February 2003

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Short Takes -- No War

March Against War Feb. 15 Plea from Nobel Laureates

February 15th join thousands in an international day of protests against the war in Iraq. Massive rallies are being planned for New York City and San Francisco in the United States. For information, contact: United for Peace: feb15@unitedforpeace.org; www.unitedforpeace.org; 646/473-8935; New England events & transportation, AFSC, 617/661-6130

Preemptive Impeachment

The following information is taken from an interview with Francis A. Boyle by Kellia Ramares, available at Radio Internet Story exchange (R.I.S.E) and through <cultureofpeace@yahoogroups.com>. Boyle is professor of International Law, Univ. of Illinois Law School (504 E. Pennsylvania, Champaign, Urbana, IL 61820; 217/333-7954 <fboyle@law.uiuc.edu>).

"We sentenced Nazi leaders to death for waging a war of aggression," says International Law Professor Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. By contrast, Prof. Boyle wants merely to impeach George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft for their plans to invade Iraq and create a police state in America.

Watertown (MA) Square, Jan. 18 © Ellen Shub

Boyle is offering his services as counsel, free of charge, to any member of the House of Representatives willing to sponsor articles of impeachment. He says that waging a war of aggression is a crime under the Nuremberg Charter, Judgment, and Principles. "It's very clear," he adds, "if you read all the press reports, they are going to devastate Baghdad, a metropolitan area of 5 million people. The Nuremberg Charter clearly says the wanton devastation of a city is a Nuremberg war crime."

Impeachment has the advantage of bypassing the US Supreme Court, which illegally installed Bush in the Oval Office. Boyle is asking the public to push for impeachment in two ways. First, contact your own member of Congress to urge him or her to introduce articles of impeachment, and tell the member that he or she may contact Prof. Boyle for assistance in drafting the articles.

Second, demand impeachment by engaging in non-violent direct action, in exercise of your First Amendment rights to free speech, peaceable assembly and petition for redress of grievances. Boyle was pleased that 100,000 people marched around the White House last October 26 to protest the impending war on Iraq. But he says one million people need to take peaceably to the streets with signs, banners, and voices shouting, "Impeach Bush!"

A Plea from Nobel Laureates

At the Nobel Peace Prize Centennial Symposium in Oslo, Norway Dec. 14 celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Prize, 100 Nobel laureates issued the following statement:

The most profound danger to world peace in the coming years will stem not from the irrational acts of states or individuals but from the legitimate demands of the world's dispossessed. Of these poor and disenfranchised, the majority live a marginal existence in equatorial climates. Global warming, not of their making but originating with the wealthy few, will affect their fragile ecologies most. Their situation will be desperate and manifestly unjust. It cannot be expected, therefore, that in all cases they will be content to await the beneficence of the rich. If then we permit the devastating power of modern weaponry to spread through this combustible human landscape, we invite a conflagration that can engulf both rich and poor. The only hope for the future lies in co-operative international action, legitimized by democracy.

It is time to turn our backs on the unilateral search for security, in which we seek to shelter behind walls. Instead, we must persist in the quest for united action to counter both global warming and a weaponized world. These twin goals will constitute vital components of stability as we move toward the wider degree of social justice that alone gives hope of peace.

Some of the needed legal instruments are already at hand, such as the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the Convention on Climate Change, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. As concerned citizens, we urge all governments to commit to these goals that constitute steps on the way to replacement of war by law. To survive in the world we have transformed, we must learn to think in a new way. As never before, the future of each depends on the good of all.

Why Another War? A Backgrounder on the Iraq Crisis

The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) has published an updated second edition of a concise 16-page primer by Sarah Graham-Brown, author of Sanctioning Saddam (1999), and Chris Toensing, editor of Middle East Report, offering answers to the major questions swirling around the Iraq crisis: Does Saddam Hussein's regime pose a "mortal threat" to the US and Iraq's neighbors? How have sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait affected ordinary Iraqis? How has the Iraqi regime stayed in power despite its defeat in the Gulf war and a decade of sanctions? Has the US attempted to end the 12-year confrontation between Iraq and the UN through peaceful diplomacy? What drives the Bush administration's policy of "regime change"?

Available online at: www.merip.org; also, in print, free, while supplies last. Contact MERIP at ctoensing@merip.org; 202/ 223-3677.

