[Peace] FW: Join us in Iraq meetings with Congress

[Marianne Brun]

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Von: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org" <moveon-help at list.moveon.org>
Datum: 8 Jan 2003 23:17:12 -0000
An: "Marianne Brun" <manni at snafu.de>
Betreff: Join us in Iraq meetings with Congress

Dear MoveOn Member,

On January 21st, across the country, thousands of us will be meeting with
the offices of our members of Congress on the possible war on Iraq.  We'll
meet with them in district offices from Portland, ME to Portland, OR, and
we'll deliver a petition representing hundreds of thousands of us who want
our leaders to "Let the Inspections Work."  We plan to meet with over 400
Congressional offices, but to do that we'll need everyone to come out.  You
can register in under five minutes for a meeting in your area at:

http://www.moveon.org/inspectionsmeetings/
<http://www.moveon.org/inspectionsmeetings/?id=948-948648-fY7qgzaVntTEewZoRT
nCxg>  

We are at a critical point in the campaign to resolve the crisis over Iraq
through peaceful means.  In the UK, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has put the
probability of war at under 50%.  Mohammad ElBaradei, head of the UN's
nuclear inspections program, has said there is "no smoking gun" and no
significant evidence pointing to a revitalized Iraqi nuclear program.
Numerous newspaper reports have suggested that when Hans Blix, the chief
weapons inspector, talks to the UN Security Council on the January 27th, he
will say that Iraq has complied with the inspections.

At the same time, reports on the costs of this war in lives, global
security, and money continue to come in on an almost daily basis.  A Yale
economist has placed the total cost of the war at up to $1.6 TRILLION
dollars.  A UN report argues that as many as 500,000 Iraqi civilians could
be killed or seriously wounded in the war, with malnutrition affecting
millions.  The CIA tells us that the only circumstance under which Saddam
Hussein is likely to use weapons of mass destruction is if he is backed into
a corner. 

But President Bush and some of the hawks in his administration still appear
eager to go to war, regardless of whether the inspections are working.  Many
members of Congress are concerned about this, but they're reluctant to
challenge the President to commit to the United Nations process and let the
inspections go forward.

The authority to declare war resides with Congress and Congress alone.
Congress authorized the President to use force only as a last resort. We are
not at that point -- the weapons inspections are working.  It's up to
Congress to insist that we let the inspections work, and it's up to us to
see that they do.  Constituent meetings may be the single most powerful tool
we have for doing that.

You can sign up right now at:

http://www.moveon.org/inspectionsmeetings/
<http://www.moveon.org/inspectionsmeetings/?id=948-948648-fY7qgzaVntTEewZoRT
nCxg> 

In these meetings, we'll be talking to members of Congress or their senior
staff.  A team of hard-working MoveOn volunteers has been contacting each
office; not all of the meetings are confirmed yet, but by the end of the
week they will be.  Please DON'T contact the members' office about this --
we're trying to coordinate this so that it's easy for them.  After you
register, you'll be given contact info for the volunteer coordinating your
meeting. 

These meetings come five months after a hugely successful round of
constituent meetings convened by MoveOn on August 28.  I've attached our
final message on that round below -- you can read it to get a sense of what
it's like to participate in these meetings and what kind of impact they can
have.  This time around, it's likely that we'll be pushing Congress to sign
onto a "Dear Colleague" letter, circulated by Representatives who voted for
and against the Iraq resolution, asking the President to let the inspections
work.  In other words, there's a good likelihood that Congress will be
taking up our petition.

We're organizing these meetings in conjunction with Win Without War, a
coalition of major mainstream membership organizations like the Sierra Club,
NOW, the NAACP, and the National Council of Churches.  Together, these
organizations represent tens of millions of Americans.  It's going to be
huge.  We'd love to see you there.  Please sign up today:

http://www.moveon.org/inspectionsmeetings/
<http://www.moveon.org/inspectionsmeetings/?id=948-948648-fY7qgzaVntTEewZoRT
nCxg> 

The Bush Administration has indicated that it will make a firm statement
regarding the war on Iraq on January 27th.  It's critical that we get
Congress to reach out to the President and ensure that he lets the
inspections work.  We don't have much time, but by meeting with Congress, we
could make the critical difference.  Please sign up now.

Sincerely,
--Eli Pariser
 International Campaigns Director
 MoveOn.org
 January 8th, 2002 

P.S. Here's an abbreviated version of the report from last time:

Dear MoveOn Supporter,

Here's a quick report on the progress of our "No War on Iraq" campaign. As
of today, August 29, 2002, more than 160,000 people around the country have
signed the online petition.  And on Wednesday, thousands of us delivered the
first batch of these petitions through meetings in Senate offices in each
and every state. 

I've been scrambling to stay on top of the reports as they come in from
meetings across the country.  I'm receiving emails from Utah, from Hawaii,
from New Hampshire, and from Georgia.  The experience each message describes
is different, but on one point they're nearly all the same: the meetings
that occurred yesterday with Senators' offices were an enormous success.

Local TV stations broadcast interviews with participants in close to a third
of the meetings.  And newspapers from the Austin-American Statesman to the
Chicago Tribune and the LA Times to the Indianapolis Star have printed or
are writing stories.  Since Senators watch the media closely, this coverage
has made the meetings even more impactful.

The following comment from a meeting participant in Florida has been echoed
again and again in the letters in my inbox:

"As Senator Nelson's aide said at the end of our meeting, I came with no
expectations today.  But I left amazed at the eloquence and passion
expressed by so many of you today.  It gives me hope . . . I just wanted to
thank you for your time, the mileage you put on your cars, but most of all
for speaking out when so many people keep quiet under the false guise of
patriotism.  Our actions display true patriotism and love of country."

As I read through these reports, as I look at (and listen to, and watch) the
press coverage that we've generated, and as I hear descriptions of the
reactions of Senators' staff, I know that through our meetings and our
petition, we've made a lasting and positive impact.

But the reports speak for themselves: