[Peace-discuss] Fwd: A real alternative to war on Iraq - MUST READ

[Ricky Baldwin]

Jay, I think there's a kernel of something good in
this plan, but in my opinion it's also seriously
flawed.  Hopefully others more insightful and
knowledgeable will chime in, too.

1.  I agree that ultimately Saddam Hussein must be
indicted by an international tribunal, but in order
for such a forum to have any legitimacy, there must
also be a basic principle of equality before
international laws.  The US must endorse and
supportthe International Criminal Court, for example,
and submit to its decisions.  Rule of law means
nothing if the law is only enforced selectively.

2.  Similarly, I think disarmament is the only way -
but not selective disarmament.  UN resolutions from
1990 call for "regional disarmament", don't forget,
and the US has actually been an impediment to nuclear
nonproliferation efforts.  The US needs to show some
leadershipin endingthe international arms trade once
and for all (treat it like the slave trade) and
particularly in NBC (a.k.a. WMD) disarmament.

3.  This part is surely right: "An American viceroy in
an occupied Iraq is the wrong solution. A true
democratic opposition must be identified and
developed, rather than simply identifying forces who
would contribute to a U.S. invasion."  The rest -
occupation, international administration - in my
opinion, assumes an awful lot and would most likely
defeat the purpose of establishing a real democracy.

4 & 5.   Sounds good to me.

6.  I think this suggestion falls farthest from the
mark.  The "war on terrorism" is a phantom, and not a
reasonable project in need of "reinvigorating".  A
real "war on terrorism" would look so different as to
be unrecognizable: close the school of the Americas
and other US-supported terrorist training camps, end
all US support for terror states (e.g. Colombia) and
terrorist policies (e.g. Israeli occcupation), support
international law as in #1 above and an end to the
arms trade as in #2 above, apply #3 generally, and
reverse course on global trade agreements/support for
neoliberal institutions (IMF, etc.).  Then the US
could legitimately call for a kind of "dechoucage" of
international terrorist networks, not top-down as now,
but as part of a bottom-up democratic groundswell. 
And perhaps more importantly, that's the only way it
would actually WORK.

My 2 cents (and change, I guess, sorry).

Ricky
  

--- Jay Mittenthal <mitten at life.uiuc.edu> wrote:
> 
> >>Is this a good new route to suggest as an
> alternative to war?
> >>
> >>
>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------
> >>***One of the most important action alerts ever
> distributed
> >>by Sojourners***
> >>
> >>We are at a critical moment in time. A real
> possibility
> >>exists to prevent war on Iraq. However, in one
> week it could
> >>be too late.
> >>
> >>If you have ever wanted to take action, the time
> is now.
> >>
> >>High school and college students across the
> country are
> >>boycotting school and shouting, "Books not Bombs."
> Hundreds
> >>of thousands of Americans have gathered in New
> York, San
> >>Francisco, Washington, D.C., and other cities
> declaring, "War
> >>is Not the Answer!" Great Britain witnessed the
> largest march
> >>in its history as more than 1 million people
> pleaded, "Don't
> >>Attack Iraq!"
> >>
> >>Germany, France, China, and Russia openly oppose
> war without
> >>U.N. support, and Great Britain could change
> course.
> >>
> >>Now, for the first time, a clear and compelling
> third
> >>alternative has emerged. Following an hour-long
> meeting of
> >>U.S. church leaders with British Prime Minister
> Tony Blair,
> >>led by Sojourners executive director Jim Wallis,
> we have
> >>outlined a six-point plan that details a more
> effective way
> >>to remove Saddam Hussein from power without
> killing innocent
> >>people. Jim shared this vision with Tony Blair and
> now shares
> >>it with you.
> >>
> >>Please take a few minutes to read the complete
> six-point plan
> >>and e-mail it from our Web site to President Bush,
> Prime
> >>Minister Blair, and U.N. Secretary General Kofi
> Annan. You
> >>will then have the opportunity to send this same
> e-mail alert
> >>to others.
> >>
> >>Sojourners urges you to contact as many people as
> you can.
> >>
> >>We encourage you to:
> >>1. Read the plan at http://www.sojo.net/action;
> >>2. Send it to your family, friends, teachers,
> pastors,
> >>denominations, and others;
> >>3. Encourage them to do the same;
> >>4. Write or call local newspapers, radio and
> television
> >>stations, and politicians and tell them about this
> new
> >>alternative to war;
> >>5. Lift up this effort in your prayers.
> >>
> >>The more people that hear about this third way,
> this
> >>alternative to war, the greater the chance that
> war might be
> >>averted.
> >>
> >>Please go to http://www.sojo.net/action today!
> 
> 
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>
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> 


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