Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Tag: Iraq

  • Over 60 People Dead After US Bombs Iraqi Neighborhood in Hilla

    The London Independent is reporting that over 60 people, mostly civilians, have now died since the US bombed an impoverished Iraqi neighborhood in the town of Hilla, south of Baghdad. Hundreds of people are wounded.

    The London Guardian reports unedited TV footage from the Babylon hospital showed horrifically injured bodies heaped into pick-up trucks. Relatives of the dead accompanied them for burial. Bed after bed of injured women and children were pictured along with large pools of blood on the floor of the hospital.

    An Edinburgh-trained doctor at the hospital Nazim al-Adali, told the Guardian: “All of these are due to the American bombing to the civilian homes. He said there were not any army vehicles or tanks in the area.

    And Robert Fisk writes in today’s Independent:

    “The wounds are vicious and deep, a rash of scarlet spots on the back and thighs or face, the shards of shrapnel from the cluster bombs buried an inch or more in the flesh. The wards of the Hillah teaching hospital are proof that something illegal ­ something quite outside the Geneva Conventions ­ occurred in the villages around the city once known as Babylon.

    “The wailing children, the young women with breast and leg wounds, the 10 patients upon whom doctors had to perform brain surgery to remove metal from their heads, talk of the days and nights when the explosives fell “like grapes” from the sky.”

    Agence France Press correspondent Nayla Razzouk reported seeing cluster bomblets all over the neighborhood, but the Pentagon denied using cluster bombs on Hillah. However, the Pentagon has just admitted U.S. forces are using cluster bombs elsewhere in Iraq.

    Amnesty International yesterday condemned the Hilla bombing and U.S. use of cluster bombs. The human rights group warned, “The use of cluster bombs in an attack on a civilian area of al-Hilla constitutes an indiscriminate attack and a grave violation of international humanitarian law.”

  • Iraqi Students Wonder What U.S. Goal is With War

    Few dialogues have taken place between Iraqi and American students on the topic of war in recent months. It seems remarkable that even when governments have ceased talking, students across the time zones are able to find a way to communicate their fears, concerns, angers and dreams to one another.

    Recently, eight students from Santa Barbara and seven students from Baghdad talked to each other in radio stations for nearly two hours. The talk was candid. We asked them about liberation, an argument for the war that has won over many Americans. Answering honestly, they felt anything but grateful for the prospect of 3,000 bombs falling on their city. What good will liberation be if they’re all dead?

    The students asked what authority we Americans have to impose our will on them. They reminded us that their nation in the 1950s had risen up to overthrow a monarchy that did not serve the people. What right have we, they asked, to determine who should rule their country, and how? Even if they exist in an imperfect system, the only truly democratic reform could happen from the inside. No one mentioned the end of the first Gulf War, in which the first President Bush asked the Shiites in the south to rise up against Saddam Hussein only to be disavowed by the U.S. military, which had promised the resisters protection.

    Our Iraqi friends not so gently reminded us that ours is the only country to have used nuclear weapons of mass destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

    The students grilled us about why we don’t do more to end war. Those of us sitting in the room were speechless. We all feel like we do so much: We write, we speak, we organize, we demonstrate and we work nonviolently to persuade public opinion that this war is one of the saddest, most unhealthy and insane policies ever proposed on Earth. Yet, they struck the Achilles’ heel of the peace movement, the well-intentioned people here in the United States who cannot get it together enough to galvanize voters to elect true representatives and initiate real reform, even with all our constitutional freedoms. We pacifist Americans who have had nominal successes and noble failures need to start playing to win, said the Iraqi students. Regime change starts at home, they prodded.

    Joining most recently two career U.S. foreign diplomats and a host of other United Nations officials such as Hans von Sponeck and Denis Halliday, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook resigned, stating that he could not accept responsibility for what Britain was prepared to do in concert with the United States and Spain. These folks have put their careers on the line for peace. What’s holding us back? Why did we not speak out before, addressing some of the real underlying concerns? Few address the issue of the sanctions, the more than 12 years of deprivation at the hands of the United Nations Sanctions Committee, commandeered by the United States and Great Britain. No one talks about the relocation of the marsh Arabs in Iraq, done by the current Iraqi regime under the watchful eye of the United States and Great Britain in the southern no-fly zones. And who in the United States was mourning the Kurdish massacre last year at this time? CNN certainly wasn’t.

    I couldn’t help but think of my freshman seminar in college called “The Decline and Fall of Empires.” We studied the last days of Greece, Rome, Sweden, Spain and Great Britain. The Azores Summit smacked of irony, placing two of the world’s great fallen empires on podiums next to the United States. It seems like we are following the legacy of all those nations, cutting spending on social programs, over-extending our military resources and acting not in our own self-interest on crucial domestic policy issues.

    Despite the United Nations, our former allies — France, Germany and Russia and maybe even China — the pleadings of Iraqi students and a massive people’s movement worldwide, my country has decided to plunge further into the wrongness of this war.

    The conversation with Iraqi students punctuated all the experiences I have had with friends there. Our group concurred that bombing Iraq is different now that we know people, now that we have heard their stories and their frustrations. We lamented that if more people had a personal connection, it would be harder to support the war.

    And all of us sank in our chairs when our friends said they hoped to be alive to have another conversation with us, feeling both guilty and lucky that we are bound to our friends in Iraq because we know each other’s stories and names.
    * Leah C. Wells recently returned from her third trip to Iraq. She is Peace Education Coordinator at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • Nine Letters from Iraqi High School Students

    The following letters were sent to the Foundation in the weeks preceding the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The letters were collected by the Iraq Peace Team (IPT), an initiative of Voices in the Wilderness that is remaining in Baghdad for the remainder of the war.

