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- Pro-War
News
- -03-04-03 Ancient Anti-War Play Read in 59 Countries (CBC News)
"Monday night's Toronto performance of Lysistrata, an ancient Greek comedy with an anti-war message, was one of more than 1,000 readings in 59 countries held to protest the possibility of war in the Gulf."
"Two New York actors decided to perform the play as a protest, and the idea spread via the Internet." 2-03
- -03-04-03 U.S. Sends Message to North Korea (CNN News - Starr)
"Twenty-four bombers will begin moving from bases in the United States to Guam as part of a planned beefing up of U.S. military forces in the Pacific to send a "message" to North Korea, the Pentagon said Tuesday." 2-03
- -03-15-03 Global Protests Against War (BBC News)
"On Sunday, peace vigils are planned in more than 2,800 cities in about 100 countries, the Associated Press news agency reported." 3-03
- -03-16-03 Global Protests Against War (MSNBC News)
"From Tokyo to Beirut, Paris to Washington, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets Saturday in what many saw as a last-ditch global protest against any U.S.-led war on Iraq." 3-03
- -03-16-03 Iraqi Refugees: Inevitable Disaster (CBC News)
"The United Nations estimates that up to 900,000 Iraqi refugees may flee the country if there is a war, and there could be another 500,000 people displaced inside Iraq. They would be in desperate need of food, shelter and medical supplies." 3-03
- -03-16-03 U.S. Support of Iraq in 1980's (CBC News - McDonald)
"Saddam Hussein is one of the few leaders to actually use chemical weapons in the second half of the 20th century."
"Researchers at the National Security Archives at George Washington University have assembled a library of government documents from the old U.S. alliance with Saddam Hussein."
"The documents reveal the true extent of that relationship, putting a different perspective on the moral indignation pouring forth nowadays from the White House."
"The documents show conclusively the U.S. knew as early as 1983 that Iraq was using chemical weapons against Iranian troops, and that Saddam was buying chemicals from American interests."
" 'The U.S. did not in any way change its policy of supporting Iraq in the war because of its chemical weapons use,' Battle says." 3-03
- 03-18-03 Stunning Setback for U.S. (International Herald Tribune - Weisman)
"Just about everyone involved now acknowledges that a train of miscalculations and misunderstandings has produced a setback for U.S. diplomacy and world standing."
"Assertions that Iraq was linked to Al Qaeda backfired, too, European officials say, as intelligence services in Europe told their leaders that even the Central Intelligence Agency had doubts about the connection."
"Here is a reconstruction of the events that led to the U.S.-British failure in the Security Council." 3-03
- 03-20-03 Bubbles of Fire Tore into Baghdad Sky (Independent)
"Within minutes, looking out across the Tigris river I could see pin-pricks of fire as bombs and cruise missiles exploded on to Iraq's military and communications centres and, no doubt, upon the innocent as well." 3-03
- 03-20-03 Global Protests as War Begins (Guardian Unlimited)
"The first shots of war set off global protests on the streets and drew dismayed responses from world leaders Thursday. President Bush's main allies stood firmly by him as U.S. flags burned from Berlin to Bangladesh." 3-03
- 03-23-03 Anti-War Protesters Rally (Guardian Unlimited)
"Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in cities around the world and outside U.S. military bases Saturday, but their rallies for an immediate end to war in Iraq were far smaller than recent protests." 3-03
- 04-07-03 Oakland Police Attack Protestors, Unprovoked (ABC News)
"Police opened fire with non-lethal bullets at an anti-war protest at the Port of Oakland Monday morning, injuring several longshoremen standing nearby."
"Trent Willis, a business agent for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said angrily that dockworkers were leaving the docks after the incident."
" 'They shot my guys. We're not going to work today," Willis said. "The cops had no reason to open up on them.' " 4-03
- 09-06-03 The Cost of Gaining U.N. Support in Iraq (Time.com)
"...The Bush administration is reportedly preparing to ask Congress for a further $60-70 billion to fund ongoing operations in Iraq, and the cost of the first year of war and occupation looks set to run upward of $100 billion — and that's before the serious investment required for reconstruction even begins."
