The Birmingham Press Project is planning a press conference Saturday, July 12 to respond to Alabama Gov. Bob Riley's comments supporting President George W. Bush on the Iraq war.

The press conference will begin at about 4:15 at the Birmingham Festival Theatre, at 1901-1/2 11th Avenue South. From there, a peace vigil will proceed to the Five Points South fountain.

At a news conference last Tuesday, Gov. Bob Riley said: "I've never talked to a person in the military yet who didn't say we ought to stay and we ought to win the war."

According to the peace group's press release, the Birmingham Peace Project is "unable to remain silent before this blatantly ill-informed assertion."

In cooperation with Pax Christi, the group has invited Gov. Riley to meet Iraq veteran and creator of the one-man show "The Eyes of Babylon," former U.S. Marine Jeff Key, along with former Navy recruiter Susan Mims, Veteran for Peace leader David Waters and others who will afford him the opportunity to meet military personnel who, for many reasons, condemn the Iraq War.

Also, the group condemns the ongoing war in Lebanon.

"Israel rains terror upon those least able to defend themselves, the helpless civilian populations who are unable to flee, cutting off humanitarian aid channels with funds and arms supplied by the U.S.," the group says. "The Birmingham Peace Project stands in solidarity with International ANSWER in demanding that the people of the United States reject the quest for wider wars and the 'reorganization' of the oil-rich Middle East to serve the interests of the already bloated energy companies, and instead spend these public funds on those things the people of this country need, including education, jobs and rebuilding of the Gulf Coast."