    Al-Adamia Secondary School for Girls – Baghdad

    March 3, 2003

    Dear Friends,

    We love you and want to see you and we hope all the world live in peace and love each other like the flowers in one garden in heaven. Please urge your government to let us live in peace.

    Best wishes,
    Somiea, Anfal, & Yasamin (we are 18 years old)

    My name is Rasha. I’m 18 years old. I want to say that I love the world and I love peace. I don’t want war. Why do you want to kill the smiles on our faces? We want to learn and live in peace. I want to be a dentist, so how could I make that if the war happened? We are a peaceful people. We love peace. We love American people, so why do you want to kill us? I pray for the God to avoid us the war, and I hope for whole the world the peace and love. I want to be friends and keep in touch with you. Let us spread love among us.

    With all the best,
    Rasha Ali Abdul-Raheem, age 18
    Al-Mustafa Secondary School for Girls – Al-Amal City, Baghdad
    March 8, 2003

    Dear Friends,

    I’m Hind Salaam. I want to tell you that I only dream for the future. I want to be a doctor after I end the preparatory school, because I love to help people and I hate the death. But I don’t understand why America insist on bombing Iraq people. We love the people of America although Bush want to kill us, because we know that you didn’t hate Iraqi people. And I want you do your dreams.

    Hind Salaam, age 17

     

    Qataiba Secondary School for Boys – Saddam City, Baghdad
    March 9th, 2003

    We love Iraq as we love our parents, and we love the people of the world. I wish that I can keep in touch with you. Please help us. I have many dreams to the future.

    Ahmed Camas

     

    Al-Adamia Secondary School for Girls – Baghdad
    March 10th, 2003

    Under the threatening of the American government of every day, we live and continue our daily life. We go to school, to work, visiting each other, but still we have the hope of getting over this crisis. God will help us and save our country from this war. If war will arise the coming few days, I might not be able to continue writing my own diary. We don’t know what is going to happen… We might die .. and maybe we are living our last days in life. I hope that everyone who reads my diary remember me and know that there was an Iraqi girl who had many dreams in her life, but war has destroyed all her dreams and her dreams will never come true.

    Thuraya El-Kaissi, age 17

     

    Al-Adamia Secondary School for Girls – Baghdad
    March 11th, 2003

    They were talking in TV about the war. Now we couldn’t do anything, just pray for God to save us and all Iraqi people. And I wished that we all live in peace, because if there was a war they will destroyed all our dreams. So please be with us in our case. Because we are human like any others and we have all rights be live in peace.
    Thank you.

    Lubna Saad, age 17

     

    Al-Adamia Secondary School for Girls – Baghdad
    March 15th, 2003

    I started watching the t.v. and the daily news and this news all about the same – about America’s threat and this threat and this war is injustice .. I don’t know if I could stay wrote this letters because maybe my life is too short and the responsible is America .. am just a young girl, am just 17 year old, and am not afraid from America or the death cause my fate is not in the hands of America but in the hands of God .. and if I didn’t die in these days I will always hate the American Government.

    Sarab El-Anne, age 17

     
    Qataiba Secondary School for Boys – Saddam City,Baghdad
    March 18, 2003

    In the Name of God, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
    We thank you for your help and sympathy, and we thank you for your feelings, because we feel for any student that says inside your heart, for any American student that says, “Stop the war.” We apologize now, for all the people in America, and we do not hate you.

    Ali Mehson Rahim, 17 years old
    Imad Ali Said, 18 years old
    Kadham Jawad Taher, 18 years old
    Ahmed Hashim, 17 year old

  • Arrogance of Power: Today, I Weep for my Country…

    I believe in this beautiful country. I have studied its roots and gloried in the wisdom of its magnificent Constitution. I have marveled at the wisdom of its founders and framers. Generation after generation of Americans has understood the lofty ideals that underlie our great Republic. I have been inspired by the story of their sacrifice and their strength.

    But, today I weep for my country. I have watched the events of recent months with a heavy, heavy heart. No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. The image of America has changed. Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned.

    Instead of reasoning with those with whom we disagree, we demand obedience or threaten recrimination. Instead of isolating Saddam Hussein, we seem to have isolated ourselves. We proclaim a new doctrine of preemption which is understood by few and feared by many. We say that the United States has the right to turn its firepower on any corner of the globe which might be suspect in the war on terrorism. We assert that right without the sanction of any international body. As a result, the world has become a much more dangerous place.

    We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance. We treat UN Security Council members like ingrates who offend our princely dignity by lifting their heads from the carpet. Valuable alliances are split.

    After war has ended, the United States will have to rebuild much more than the country of Iraq. We will have to rebuild America’s image around the globe.

    The case this Administration tries to make to justify its fixation with war is tainted by charges of falsified documents and circumstantial evidence. We cannot convince the world of the necessity of this war for one simple reason. This is a war of choice.

    There is no credible information to connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11. The twin towers fell because a world-wide terrorist group, Al Qaeda, with cells in over 60 nations, struck at our wealth and our influence by turning our own planes into missiles, one of which would likely have slammed into the dome of this beautiful Capitol except for the brave sacrifice of the passengers on board.

    The brutality seen on September 11th and in other terrorist attacks we have witnessed around the globe are the violent and desperate efforts by extremists to stop the daily encroachment of western values upon their cultures. That is what we fight. It is a force not confined to borders. It is a shadowy entity with many faces, many names, and many addresses.

