THE PETITION LETTER

TO: The Members of the U.N. Security Council
SUBJECT: Tough Inspections, Not War
__________
Dear Member of the U.N. Security Council,

We are citizens from countries all over the world. We are speaking together because we will all be affected by a decision in which your country has a major part -- the decision of how to disarm Iraq.

The first reason for its existence listed in the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations is "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind." If your country supports a Security Council resolution that would authorize a war on Iraq, you will directly contradict that charter. You will be supporting an unnecessary war -- a war which immediately, and in its unknown consequences, could bring "untold sorrow to mankind" once again.

The U.N. was created to enable peaceful alternatives to conflict. The weapons inspections under way are a perfect example of just such an alternative, and their growing success is a testament to the potential power the U.N. holds. By supporting tough inspections instead of war, you can show the world a real way to resolve conflict without bloodshed. But if you back a war, it will undermine the very premise upon which the U.N. was built.

President Bush argues that only by endorsing a war on Iraq can the United Nations prove its relevance. We argue the opposite. If the Security Council allows itself to be completely swayed by one member nation, in the face of viable alternatives, common sense and world public opinion, then it will be diminished in its role, effectiveness, and in the opinion of humankind.

We do not support this war. For billions of citizens in hundreds of countries, and for the future generations whose lives will be shaped by the choice you make, we ask that you stand firm against the pressuring of the Bush Administration, and support tough inspections for Iraq. The eyes of the world are on you.

Sincerely,
[Number] citizens of the world.

If you are in agreement with the sentiments expressed above, fellow exiles, please visit MoveOn.org to sign the electronic petition, which will be delivered to the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council on Monday, March 10th. President Bush and his junta need to understand the depth and breadth of the opposition to their plans for a political landscape where might makes right and the rule of international law is something that only applies to others. How can we claim that our justification for a war against Iraq is their numerous flagrant violations of United Nations resolutions, when our remedy of a pre-emptive or preventive war directly contravenes the U.N. Charter? If the United States is allowed to pursue this unilateral war of aggression against another sovereign nation, who is to stop the other Great Powers of the world from perpetrating the same acts of hostility against their pet enemies (Russia and Chechnya, China and Taiwan, Turkey and the Kurds, et cetera, ad nauseum). You don't have to be pro-Saddam to support peaceful disarmament of his regime. Do not heed the neocon blowhards who call your rational objections to this war "appeasement" and compare you to Neville Chamberlain. Saddam Hussein may be a cruel, bloodthirtsy, and repressive dictator, but he's hardly the world's next Hitler. He is a sad little man who sits atop a sad little country, broken by decades of war and isolation from the world community, and even with the weaponry he still has in his arsenal, he proves no credible threat to his neighbors as he did in 1991, when the world community rightly banded together to trounce him for his act of aggression against the people of Kuwait. Despite the many attempts by W. and his father before him to paint this monster of their own creation as Evil Incarnate, Saddam is just a man, and after decades of progress in the realm of international law and diplomacy we at last have the mechanisms by which such criminal behavior can be punished. War is not the answer here. We have many options for dealing with this crisis that do not involve the wholesale slaughter of innocent life. As Isaac Asimov so pithily remarked, "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." There is always another way. It may not be as glorious or lucrative as conquering the second-largest oil reserves on the planet and declaring ourselves king of the Middle East, but doing the right thing seldom comes with any material reward. It is a sad day when the respect of the world community and pride in having done some actual good in the world (and not simply what's good for the bottom line) aren't enough for the United States of America. If democracy and the rule of law are to prevail on this earth, we must not go down this road.

Thank you for listening.