[Peace] Help us reach 100,000 signers for ad. (fwd)

[patton paul]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 6 Dec 2002 17:40:34 -0000
From: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org" <moveon-help at list.moveon.org>
To: Dr. Paul Patton <ppatton at uiuc.edu>
Subject: Help us reach 100,000 signers for ad.

Dear MoveOn member,

This is very exciting.  In only 36 hours, over 85,000 of us have
called on President Bush to let the inspections work.  This'll be
one of our most successful petitions ever, and it underscores the
wide support for this message.

The other piece of great news is that, thanks to a tremendous and
speedy outpouring of contributions, we'll be able to run the New
York Times ad.  (Many thanks to all of you who chipped in.) We'll
let you know how you can increase the ad's visibility when it runs,
which we hope will happen this coming Monday.

There's one more piece we need your help with.  We're going to
publish the number of signers on the petition in the ad.  The more
signers, the more impact the ad will have.  The number we're
shooting for is 100,000 -- if we can hit that number, our statement
will have a lot more punch.

We need to get the final draft of the ad to the Times by the end
of the day TODAY.  Let's tip it over the top.  If you haven't
already signed the "Let the Inspections Work" petition, please take
a moment to do so right now at:

   http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/

If you've already signed, please take a moment to send the message
below on to your friends along with a short note about why this
is so important and urgent.

Thanks for your help.

--Eli

__________________

Dear friend,

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.

We are concerned that you found Iraq's response "not encouraging"
when the inspectors had only been at work for a week and so far
had not encountered Iraqi obstruction.

In this context, we are also 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.

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.

________________

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