    But, this Administration has directed all of the anger, fear, and grief which emerged from the ashes of the twin towers and the twisted metal of the Pentagon towards a tangible villain, one we can see and hate and attack. And villain he is. But, he is the wrong villain. And this is the wrong war. If we attack Saddam Hussein, we will probably drive him from power. But, the zeal of our friends to assist our global war on terrorism may have already taken flight.

    The general unease surrounding this war is not just due to “orange alert.” There is a pervasive sense of rush and risk and too many questions unanswered. How long will we be in Iraq? What will be the cost? What is the ultimate mission? How great is the danger at home?

    A pall has fallen over the Senate Chamber. We avoid our solemn duty to debate the one topic on the minds of all Americans, even while scores of thousands of our sons and daughters faithfully do their duty in Iraq.

    What is happening to this country? When did we become a nation which ignores and berates our friends? When did we decide to risk undermining international order by adopting a radical and doctrinaire approach to using our awesome military might? How can we abandon diplomatic efforts when the turmoil in the world cries out for diplomacy?

    Why can this President not seem to see that America’s true power lies not in its will to intimidate, but in its ability to inspire?

    War appears inevitable. But, I continue to hope that the cloud will lift. Perhaps Saddam will yet turn tail and run. Perhaps reason will somehow still prevail. I along with millions of Americans will pray for the safety of our troops, for the innocent civilians in Iraq, and for the security of our homeland. May God continue to bless the United States of America in the troubled days ahead, and may we somehow recapture the vision which for the present eludes us.

  • Another US Diplomat Resigns in Protest

    The following is the text of Mary Wright’s letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Wright is the third state department official to resign in protest of the US war on Iraq and other aspects of the Bush Administration’s foreign policy.

    U.S. Embassy
    Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
    March 19, 2003

    Secretary of State Colin Powell
    US Department of State
    Washington, DC 20521

    Dear Secretary Powell:
    When I last saw you in Kabul in January, 2002 you arrived to officially open the US Embassy that I had helped reestablish in December, 2001 as the first political officer. At that time I could not have imagined that I would be writing a year later to resign from the Foreign Service because of US policies. All my adult life I have been in service to the United States. I have been a diplomat for fifteen years and the Deputy Chief of Mission in our Embassies in Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan (briefly) and Mongolia. I have also had assignments in Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Grenada and Nicaragua. I received the State Department’s Award for Heroism as Charge d’Affaires during the evacuation of Sierra Leone in 1997. I was 26 years in the US Army/Army Reserves and participated in civil reconstruction projects after military operations in Grenada, Panama and Somalia. I attained the rank of Colonel during my military service.

    This is the only time in my many years serving America that I have felt I cannot represent the policies of an Administration of the United States. I disagree with the Administration’s policies on Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, North Korea and curtailment of civil liberties in the U.S. itself. I believe the Administration’s policies are making the world a more dangerous, not a safer, place. I feel obligated morally and professionally to set out my very deep and firm concerns on these policies and to resign from government service as I cannot defend or implement them.

    I hope you will bear with my explanation of why I must resign. After thirty years of service to my country, my decision to resign is a huge step and I want to be clear in my reasons why I must do so.

    * I disagree with the Administration’s policies on Iraq.

    I wrote this letter five weeks ago and held it hoping that the Administration would not go to war against Iraq at this time without United Nations Security Council agreement. I strongly believe that going to war now will make the world more dangerous, not safer.

    There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein is a despicable dictator and has done incredible damage to the Iraqi people and others of the region. I totally support the international community’s demand that Saddam’s regime destroy weapons of mass destruction.

    However, I believe we should not use US military force without UNSC agreement to ensure compliance. In our press for military action now, we have created deep chasms in the international community and in important international organizations. Our policies have alienated many of our allies and created ill will in much of the world.

    Countries of the world supported America’s action in Afghanistan as a response to the September 11 Al Qaida attacks on America. Since then, America has lost the incredible sympathy of most of the world because of our policy toward Iraq. Much of the world considers our statements about Iraq as arrogant, untruthful and masking a hidden agenda. Leaders of moderate Moslem/Arab countries warn us about predicable outrage and anger of the youth of their countries if America enters an Arab country with the purpose of attacking Moslems/Arabs, not defending them. Attacking the Saddam regime in Iraq now is very different than expelling the same regime from Kuwait, as we did ten years ago.

    I strongly believe the probable response of many Arabs of the region and Moslems of the world if the US enters Iraq without UNSC agreement will result in actions extraordinarily dangerous to America and Americans. Military action now without UNSC agreement is much more dangerous for America and the world than allowing the UN weapons inspections to proceed and subsequently taking UNSC authorized action if warranted.

    I firmly believe the probability of Saddam using weapons of mass destruction is low, as he knows that using those weapons will trigger an immediate, strong and justified international response. There will be no question of action against Saddam in that case. I strongly disagree with the use of a “preemptive attack” against Iraq and believe that this preemptive attack policy will be used against us and provide justification for individuals and groups to “preemptively attack” America and American citizens.

    The international military build-up is providing pressure on the regime that is resulting in a slow, but steady disclosure of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). We should give the weapons inspectors time to do their job. We should not give extremist Moslems/ Arabs a further cause to hate America, or give moderate Moslems a reason to join the extremists. Additionally, we must reevaluate keeping our military forces in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Their presence on the Islamic “holy soil” of Saudi Arabia will be an anti-American rally cry for Moslems as long as the US military remains and a strong reason, in their opinion, for actions against the US government and American citizens.