"...the French and Germans have made no secret of the fact that they believe events in Iraq have vindicated rather than undermined their earlier opposition to the war — no weapons of mass destruction have been found and the terror threat appears to have increased rather than decreased as a result of the war. Even the Joint Chiefs of Staff has reportedly slammed the Pentagon's postwar planning as woefully inadequate."
"Not only has the U.S. lost more troops in the postwar period than during the invasion itself; the fact that the number of American soldiers wounded in action currently averages 10 a day speaks to the scale of the resistance they're encountering." "While they'd agree with the principle of transferring power to the Iraqis, the 'Old Europeans' are going to demand that the UN, rather than the Bush administration, be given authority over the political process in the interim. And that may be more than the administration is willing to concede at this point." 9-03
- 09-07-03 Annan Calls for Radical Change of the United Nations (ABC News - Leopold)
"Reeling from the attack on U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday the world security system had been shaken to its core with divisions on the most fundamental issues."
In a major report, Annan called for radical reforms in the United Nations and other institutions to cope with war, terrorism, poverty and human rights."
"Annan said the divisions over Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March would not be easily overcome. He said that war and other conflicts highlighted the problems of international legitimacy, new and more virulent forms of terrorism, the proliferation of nonconventional weapons and the spread of criminal networks."
"On weapons of mass destruction, Annan noted there was no global comprehensive monitoring and enforcement system, even for nuclear inspections and too little effort by nuclear powers to 'diminish the symbolic importance of these weapons.' "
"He also criticized the 191-member General Assembly for lacking priorities, the Security Council for being undemocratic, the U.N. Trusteeship Council for existing without real work and international financial institutions for making decisions without including the developing nations they were meant to serve." 9-03
- 09-13-03 U.S. Losing Iraq's Youth -- and Opportunity for Peace (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Allam)
"With more than half of Iraq's 24 million residents younger than 25, cultivating youth support is key for the U.S. administration's long-term goals to shape the country into a model for Middle East democracy."
Yet many young, middle-class Iraqis -- future leaders of the country -- say they are losing admiration for the America they glimpse through action movies, raunchy music videos and the soldiers their age who patrol the streets. For many, thinking of themselves as Arab and Iraqi has taken on new importance since the American soldiers arrived."
" 'Before the war, I didn't care about politics,' said Monica Mohsin, 18, whose wealthy Christian family initially welcomed Saddam's ouster. 'I could go to clubs and parties. Now, my life is within four walls because my parents are too scared to let me go out. I swear, I never rejected Americans until they came to Iraq and opened a wide door for thieves and terrorists.' " 9-03
- 11-22-03 FBI Investigating Anti-War Activists (ABC News)
" 'The extent of the scrutiny is that any time there is a large gathering of people ... there is a potential for an act of terrorism,' [FBI spokesman] Carter said."
"But civil rights groups and legal scholars told the Times that the monitoring program could signal a return to the abuses of the 1960s and 1970s, when J. Edgar Hoover was the FBI's director and agents routinely spied on political protesters including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."
"Abuses by Hoover and others at the time led to restrictions on FBI investigations of political activities -- restrictions that were relaxed significantly last year when Attorney General John Ashcroft, citing the Sept. 11 attacks, issued guidelines giving agents authority to attend political rallies, mosques and any other public event." 11-03
- Senator Requests Probe of Forged Documents About Iraq (USA Today)
"The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee asked the FBI on Friday to investigate forged documents the Bush administration used as evidence against Saddam Hussein and his military ambitions in Iraq." 3-03
Papers
- -A Third Way: Coercive Inspections (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - Mathews)
"This paper proposes a third approach, a middle ground between an unacceptable status quo that allows Iraqi WMD [weapons of mass distruction] programs to continue and the enormous costs and risks of an invasion. It proposes a new regime of coercive international inspections. A powerful, multinational military force, created by the UN Security Council, would enable UN and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection teams to carry out 'comply or else' inspections. The 'or else' is overthrow of the regime. The burden of choosing war is placed squarely on Saddam Hussein."
