Let the inspections work

The progressive lobbying group MoveOn has sent a note to its e-list, encouraging people to sign a statement calling on the Administration to allow time for the UN inspectors in Iraq to do their work. It looks now, says the group, as if "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."

Dear MoveOn member,

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

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.

In this context, we are deeply 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.

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

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.

________________

This is a message from MoveOn.org.

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