    Although I strongly believe the time in not yet right for military action in Iraq, as a soldier who has been in several military operations, I hope General Franks, US and coalition forces can accomplish the missions they will be ordered do without loss of civilian or military life and without destruction of the Iraqi peoples’ homes and livelihood. I strongly urge the Department of State to attempt again to stop the policy that is leading us to military action in Iraq without UNSC agreement. Timing is everything and this is not yet the time for military action.

    * I disagree with the Administration’s lack of effort in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    Likewise, I cannot support the lack of effort by the Administration to use its influence to resurrect the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. As Palestinian suicide bombers kill Israelis and Israeli military operations kill Palestinians and destroy Palestinian towns and cities, the Administration has done little to end the violence. We must exert our considerable financial influence on the Israelis to stop destroying cities and on the Palestinians to curb its youth suicide bombers. I hope the Administration’s long-needed “Roadmap for Peace” will have the human resources and political capital needed to finally make some progress toward peace.

    * I disagree with the Administration’s lack of policy on North Korea

    Additionally, I cannot support the Administration’s position on North Korea. With weapons, bombs and missiles, the risks that North Korea poses are too great to ignore. I strongly believe the Administration’s lack of substantive discussion, dialogue and engagement over the last two years has jeopardized security on the peninsula and the region. The situation with North Korea is dangerous for us to continue to neglect.

    * I disagree with the Administration’s policies on Unnecessary Curtailment of Rights in America.

    Further, I cannot support the Administration’s unnecessary curtailment of civil rights following September 11. The investigation of those suspected of ties with terrorist organizations is critical but the legal system of America for 200 years has been based on standards that provide protections for persons during the investigation period. Solitary confinement without access to legal counsel cuts the heart out of the legal foundation on which our country stands. Additionally, I believe the Administration’s secrecy in the judicial process has created an atmosphere of fear to speak out against the gutting of the protections on which America was built and the protections we encourage other countries to provide to their citizens.

    Resignation

    I have served my country for almost thirty years in the some of the most isolated and dangerous parts of the world. I want to continue to serve America. However, I do not believe in the policies of this Administration and cannot defend or implement them. It is with heavy heart that I must end my service to America and therefore resign due to the Administration’s policies.

    Mr. Secretary, to end on a personal note, under your leadership, we have made great progress in improving the organization and administration of the Foreign Service and the Department of State. I want to thank you for your extraordinary efforts to that end. I hate to leave the Foreign Service, and I wish you and our colleagues well.

    Very Respectfully,
    Mary A. Wright, FO-01
    Deputy Chief of Mission
    US Embassy
    Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

  • This Present Moment Living in Baghdad on the Eve of War

    “The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.” – Thich Nhat Hanh I am in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team, and we will stay here throughout any war. We will share the risks of the millions who live here, and do our best to be a voice for them to the world. Our risks are uncertain.

    Thousands here will surely die. But most Iraqis will survive, and so too, I hope, will I.

    A banner the government put up a few blocks from where we stay reads simply, “Baghdad: Where the World Comes for Peace.” It’s meant as propaganda, I’m sure, flattering Saddam Hussein. But without knowing it, it states a simple truth: that the world must be present for peace. We must be present in Baghdad as in America – in Kashmir or Chechnya, the Great Lakes, Palestine and Colombia – where there is war, and rumors of war, we must be present to build peace. We are present.

    My country may arrest me as a traitor, or kill me during saturation bombing, or shoot me during an invasion. The Iraqis may arrest me as a spy, or cause or use my death for propaganda. Civil unrest and mob violence may claim me. I may be maimed. I may be killed. I am nervous. I am scared. I am hopeful. I am joyous, and I joyously delight in the wonder that is my life.

    I love being alive. I love the splendor of our world, the beauty of our bodies, and the miracle of our minds. I bless the world for making me, and I bless the world for taking me. I feed myself on the fellowship we inspirit, in standing one with another in this, this present moment, each moment unfolding to its own best time.

    Different things move different members of our team, but all of us are here out of deep concern for the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Iraq. 20 years of almost constant war, and 12 years of brutal sanctions, have killed hundreds of thousands of innocents in Iraq. We are here, today, because most of the world refused to be present, then. What more right do I as an American have to leave then all the people I’ve come to love in Iraq?

    An accident of birth that gives me a free pass throughout the world? All of us are here out of a deep commitment to nonviolence. Peace is not an abstract value that we should just quietly express a hope for. It takes work. It takes courage. It takes joy. Peace takes risks. War is catastrophe. It is terrorism on a truly, massive scale. It is the physical, political and spiritual devastation of entire peoples.

    War is the imposition of such massive, deadly violence so as to force the political solutions of one nation upon another. War is the antithesis of democracy and freedom. War is the most bloody, undemocratic, and violently repressive of all human institutions. War is catastrophe. Why choose catastrophe? Even the threat of war is devastating.

    On March 11th, when we visited a maternity hospital run by the Dominican sisters here in Baghdad, we found that eight, new mothers that day had demanded to have their babies by Caesarean section – they didn’t want to give birth during the war. Six others spontaneously aborted the same day. Is this spirit of liberation?

    Don’t ask me where I find the courage to be present in Iraq on the eve of war. 5 million people call Baghdad home. 24 million human beings live in Iraq. Instead, ask the politicians – on every side – where they find the nerve to put so many human beings at such terrible risk. We’re here for these people, as we’re here for the American people. The violence George Bush starts in Iraq will not stop in Iraq. The senseless brutality of this war signals future crimes of still greater inhumanity. If we risk nothing to prevent this, it will happen. If we would have peace, we must work as hard, and risk as much, as the warmakers do for destruction.