Flawed Reporting

From: William Rivers Pitt, To: Staff / Aaron Brown CNN, Thurs. 16 January 2003

First things first: The warheads. Let's be clear. These were not 'chemical warheads.' In the Iraqi arsenal, a warhead is a warhead--an empty ordnance space strapped to a missile. What matters is the payload, be it explosive or chemical or nuclear. The item placed in the warhead denotes the designation. These warheads were stone-cold empty, so by definition they are not 'chemical warheads.' They are, in fact, nothing, because they were loaded with no payload. Furthermore, the word 'warhead' is in itself misleading, as these were artillery munitions.

Second. Iraq is allowed by UN resolutions to have a variety of weapons, including the Al Samoud missile. We did not want to pull Iraq's fangs completely after the Gulf War, considering the neighborhood they live in. We allowed them to keep missiles that fly only a certain distance (150km most often). Many people will not know this, and will think the presence of these munitions will represent a breach of the UN resolution. This is not the case.

Third. Scott Ritter informed me today that these munitions were part of Iraq's declaration last December. I await further confirmation of this, and so should the journalism world.

Fourth. This is absolutely a vindication of the inspections regime. They found the stuff, and it will be destroyed, and no American soldiers or Iraqi civilians died in the process. Inspections work.

Fifth. Recall how the UNSCOM inspections were undermined by meddling from the American intelligence community. Understand that this warhead story did not come from Blix, or through the normal channels, but through a Japanese (read: close ally) inspector who contacted the news media and let rip before the facts were in hand. Why?

Finally, I want to address a comment you made earlier this week. You said on your show that it was unconscionable that viewers were writing in claiming that CNN wants war because war is good for the media business. I understand that this idea offends the core of your professionalism, but I wonder if you have been watching CNN today.

Your station has referred, over and over again, to these discovered warheads as 'chemical warheads.' The debate has not been centered on what the facts are behind these items--when they were made, whether they were loaded with anything, how long they have been there, whether they were declared--and instead has focused on whether the White House can use this as a pretext for war. Calling these things 'chemical warheads' is a gross exaggeration, which I have heard on CNN no less than seven times during the period I have been writing this message. Please, take the data I have given you and air it, for the sake of a reasoned and complete debate.

Some of the Groups Included in Police Spy Files

The following list of groups included in police spy files was posted December 2002 by the Black Radical Congress.

ANNA Foundation, Association of Disabled Americans for Public Transportation, AKRAM, AKRAM Action Committee, All African Peoples Revolutionary Party, America's Tea Party, American Agriculture Movement, American Coalition of Third Positionists, American Constitutional Party, American Friends Service Committee, American Indian Movement, American Lands Alliance, American Law Club, Amnesty International, Anarchist Youth Federation, Ancient Forest Rescue, Anti Defamation League of American Indians, Barrio Warriors De Aztlan, Big Mountain Support Group, Chiapas Coalition, Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace, Colorado Coalition for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Colorado Coalition vs. the Death Penalty, Colorado Forest Program, Colorado Progressive Coalition, Colorado Right to Life, Committee for the Constitution, Concerned Citizens Action Committee, Constitutionalists, CopWatch, Dawn of New Hope Collective, Democratic Socialists of America, Denver Area Justice and Peace Committee, Direct Action Network, Earth First, End the Politics of Cruelty, Falun Gong, Free Speech Defense Committee, Freedom from Religion Foundation, Greenpeace Foundation, Hands Off Cuba Coalition, Iliff School of Theology, Immigrants from the Country of Eritrea, Justice for Janitors, Jobs With Justice, Justice for Mena, Latino Coalition, Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, Libertarian Party, Million Man March, Million Moms March, Movemiento Liberacion Nacional (Mexico), National Abortion Rights Action League, National Forest Protection Alliance, Native American Rights Fund, New Alliance for Indigenous Liberation, New Jewish Agenda, Operation Rescue, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission, Prisoner's Rights Project, Rainforest Action Group, Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice, Southwest Indian Nations, Stop the Politics of Cruelty, The American Party, The Bell Campaign, Tyranny Response Team, Vail Expansion Opponents, Wildland Project

The Day the Earth Stood Still: An International Sick-out Feb. 14, 2003

Rita Weinstein is a Seattle-based freelance writer <rwineskin@juno.com>

Here's the idea: a global stoppage, an international sick day if you will, to take place on Friday, February 14 (or on the day after the bombing begins, if prior to February 14) to protest the war on the world currently being waged by the Bush administration. George Monbiot, of The Guardian, reports, "The [Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament] and the Stop the War Coalition have suggested an hour's stoppage on the day after the war begins. Many activists [in the United Kingdom] are now talking about building on this, and seeking to provoke wider strike action--even a general strike."

