[Peace] Fwd: Faculty Letter about Iraq

[Alfred Kagan]

This is a message for AWARE members who are UIUC faculty members. 
Please have a look at the letter below.  It would be great if you 
could distribute this letter to departments not already represented 
in Teachers for Peace and Justice or where the letter has not yet 
been distributed.  Many thanks.
>
>
>Dear Colleagues at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,
>
>A group of faculty under the heading "Teachers for Peace and 
>Justice" are organizing events around campus to educate students, 
>faculty, and staff about the possibility of war in Iraq. As part of 
>these efforts, we feel it is important for the faculty at UIUC to 
>make their stance against the war known. To this end, we are 
>adopting a letter drafted by the faculty at the University of 
>Minnesota and published in local and national newspapers. We hope 
>you will sign this letter. After a sufficient number of signatures 
>have been gathered, we will send this letter to local and national 
>media. Please take a minute to add your name and department to this 
>list and forward it to your colleagues. EACH PERSON WHO IS #25 ON 
>THE LIST SHOULD SEND THE LIST TO bakaplan at uiuc.edu. Thank you.
>
>
>LETTER:
>We the undersigned faculty members of the University of Illinois, 
>Urbana-Champaign are opposed to an invasion of Iraq by the United 
>States.
>
>The decision to start a war is perhaps the most significant decision 
>the leaders of a democracy can make. It requires ordering fellow 
>citizens to kill and be killed in the name of the entire nation, in 
>our names and in yours. For this decision to be just and legitimate, 
>the reasons offered for war must be principled and arrived at 
>through public debate. To date, none of the justifications offered 
>by President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense 
>Rumsfeld, National Security Advisor Rice, their subordinates, or an 
>array of commentators in the media has sufficient force to justify a 
>U.S. invasion of Iraq.
>
>Our reasons for opposing a U.S. invasion of Iraq include:
>
>Invasion to replace the Hussein regime is not in the best interests 
>of the region or the world. An invasion of Iraq and destruction of 
>the Hussein regime will almost certainly lead to prolonged 
>instability in Iraq; increased popular appeal of radical Islamic 
>movements in the region and increased anti-American sentiments world 
>wide; destabilization of the entire Middle East; prolonged and 
>possibly heightened conflict between Israel and the Palestinians; 
>and increased terrorism in the U.S. and abroad. In the end, invading 
>Iraq will probably make both the region and the world less secure, 
>not more secure.
>
>Key U.S. allies do not support an invasion of Iraq. Many governments 
>allied with the U.S. are urging restraint, demanding more evidence 
>of an Iraqi threat, or oppose a U.S. invasion of Iraq. These include 
>Bahrain, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, 
>Malaysia, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and 
>Turkey. Governmental and popular support in Great Britain, the most 
>stalwart U.S. ally, is weak at best and decreasing. Any military 
>action against Iraq should have the moral force of international 
>consensus behind it.
>
>The U.S. Government is not unified in support of invasion. Some 
>senior elected officials, including members of President Bush's own 
>Republican Party such as Rep. Dick Armey (TX) and Sen. Chuck Hagel 
>(NE), do not support a U.S. invasion of Iraq. Secretary of State 
>Colin Powell, a retired four star General with 35 years of military 
>service who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 
>Gulf War, is known to oppose a U.S. invasion without broad 
>international support. Major media outlets have been reporting for 
>several months on widespread opposition to an invasion of Iraq among 
>senior officers in the Pentagon, including several or all of the 
>Chiefs of Staff. The decision to go to war should have the clear 
>support of the U.S. Congress, the Secretary of State, and the 
>commanding officers of the armed forces.
>
>The Iraqi threat is not credible. The opposition to an invasion 
>among senior U.S. government and military leaders as well as most 
>U.S. allies in the Middle East suggests that the Iraqi threat is not 
>credible. The Bush Administration has presented no evidence of Iraqi 
>development of weapons of mass destruction since the U.N. withdrew 
>weapons inspectors in 1998. If they have such evidence, they should 
>have presented it by now in the face of mounting international and 
>domestic opposition to an invasion of Iraq.
>
>An invasion of Iraq would be illegal under the Charter of the United 
>Nations, to which the U.S. is a signatory. According to the Charter, 
>only the Security Council has legal authority to start wars, with 
>the single exception of national self-defense in response to 
>aggression. If the U.S. is indeed a land of laws, then our 
>government should adhere to the basic principles of the Charter, 
>which are intended to govern the relationships between nations for 
>the collective security of all people.
>
>No legal basis exists for "finishing the Gulf War." U.N. Security 
>Council Resolutions 660 and 678, both adopted in 1990, provided a 
>legal and moral justification for the Gulf War in 1991. They called 
>for reversal of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and no more. The 
>Security Council has not since passed any resolutions that would 
>provide a legal justification for a U.S. invasion of Iraq.
>
>For these reasons, we oppose a U.S. invasion of Iraq and urge others 
>to do so also. Although we recognize the Hussein regime is 
>reprehensible, the war being planned will not decrease and will 
>probably increase the suffering of the Iraqi people for many years 
>to come. The likelihood of a high cost in lives of both combatants 
>and non-combatants is simply too great given the weak justifications 
>that have been offered for an invasion and the limited 
>considerations for post-war Iraq. If pursued, war should be the last 
>resort, undertaken collectively by a U.N. sponsored international 
>coalition only after renewal of weapons inspections and diplomacy 
>have utterly failed to bring Iraq into compliance with all Security 
>Council Resolutions.
>
>As educators and scholars at the University of Illinois, we are 
>public servants no less than the politicians we help to elect. We 
>hope our message sparks informed discussion on and off campus that 
>reaches to Washington D.C. Furthermore, we intend this statement to 
>provide support for those who are also opposed to an imminent U.S. 
>invasion of Iraq on moral, ethical, and humanitarian grounds 
>originating from any political or religious view point.
>
>Signed,
>
>1. Brett Kaplan, Comparative Literature
>
>Brett Kaplan, Assistant Professor
>Program in Comparative Literature
>3080 Foreign Languages Building, MC 160
>707 South Matthews Avenue
>Urbana, IL 61801
>
>Tel. (217) 333-1253
>Fax. (217) 244-4019


-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
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