    Pacifism isn’t passive. It’s a radical challenge to all aspects of worldly power. Nonviolence can prevent catastrophe. Nonviolence multiplies opportunities a thousand-fold, until seemingly insignificant events converge to tumble the tyranny of fears that violence plants within our hearts.

    Where violence denies freedom, destroys community, restricts choices – we must be present: cultivating our love, our active love, for our entire family of humanity. We are daily visiting with families here in Iraq. We are daily visiting hospitals here in Iraq, and doing arts and crafts with the children. We are visiting elementary schools, and high schools. We are fostering community. We are furthering connections. We are creating space for peace. We are not “human shields.” We are not here simply in opposition to war.

    We are a dynamic, living presence – our own, small affirmation of the joy of being alive. Slowly stumbling, joyous and triumphant, full of all the doubts and failings all people hold in common – our presence here is a thundering, gentle call, to Americans as to Iraqis, of the affirmation of life. We must not concede war to the killers. War is not liberation. It is not peace. War is devastation and death.

    Thuraya, a brilliant, young girl whom I’ve come to love, recently wrote in her diary: “We don’t know what is going to happen. We might die, and maybe we are living our last days in life. I hope that everyone who reads my diary remember me and know that there was an Iraqi girl who had many dreams in her life…”

    Dream with us of a world where we do not let violence rule our lives. Work with us for a world where violence does not rule our lives. Peace is not an abstract concept. We are a concrete, tangible reality. We the peoples of our common world, through the relationships we build with each other, and the risks we take for one another – we are peace.

    Our team here doesn’t know what is going to happen any more than does Thuraya. We too may die. But in her name, in this moment, at the intersection of all our lives, we send you this simple message: We are peace, and we are present.
    * Ramzi Kysia is a Arab American peace activist and writer. He is currently in Iraq with the Voices in the Wilderness’ (www.vitw.org) Iraq Peace Team (www.iraqpeaceteam.org), a project to keep international peaceworkers to Iraq prior to, during, and after any future U.S. attack, in order to be a voice for the Iraqi people. The Iraq Peace Team can be reached through info@vitw.org

  • Standing on the Precipice of War

    Standing on the Precipice of War

    A war against Iraq would be a tragedy beyond our imaginations.

    Bush has called for “a moment of truth.” And indeed we need truth to counter the big and persistent lies of the Bush administration.

    The biggest lie is to suggest, as the Bush administration has repeatedly done, that Saddam Hussein is responsible for the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The Bush administration is responsible for more than half the US public incorrectly believingthat Saddam Hussein had a hand in the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

    It is a lie to suggest that war will bring peace and that it will increase our security. War will only bring increased violence, suffering and death. And the victims will be mostly innocent civilians, but they will also be young American soldiers. War against Iraq will likely incite terrorism against the people of the United States on a scale as yet unimagined.

    It is a lie to paint the face of Saddam Hussein on the children of Iraq. Over half the population of Iraq is 15 years of age or younger. A US war against Iraq will be a war against children.

    It is a lie to say that the weapons inspections are not working. The chief weaponsinspector and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency tell us otherwise.

    It is a lie to say that Security Council Resolution 1441 authorizes any country to attack Iraq. This resolution authorizes the UN inspectors to do the job they are doing. A war against Iraq will be in violation of Resolution 1441 and the United Nations Charter.

    It is a lie to say that the United Nations is irrelevant. It has proven its relevance by standing up to the bullying and coercion of the Bush administration. It has spoken for peace, for disarmament and for the weapons inspectors to continue their work.

    By attacking Iraq, the Bush administration will make the United States an outlaw nation, as Blair will make the UK an outlaw nation. The US and UK will lose theircredibility and moral basis for leadership.

    The Bush administration has issued a list of Iraqis who will be held to account for international crimes. But if the US and UK attack Iraq, the leaders of the attacking nations will be committing the crime of aggression for which the German leaders were held to account at Nuremberg following World War II.

    One way to stop this war would be for Mr. Hussein and his sons to bow to Bush’s will and accept exile, but this seems highly unlikely.

    Another way to prevent an aggressive war at this time is for the United Nations weapons inspectors to courageously refuse to leave Iraq and continue their inspections as mandated under Resolution 1441.Would the United States and the United Kingdom dare to launch their “shock and awe” attack against the Iraqi people while the UN weapons inspectors continue to carry out their mandate in Iraq?

    Another way to prevent an aggressive war would be for the Pope to personally go to Baghdad, and to call upon all of his faith to refuse to fight in this unjust war.

    The Pope could also convene an urgent Peace Conference in Baghdad, inviting political and religious leaders from around the world to meet in Baghdad.

    Still another way would be for Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and other world leaders to personally intercede and attempt to negotiate a peaceful solution.Another way to potentially stop the war, given the impasse in the Security Council, would be for the United Nations General Assembly to go into emergency session to adopt a Uniting for Peace Resolution, prohibiting war against Iraq.

    Another way, with far more honor than war, would be for Mr. Bush and Mr. Hussein to settle their differences mano a mano. With personal courage they could spare both of their peoples a disastrous war.

    Yet another way would be for commanders and troops of the so-called “coalition of the willing” to refuse to follow illegal orders to participate in aggressive warfare that is unauthorized by the United Nations Security Council. As Mr. Bush pointed out, echoing the judgment at Nuremberg, following superior orders does not constitute a defense to illegal acts of war – and this applies to both sides.