"Inspections backed by a force authorized by the UN Security Council would carry unimpeachable legitimacy and command broad international support. The effort would therefore strengthen, rather than undermine, the cooperation the United States needs for long-term success in the war against terrorism. It would avoid a direct blow to the authority of the Security Council and the rule of law. It would avoid setting a dangerous precedent of a unilateral right to attack in 'preventive self-defense.'
"The inspection teams would return to Iraq accompanied by a military arm strong enough to force immediate entry into any site at any time with complete security for the inspection team. No terms would be negotiated regarding the dates, duration, or modalities of inspection. If Iraq chose not to accept, or established a record of noncompliance, the U.S. regime-change option or, better, a UN authorization of 'use of all necessary means' would come into play."
"War should never be undertaken until the alternatives have been exhausted. In this case that moral imperative is buttressed by the very real possibility that a war to overthrow Saddam Hussein, even if successful in doing so, could subtract more from U.S. security and long-term political interests than it adds." 9-02
- -A Third Way: Coercive Inspections (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - Mathews)
 "This paper proposes a third approach, a middle ground between an unacceptable status quo that allows Iraqi WMD [weapons of mass distruction] programs to continue and the enormous costs and risks of an invasion. It proposes a new regime of coercive international inspections. A powerful, multinational military force, created by the UN Security Council, would enable UN and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection teams to carry out 'comply or else' inspections. The 'or else' is overthrow of the regime. The burden of choosing war is placed squarely on Saddam Hussein."
"Inspections backed by a force authorized by the UN Security Council would carry unimpeachable legitimacy and command broad international support. The effort would therefore strengthen, rather than undermine, the cooperation the United States needs for long-term success in the war against terrorism. It would avoid a direct blow to the authority of the Security Council and the rule of law. It would avoid setting a dangerous precedent of a unilateral right to attack in 'preventive self-defense.'
"The inspection teams would return to Iraq accompanied by a military arm strong enough to force immediate entry into any site at any time with complete security for the inspection team. No terms would be negotiated regarding the dates, duration, or modalities of inspection. If Iraq chose not to accept, or established a record of noncompliance, the U.S. regime-change option or, better, a UN authorization of 'use of all necessary means' would come into play."
"War should never be undertaken until the alternatives have been exhausted. In this case that moral imperative is buttressed by the very real possibility that a war to overthrow Saddam Hussein, even if successful in doing so, could subtract more from U.S. security and long-term political interests than it adds." 9-02
- -Essay - Analysis of a Just Cause for War (Presbyterian Outlook - Hunsinger)
"The right to pre-empt an anticipated attack can be extrapolated from the self-defense principle. Nevertheless, pre-emptive strikes must meet a high standard of justification. The attack being prevented must be imminent, not merely conjectured or vaguely feared in the long run. Everything depends, therefore, on whether Iraq can be anticipated to launch an attack against the United States in the near future."
"Two questions are relevant here. Does he [Saddam Hussein] in fact possess weapons of mass destruction? And if so, do they pose a clear and imminent danger to the United States or its allies? On any fair-minded assessment, the answer to both these questions seems to be 'No.' "
"No evidence has been produced that Iraq is manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. According to experts, both the capacity to manufacture them and the capability of delivering them are lacking. This assessment has been confirmed by sources as diverse as former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and former United Nations arms inspector Scott Ritter."
"Long-term consequences are the special concern of Henry Kissinger. A pre-emptive attack could destroy the international order that has prevailed since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. 'It is not,' he warns, 'in the American national interest to establish pre-emption as a universal principle available to every nation.' "
"Almost no country supports a U.S. invasion of Iraq." "The U.S. will almost certainly disregard the U.N., since it knows in advance that its planned invasion will be opposed. Our country will then look less like the honest international broker it claims to be, and increasingly like a rogue state."
