Group
calls for pressure on Bush to let the inspections work
[12-4-02]
The progressive lobbying group MoveOn has sent a note
to its e-list, encouraging people to sign a statement calling on the
Administration to allow time for the UN inspectors in Iraq to do their
work. It looks now, says the group, as if "the ultra-hawks in the
Bush administration -- Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle -- will not take yes for
an answer. While the rest of the world thinks Iraq has backed down,
these men are beginning a massive public relations blitz for war."
Dear MoveOn member,
Inspections in Iraq have started. Most of us breathed
a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, it's become clear that the ultra-hawks
in the Bush administration -- Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle -- will not take
yes for an answer. While the rest of the world thinks Iraq has backed
down, these men are beginning a massive public relations blitz for war.
With the possibility of a peaceful resolution to this
crisis at hand, we cannot allow a few men to push the world to war. Send
a message to President Bush to let the inspections work at:
http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/
We'll compile your messages and present them to the
Administration, including Secretary of State Powell, and to U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The good news is that the ultra-hawks face some
serious opposition. Secretary of State Colin Powell and other members of
the Bush Administration are willing to give diplomacy a chance, and the
State Department's interpretation of the U.N. resolution is a lot more
reasonable than the White House's interpretation.
But unless wiser heads prevail, this is what we should
expect: (1) starting December 8th, members of the Bush administration
will claim that Iraq is in material breach of the U.N. resolution,
citing supposed omissions in the coming multi-hundred page report, based
on undisclosed intelligence; (2) soon thereafter some "hot"
incident, like anti-aircraft fire on U.S. patrols in the no-fly zone,
will be used to solidify public support for war, and finally (3) the
bombing campaign will begin.
This could all begin before Christmas -- another
wonderful gift to the world from the Bush administration.
President Bush has agreed that war should be the very
last resort. Let's hold him and his administration to those words:
http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/
Please sign on today. We must support policy makers
who will oppose these few extremists in the Bush White House who have
been looking for an excuse for war from the very beginning.
Sincerely,
--Eli Pariser
International Campaigns Director
MoveOn.org
December 4th, 2002
P.S. Here's the text of the message we will send with
the list of compiled individual comments:
Dear Mr. President,
On October 11, the U.S. Congress passed a joint
resolution on Iraq that authorizes you to use war as a last resort -- if
and only if diplomacy fails to accomplish the U.S.'s national goals.
In this context, we are deeply concerned by your
Administration's repeated attempts to frame Iraqi anti-aircraft fire
within the no-fly-zone as a material breach of the resolution. As U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan and other U.N. diplomats have pointed out,
the resolution clearly excludes such events from its jurisdiction.
We are also concerned that you have already found
Iraq's response "not encouraging" when the inspectors have
been at work only for a week and so far have not encountered Iraqi
obstruction.
The United States has made a commitment to approaching
the danger that Saddam Hussein poses through the international
community. The resumption of the inspections regime is a triumph for the
U.S., international law and multilateralism. But the United States will
lose all credibility with its allies if it appears that it will go to
war regardless of the inspections' success. And by alienating and
infuriating allies through unilateral action, the U.S. could throw the
success of the campaign against terrorism into jeopardy.
Mr. President, it appears that your administration is
looking for an excuse to go to war, when a peaceful and just solution
may be at hand. We ask that you live up to your word and give diplomacy
a chance.
We can win without war.
________________
This is a message from MoveOn.org.