    With Mr. Bush’s deadline, the time is short, but there remains time for creativity and initiative.

  • Keep Working for a Miracle

    Keep Working for a Miracle

    We stand on the precipice of war. We need a miracle to stop it.

    A war against Iraq would be a tragedy beyond our imaginations.

    Bush has called for “a moment of truth.” And indeed we need such truth against the big and persistent lies of the Bush administration.

    It is a lie to suggest that war will bring peace. It will only bring increased violence, suffering and death.

    It is a lie to paint the face of Saddam Hussein on the children of Iraq.

    It is a lie to say that Security Council Resolution 1441 authorizes any country to attack Iraq. This resolution authorizes the UN inspectors to do their jobs as they are doing.

    It is a lie to say that the United Nations is irrelevant. It has proven its relevance by standing up to the bullying and coercion of the United States. It has spoken for peace, for disarmament and for the weapons inspectors to continue their work.

    By attacking Iraq, the Bush administration will make the United States an outlaw nation, as Blair will make the UK an outlaw nation. The US and UK will lose their credibility and moral basis for leadership.

    The Bush administration has issued a list of Iraqis who will be held to account for international crimes. But if the US attacks Iraq, US and UK leaders will also be committing the crime of aggression, for which the German leaders were held to account at Nuremberg following World War II.

    The best and perhaps only way to prevent an aggressive war at this time is for the United Nations to courageously refuse to leave Iraq and continue its weapons inspections under the mandate of Resolution 1441.

    Would the United States and the United Kingdom dare to launch their “shock and awe” attack against the Iraqi people while the UN weapons inspectors continue to carry out their mandate in Iraq?

  • Letters from Iraqi High School Students

    The following letters were sent to the Foundation by Ramzi Kysia, an Arab American peace activist and writer who has worked in Iraq for six months. The letters came from al-Adamia Secondary School for Girls, which is located in Baghdad and which has 700 students, ages 15-20 years old, and 48 teachers and staff. Al-Aadamieh is one of the best public schools in Baghdad, with consistently high test scores. Forty-three students from this class wrote letters on March 3, 2003.

    Ms. Salwa al-Sharbati, the principal of al-Aadamieh since 1978, stated, “When you have deep culture, deep history, it’s like a motive to push you to do anything – you’ll be ready for anything… The embargo itself is a challenge to us. Really, you have a lack in everything: chalk, desks, books, computers… We have another problem, that the students catch new diseases, especially cancers. This is affecting girls even more. They catch cancer of the breast and other disease.” Five out of 700 girls at this high school have cancer.

     

    Dear American Student,

    My name is Naba’a Riad. I’m 18 years old. I say to you, How are you and want to you best wishes. At first all I want or all I wish is to be a doctor in the future and all the morning I hope this wish came true. I have a friend in my school who everyone carried their wishes. We want to live in peace. So how these wishes came true if you threaten us. Please let us live in peace and to be your friend.

    With my best wishes,
    Naba’a Riad

    [drawing of a heart and flower] let this flower grow up.

     

    Dear American Students,

    My name is Thuraya El-Kaissi. I am in fifth class. I hope that we will see each other and talk about our dreams and hopes and our future … I am really hope that, inshallah.

    We love American people but the government they hate us and want to done this war on us.

    I hope that you will send me your photos and letters to me and my friends in our school … all my friends want your addresses and photos … and any things about you all. What do you want from us? Ok!? See you soon, and keep in touch.

    Your Friend,
    Thuraya El-Kaissi

    Note: I am 17 years old. How old you are?!
    Note: I love the band:- N’Sync and (Anthony Hopkins)

     

    Dear American Student,

    I am Zainab from Baghdad. I’m 18 years old. I’m very happy to sent you this brief letter, and I hope to everybody good life and they become what they want. And I like to tell you what my desire is to be (doctor).

    Goodbye,
    Zainab Kies
    The Bird of Peace [drawing of a bird with a flower in its beak]

     

    Dear American Student,

    I am Sara … I live in Baghdad and I want to live in peace here … and I am 17 years old.

    So I don’t know what I say. I am very sad and I am very confused. I like you to understand me what I want to say, and you have to forgive me because my English language is not good … but I hope you understand my pain … Just my tear could describe my pain … I love you very very much because you want to help Iraqi children … I want to be your friend … I’m so sorry again for my English language is bad … I’m so sorry.

    Yours,
    Sara Amer

    [drawing of a flower] This flower is for you

     

    For my dear friends in the world,

    I am very happy for your letters sent to my school, and your opinion about the Iraqi people, and I hope to live in peace and I hope to live in calm life in my country, and I’m thank you with my love for you.

    My name is Baidaa Suad, 18 years old, and goodbye with my love.

     

    Dear America Students,

    I send this message to any one of you to know us (Iraqi pupil) as it should be! I really glad to make a friendship with the U.S.A. student.

    My name is Sarab and I’m 17 years old and I have no mother because she died in cancer last year… So I think this friendship will help me to get out from this sadness that I’m gonna through… I hope I met someone of you face to face and to still friends forever… What I hope is our problems solve… In fact I really love American people from all my heart. I swear it’s true… I wish I can visit America and see you and you have to promise me that we will be friends forever and ever.

    I like dogs and I have one. It’s german shepherd dog, his name is Bone… Tell me what you like, like I do…

    I love Backstreet Boys, specially (A.J.)

    I feel we’ll contact with each other so in the second time tell me what you like to know you better.