"A unilateral war against Iraq would be widely perceived as an American bid for colonial occupation in the Middle East. An occupation of oil-rich Iraq, says Meyer, 'will not be about freedom, democracy or security. Just money and power.' "
"None of these critics goes as far as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 'The U.S. Constitution is as clear on the issue as words can possibly be: The authority to declare war is vested in Congress, and only in Congress. For Bush to commit this nation to an unprovoked war without congressional approval would be a clear violation of his presidential oath.' " 9-02
- -New American Strategy (Christian Science Monitor - Chaddock)
"National strategy, released Friday, calls for US dominance to expand global peace."
"More broadly, the 31-page document asserts American dominance as the lone superpower – a status no rival power will be allowed to challenge."
"And it provides a reason the world should accept this state of affairs: the expansion of peace and more freedom. A Pax Americana will be 'in the service of a balance of power that favors freedom.' "
" ' We cannot let our enemies strike first.... To forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary, act preemptively.' " 4-03
- 100 Days of "Peace" (Independent)
Describes the views of Iraqis and others who find the period of "peace" after the U.S. "victory" less than satisfying. 5-02
- A Just War? (ABC News - Cochran)
"Despite the vocal push against a war, Christians are divided. Polls show a majority support Bush's view that a war with Iraq could be necessary to rid the world of Saddam Hussein and many Catholics support military action in Iraq despite the Church's official stand."
"Bush's main support comes from conservative Protestants, such as Richard Cizik, a minister and vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals."
"Bush belongs to the United Methodist Church, which does not support him on the war."
"In Nashville, Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert complained that the president has refused to see 'mainstream' Christian leaders who want a go-slow approach to war: 'We regret that the president has seemingly isolated himself from certain views when it comes to war,' Talbert said."
"Talbert also made an anti-war TV commercial on behalf of 36 Protestant denominations, all members of the U.S. Council of Churches. He disputed whether the United States has the right to go to war with a country that, he said, 'has done nothing to us. It violates international law. It violates Gold's law.' " 3-03
- An Unnecessary War (Foreign Policy - Mearsheimer and Walt)
"In the full-court press for war with Iraq, the Bush administration deems Saddam Hussein reckless, ruthless, and not fully rational. Such a man, when mixed with nuclear weapons, is too unpredictable to be prevented from threatening the United States, the hawks say. But scrutiny of his past dealings with the world shows that Saddam, though cruel and calculating, is eminently deterrable." 2-03
- Anti-War Demonstrators Rally Around the World (CNN News)
"In Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, California, at the two largest peace rallies, the crowds were urged on by international peace activists, religious leaders, members of Congress, actors and musicians." 1-03
- Bradbury Against Unilateral Action in Iraq (Bradbury2002.com)
Provides Bill Bradbury's arguments against unilateral action by the USA against Iraq. Bradbury ran and lost against Gordon Smith for U.S. Senator from Oregon. Senator Smith voted for President Bush's resolution in the Senate. President Bush's resolution, which was passed by Congress, allows the President to initiate warfare against Iraq without support from the U.N. or other countries.
According to Bradbury, "Prudent and decisive action in collaboration with our allies and the United Nations is the best way to achieve long-term national security. A preemptive, unilateral attack merely demonstrates America's power. A measured, well-deliberated international response demonstrates America's strength."
President Bush's resolution "authorizes preemptive, unilateral action that threatens to undermine the very support from the international community that is essential to confronting the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and maintaining international support for the war against terrorism."
"General Wesley Clark, former Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe recently noted, a premature, go-it-alone invasion of Iraq 'would super-charge recruiting for Al Qaida.' Preemptive, unilateral military action could galvanize a new generation of suicide bombers that would threaten the United States and our allies. Further, a preemptive, unilateral invasion of Iraq, without UN support, would set an exceptionally dangerous precedent for the conduct of international affairs in the 21st Century. Any nation could justify attacking its neighbors." 10-02
- British Human Shields Head for Iraq (Palestinian Chronicle)
"As the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog warned it needs several more months to complete weapons inspections in Iraq, 50 British "human shields" are setting out Saturday, January 25, for Iraq." 1-03
- Case Against a U.S. War Against Iraq (Progressive.org - Rothschild)
Provides the key reasons against the U.S. attacking Iraq. 3-03
- Collateral Damage to Iraq from War (MAPW.org - Gration)
"All too often recent debate on possible war with Iraq has centred on strategic issues - on weapons of mass destruction, on the rationale or lack thereof for going to war, or on the outcomes of a war- without paying due regard to the monumental human and environmental costs of such a conflict."
