[Peace-discuss] Fwd:On the brink of war

[jencart]

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Dear Jenifer M. Cartwright,

After delivering its ultimatum to Iraq, the New York Times reported that the U.S. was planning to invade Iraq even if Saddam Hussein did leave. At the same time, United Nations inspectors were forced to flee that country under threat of being killed in U.S. bombing raids.

Not since Mussolini invaded Ethiopia in 1935 have we seen such a brazen and universally condemned act of aggression, in violation of the decisions of international organizations and international law. Iraq poses about the same "threat" to the U.S. that Ethiopia posed to Italy.

As we say in the Not In Our Name statement, "We believe that peoples and nations have the right to determine their own destiny, free from military coercion by great powers." The responsibility is now ours to stop this mayhem.

In the event of an invasion of Iraq, we will continue to publish the Not In Our Name statement (www.nion.us) because it speaks directly to the whole program behind such a war and the attacks on civil liberties at home. We will change the wording "The government now openly prepares to wage all-out war on Iraq" to "The government has now launched an all-out war on Iraq." Your contributions will make this continuing publication possible.

The Not In Our Name Project has issued this call: "In response to Bush's ultimatum, Not in Our Name calls on everyone to begin MASSIVE opposition NOW to this war. We cannot go about our daily business as usual while bombs designed to flatten Baghdad and 'shock and awe' the world into submission to U.S. might are loaded into planes. This war will be an outrageous crime against the people of Iraq and a blow to the very humanity of people the world over. We can't wait for the bombs to fall. We must act now to show the world that people in this country repudiate this war and are doing everything in our power to stop it."

Go to www.notinourname.net for the latest information on planned actions.

Everyone can do something. Let your voice be heard. "Let us not allow the watching world today to despair of our silence and our failure to act. Instead, let the world hear our pledge: we will resist the machinery of war and repression and rally others to do everything possible to stop it."