    Yours,
    Sarab

    Friendship forever [inside a heart]. Keep in touch and don’t forget me…
    your friend, Sarab Taha El-Anne

     

    Dear Friends in U.S.,

    My name is Hiba Monther. I would like to tell you that I want to be like any people in the world. Well, I live with my family and from my house watch T.V. and read many books about the nature. Write to me and tell me about your feeling about this world. And I want to tell you that every night when I saw the moon and I feel that I am one of the stars in the sky.

    Best wishes to you and your family,
    Hiba Monther, 17 years old.

    Hello also from Hiba’s friend Rokoya (who doesn’t know English very well).

     

    Dear U.S.A. children,

    I am Safa Emad Jihad Al-Rawi from Baghdad and my age is eighteen years old. I want to tell you that I’m very happy to send you this letter and I want you to know that Iraqi children want to speak with you about their life and their school and they live in very normal live and we love American people with all of threatenings of war on Iraq. We love you always and want to live in peace with all the world because the Iraqi people love peace for them and for other countries in the world.

    Yours,
    Safa Al-Rawi

     

    Dear Friends,

    I am student in sixth stage, secondary school for girls. I want living with peace in the world. I will be a doctor in the future, and I very like of them before the end. I hope the Peace of Iraq and America.

    Zianab Munther, 18 years old.

     

    Dear American Student,

    My name is Rasha. I’m 18 years old. I want to say that I love the world and I love peace. I don’t want war. Why do you want to kill the smiles on our faces? We want to learn and live in peace. I want to be a dentist, so how could I make that if the war happened? We are a peaceful people. We love peace. We love American people, so why do you want to kill us? I pray for the God to avoid us the war, and I hope for whole the world the peace and love. I want to be friends and keep in touch with you. Let us spread love among us.

    With all the best,
    Rasha Ali Abdul-Raheem

     

    Dear Friends,

    My name is Haneen Hamid. I have 18 years old. I want to thank you. I want to be a doctor.

    Thank you,
    Haneen Hamid

     

    Dear American Student,

    My name is Summer. We love you people America. I am 18 years old. I don’t want war. We want peace. We want to learn. I love you. We want to succeed in our examinations. I want to be friends with you. So as love you because you love us.

    With my best wishes,
    Summer Mohammed

     

    Dear Friends,

    We are a group of 4 girls. We love the people of the world. We want to live in Peace.

    I, Reem, I want to be a doctor. I, Aseel, I want to be a doctor. I, Halla, I want to be a doctor. I, Hadel, I want to be a doctor. I wish that I can visit U.S.A.

    Good Luck,
    Reem, 18 years old.
    Aseel, 20 years old.
    Halla, 19 years old.
    Hadel, 20 years old.
    We are love the people U.S.A. We hope go to U.S.A to meet to people and explain my feeling to you. Our hobbies listening the music and swimming. We hope becoming engineers. We are 18 years old. Our names Mary and Daniah.

     

    Dear U.S.A. student,

    We are friends, and we like them. We have two arms are peace and success. We know our feeling toward our country and we thank our feeling. Thank you and goodbye.

    Huda Shakoor, 18 years old.

     

    Hi!

    I send them my best wishes and I hope them the success and all the happiness to them and to them families.

    Your close friends,
    Wasnaa & Hanan

    Call me please! We are 18 years old.

     

    Dear U.S.A. children,

    Hi. I’m from Baghdad. My name is Saba. I want to tell you I am very happy to speak with you. You can understand me. I hope to learn and I hope to live in peace.

    Yours,
    Saba Ihsan, I am 18 years old.

     

    Dear pupil of America,

    .. We are Sara and Meas .. We are two pupils in Iraq .. We hope to live in peace .. and we want to learn only .. We love the people in America but we are against Bush.

    Best wishes,
    Sara and Meas

    We are 17 years old. Thank you for your solidarity.

     

    Dear American People:

    Thank you very much to meeting’s. I love you the best people. My name is Kother. 18 years old. I am pupil. I want to live in peace. Do you think the Iraqi people not good? I refused all the war in the world. I love you peace.

    Best Wishes,
    K.I.H.

     

    Dear U.S.A. Student,

    We are friends, and I love for love. This we are one that called for peace and no for war. Thanks for your feeling.

    Raghed Salah Al-Deen, 18 years old.

     

    Dear U.S.A. student,

    I like your situation with us because together we have one aim – that we want peace and refuse the war in my country. I like to express my feeling towards America people – we love them but we hate America government, and in the end I thank you.

    Yours,
    Marwa Ali, 18 years old

     

    A letter for America’s students,

    I’m Saja Waad. I love to say hello to all one who is my age. I’m 17 years old, and I’m Muslim and I’m love peace. I have friends in Palestine and Jordan and I love to have another in other country because I love communication with other people in all of the world. I hope you can understand me what I want to say. This idea very beautiful that we be friends. I really wish I have internet to talk with some friends in the world. My wish is to be a doctor in the future. Can you tell me your wish when you send a letter to me? I will be very proud if this idea will be successful.

    With all my love,
    Saja Waad Ali Al-Rubeay, 17 years.

    Olive branch is a symbol of peace [drawing of an olive branch] we love peace

     

    To Friends in U.S.A.,

    I love people but I hate to the government (U.S.A.), and we love to be friend in school U.S.A. I hope to meet the people and I hope you can come to Iraq and visit us.

    Thank you,
    Hadeel Esam, 18 years old.

