of, say, Rep. Barbara Lee.

> HOW TO CONTACT NANCY PELOSI

In San Francisco:

Phone: (415) 556-4862
Fax: (415) 861-1670

In Washington, D.C.:

Phone: (202) 225-4965
Fax: (202) 225-8259

For contact info for other House Democrats, see www.Congress.org