So, in England, a kind of "sick-out" movement is building. If we can get the ball rolling here for a coordinated "sick-out" across America, in essence, a general strike of protest, could sweep across England, Europe, and the rest of the globe.

It is we, the folks who show up for work every day, who are providing the tax dollars to pay for this war on the economy, the environment, worker safety, civil rights, and on the poor. We are the ones who keep the machine up and running. We are the ones whose children are being shortchanged on education, health care, and clean air and water. We are the ones who will reap the whirlwind (or will be sucking wind) when the bill for this Bush-league regime's misguided and dangerous policies comes due.

A general strike early in the last century brought down the Tsar of Russia and changed nearly a century of history. The Communist Party came crashing down in Poland thanks to the solidarity of its workers. If we choose peaceful noncooperation with maintaining a system badly in need of course correction, we may surprise ourselves at how quickly change can be effected. No organization is necessary, in fact it would probably be counter-productive. Just start forwarding this article. Let's all get truly sick and tired of it all on February 14 (or on the day after the bombing begins) and make it the day the Earth stands still. Get out there and get sick!

Bags of Rice

(From a letter circulating on the web) Dear friends:

Here's a grassroots campaign begun by a local peace center: Place 1/2 c. uncooked rice in a small plastic bag (a snack-sized bag or sandwich bag work fine) Squeeze out excess air and seal the bag.Wrap it in a piece of paper on which you have written: "If your enemies are hungry, feed them; do not attack them. Please send this rice to the people of Iraq." Place the paper and bag of rice in an envelope (either a letter-sized or small padded mailing envelope, both are the same cost to mail) and address them to President George Bush, White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20500. Attach $1.06 in postage. (Three 37 cent stamps equal $1.11) Drop this in the mail TODAY. It is important to act NOW.

In order for this protest to be effective, there must be hundreds of thousands of such rice deliveries to the White House. We can do this if we all forward this message to our friends and family. If every Mennonite and every Church of the Brethren household sent one of these, and the tens of thousands of persons from outside these churches who think war is a mistake also send them--we are hundreds of thousands of people!

There is a positive history of this protest! Read on! "In the mid 1950s, the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation, learning of famine in the Chinese mainland, launched a "Feed Thine Enemy" campaign. Members and friends mailed thousands of little bags of rice to the White House with a tag quoting the Bible, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him."

"As far as anyone knew for more than ten years, the campaign was an abject failure. The President did not acknowledge receipt of the bags publicly; certainly no rice was ever sent to China.

"What nonviolent activists only learned a decade later was that the campaign played a significant, perhaps even determining role in preventing nuclear war. Twice while the campaign was on, President Eisenhower met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to consider US options in the conflict with China over two islands, Quemoy and Matsu. The generals twice recommended the use of nuclear weapons. President Eisenhower each time turned to his aide and asked how many little bags of rice had come in. When told they numbered in the tens of thousands, Eisenhower told the generals that as long as so many Americans were expressing active interest in having the US feed the Chinese, he certainly wasn't going to consider using nuclear weapons against them." (From: People Power: Applying Nonviolence Theory by David H.Albert, New Society Press)

Thank you all for being people of hope, people of faith.

Student Strike for Books Not Bombs

Join the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition in their call for, "Books Not Bombs! Stop the War Against Iraq!" by organizing a one-day campus strike on March 5th.

"The Bush Administration's war on Iraq is a venture for control of the region and its oil supplies, not national security, democracy, or human rights. Our campuses provide implicit support for this through military research, recruiting, and ROTC programs. As students who value freedom, democracy, and our education we say: THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE! The best way to improve our national security is to halt drives for illegal and immoral wars and redirect public funds from the military and arms trade to education and social services at home and humanitarian aid abroad."

Students are demanding that the US Government end the drive for military action and sanctions that target the people of Iraq, fund education to ensure that everyone in the US has access to higher education, re-allocate military funds to eliminating poverty and building peace and home and abroad, and that campus administrators declare opposition to the war, disclose and eliminate military research contracts, freeze or lower tuition and fees, transfer money for JROTC to college preparation and counseling and from ROTC to financial aid.

"The Bush administration is intent on plunging America into an illegitimate and pre-emptive war on Iraq that will only increase danger for Americans and the world. At the same time education, healthcare, and the economy are being neglected. Its time for youth and students to take a stand for America's future."

National Youth and Student Peace Coalition, c/o United States Student Association, 1413 K St, #9, Washington DC 20005; 501/244-2439; clearinghouse@tao.ca; www.nyspc.net

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