     

    Dear American Student,

    My name is Duha. I’m 18 years old. I love people America. I don’t want war. We want peace. I hope to live in peace. I’m very love pupil America and I want to see somebody and I want to say for somebody pupil America. I want to be in touch with you always. I hope to love for me so as you love me for love you.

    Duha Ali

     

    Dear Friend in U.S.A.,

    My name is Surowr. I love you for people America. I wish to visit America and I help to people America and I wish Doctor to help the children for people.

    Thank you,
    Surowr Muhammad, 20 years old.

     

    Dear American people,

    I would like to tell you that I love the American students. I want to tell you everything about the education in Iraq. We are proud of ourselves and we don’t want war against our country. If you visit Iraq you saw that the Iraqi people are kindness and generosity. We hope to do this really to know your comment about us, how we are brave.

    Finally, just we want that we live in peace and succeed in our examinations without war, and Iraq will be victorious.

    note: I’m 18 years old.

    Yours,
    Marwa Hashim

     

    Al-A’adhmia Secondary School for Girls
    Baghdad, Iraq
    March 3, 2003

    Dear American Student,

    I am 17 years old. I want to tell you that everybody in Iraq love everybody in the world. Only my wish is to continue my studies.

    Yours,
    Meelad

     

    Dear Friends,

    We love you and want to see you and we hope all the world live in peace and love each other like the flowers in one garden in heaven. Please urge your government to let us live in peace.

    Best wishes,

    Somiea, Anfal, & Yasamin
    we are 18 years old

     

    Dear American Student,

    I am 17 years old. I have beautiful family and we all want to live in peace, and I want to continue my study in the future. I wish to be an engineer.

    Your Friend,
    Even

     

    Dear America’s children,

    My name is Muna Khalid. I love America’s people and children. I want to live in safety and the other people in Iraq. Iraqi people love America’s people because the Iraqi people love peace.

    We love the world.

     

    Dear American Students,

    All the Iraqi people love American people … but we hate the war.

    My name is Noor – 18 years old.

    Thank you. Best wishes.
    Noor

     
    Dear America’s Students! –

    My name is Rasha. I have (19) years old. I hope to live in safety. I hope to a good study. I want to thank you about your feeling. You are good people.

    Best wishes,
    Rasha

     

    Dear America’s students,

    My name is Israa Adel. I am from Iraq. I have 19 years old. In the beginning I want to thank you about your feeling. So in the first I want to talk about my wishes. I want to be a doctor and I hope that my God help me.

    I love all the world.

    Israa Adel

    “The name of God”

     

    For All American people,

    I’m Marwa. I’m 18 years old. I’m in sixth lesson. I have my dreams .. I hope to finish my studies. I want to be a doctor. I hope to learn more than that .. I have a large number of friends and I hope to find more. Do you like to be my friend? I love all who love the peace. I love all who love the Iraqi people .. If you want to be my friend then tell me when we meet ..

    Your friend,
    Marwa

    [drawing of a heart and flower]
    “We live in one world”
    Love destroy the war

     

    Dear pupils in U.S.,

    I am Lubna Saad. I am seventeen years old. I am student in Al-Aadamya Secondary School for girls. I live near the school and I love watching TV, and specially the movies. I hope I will be a lawyer in the future and to travel to America and I want to told you something – when I get out my house in the night I saw the moon and I believe that all the people in the world would see it even in different times. So I wish that we all live in peace and visit each other. Thank you.

    Lubna Saad

  • Second US Diplomat Resigns in Protest

    Second US Diplomat Resigns in Protest

    A second American diplomat, John H. Brown, has resigned in protest, stating, “I cannot in good conscience support President Bush’s war plans against Iraq.” Brown, a longtime US Foreign Service Officer, who has served in London, Prague, Krakow, Kiev, Belgrade and Moscow, tendered his letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin Powell on March 10. He joined veteran diplomat John Brady Kiesling, who has also resigned from the State Department in protest of Bush’s plans for war.

    In his letter of resignation, Brown cited a number of failures by the Bush administration, including:

    “To explain clearly why our brave men and women in uniform should be ready to sacrifice their lives in a war on Iraq at the time:

    “To lay out the full ramifications of this war, including the extent of innocent civilian casualties;

    “To specify the economic costs of the war for ordinary Americans;

    “To clarify how the war would help rid the world of terror; [and]

    “To take international public opinion against the war into serious consideration.”

    Brown pointed out, “Throughout the globe the United States is becoming associated with the unjustified use of force. The president’s disregard for views in other nations, borne out by his neglect of public diplomacy, is giving birth to an anti-American century.”

    We should be very thankful that there are individuals like Brown and Kiesling, willing to place their conscience ahead of their careers when an administration’s policy becomes fundamentally opposed to deep-seated American values of fairness, decency and support for international law. We should also continue to hope that Secretary of State Colin Powell may be moved to act upon his own conscience in reading the letters of these courageous men. Powell should be encouraged to join them in resigning his position instead of continuing to serve as a front man for the clearly untenable and dangerous US war plans against Iraq.

    In concluding his letter of resignation, Brown wrote, “I joined the Foreign Service because I love our country. Respectfully, Mr. Secretary, I am now bringing this calling to a close, with a heavy heart but for the same reason that I embraced it.”

    Thank you, Mr. Brown, for loving your country enough to act for its future by taking this bold step. For all who love our country, this is a time for bold action, before Mr. Bush and the ideologues surrounding him drag our country into an untenable, immoral and illegal war that will disgrace our country and be a burden to it for all time.
    * David Krieger is president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. He is the editor of Hope in a Dark Time, Reflections on Humanity’s Future (Capra Press, 2003).