ZGram - 9/27/2002 - "For the academics on my list!"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

September 27, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundeliste:

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY OPPOSING A U.S. INVASION OF IRAQ

Due to the high demand on this site, viewing the signatures and 
statistics is temporarily unavailable. Sorry.

This Open Letter was originally written by faculty members at the 
University of Minnesota. It subsequently spread to other 
universities, and was placed on the web by faculty at MIT.

<http://www.noiraqattack.org>Home 
<http://www.noiraqattack.org/cgi-bin/petition.cgi#sign>Sign Petition 
<http://www.noiraqattack.org/links.html>Related Sites


We the undersigned members of the academic community 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, 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 do not justify 
a U.S. invasion of Iraq.

We oppose a U.S. invasion of Iraq for these reasons:

Invasion to replace the Hussein regime is not in the best interests 
of the United States, the region, or the world. An invasion of Iraq 
and destruction of the Hussein regime may lead to prolonged 
instability in Iraq; destabilization of the wider Middle East 
including the possibility of a prolonged and heightened conflict 
between Israel and the Palestinians; increased popular appeal of 
radical Islamic movements and increased anti-Americanism worldwide; 
and increased terrorism in the U.S. and abroad. Invading Iraq 
therefore 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 opposing a U.S. invasion of Iraq. Governmental 
and popular support in Great Britain, the most stalwart U.S. ally, is 
weak at best. 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 credible evidence 
of Iraqi progress toward making nuclear weapons. 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 against armed attack. 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.

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 MAY 
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 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, undertak en 
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 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.

<http://www.noiraqattack.org/cgi-bin/petition.cgi#sign>Sign the Open Letter.

Since Sept 24 2002, 3706 people have signed this Open Letter.

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