"This Report addresses these issues squarely and is therefore an important complement to the on-going debate. I commend it firstly to our decision makers, but also to those who simply wish to be better informed on the issue." 1-03
- Comparison of Views For and Against War (Awesome Library - Adams)
Provides arguments for and against a pre-emptive strike by the U.S. against Iraq, without the support of the United Nations. Although the paper presents both sides of the issue, it provides a stronger case that U.N. support is needed before the U.S. takes action. 2-03
- Cost of War With Iraq (CNN - Bash)
"The White House is downplaying published reports of an estimated $50 billion to $60 billion price tag for a war with Iraq, saying it is 'impossible' to estimate the cost at this time. " 1-03
- Editorial - What Is Needed Next in Iraq - A French Perspective (Washington Post - Moisi)
"Paris would probably be happy with a triumvirate to run the reconstruction, with an American general in charge of security under a U.N. mandate, an Iraqi interim government given many more political responsibilities and a U.N.-designated representative having overall responsibility for the process and for organizing elections on a shortened schedule of a few months. Ideally, though not necessarily realistically, power should be returned to the Iraqis before the beginning of next year." 9-03
- Editorial - Who Is Winning the War on Terrorism? (BBC News - Gardner)
"If we were to look at this purely in terms of military gains the answer would be obvious. The US has swiftly toppled two governments it considered to be rogue regimes - first in Afghanistan, then in Iraq. The Pentagon's supremacy on the battlefield is unrivalled and unstoppable. Its troops are holding down a sort of peace in both countries." However, terrorist attacks have not stopped and there is good reason for this, according to Gardner. "Victories on the battlefield or in the interrogation rooms are meaningless if terror networks can continue to recruit from a large wellspring of discontented youth."
"And that is exactly what is happening. The wave of horror and sympathy for the victims that spread across much of the Arab and Muslim world after 11 September has long ago changed to something else." "America is seen as having capitalised on those attacks by trying to 'conquer' Muslim countries - Afghanistan and Iraq."
"But there is also now a growing conviction that the Bush administration has acquired a taste for regime change and will not stop at Baghdad. Threats to Syria and Iran to change their policies only confirm that view." "Against this backdrop it is hardly surprising that the US - and its close ally Britain - are losing the battle for Arab and Muslim hearts and minds." 9-03
- Essay - Alternative to War in Iraq (OpenDemocracy.net - Jabar)
"In all the decades of struggle and international lobbying, one approach has never been tried: a meaningful political process to disengage the various components of the regime from each other." 12-02
- Essay - Domination of Middle East Real Reason for War (WorkingforChange.com - Sheer)
"The entire world is astonished that our president is lying, not about a personal indiscretion, but about the most sacred duty of the leader of the most powerful nation in human history: the duty not to recklessly endanger the lives of his own or the world's people."
"The first lie, claimed outright, was that Iraq aided and abetted the Sept. 11 terrorists. There is no evidence at all for this claim."
"The second lie was that Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction represent an imminent threat to U.S. security."
"The third and most dangerous lie is that our mission now is to bring lasting peace to the Mideast by a devastating invasion of Iraq, which will end, as the president outlined last week, in U.S. dominance over the structure of government and politics throughout the region."
"This construction of a new world order comes from a naive and untraveled president, emboldened in his ignorance by advisors who have been plotting an aggressive Pax Americana ever since the Soviet bloc's collapse." 3-03
- Essay - Moral Case Against Immediate War With Iraq (Guardian Unlimited - Tisdall)
"The two main US-British arguments in favour of launching a war on Iraq next month - that Saddam currently possesses deployable weapons of mass destruction and poses an immediate or near-term threat to the region and to us - already had few takers before Friday's UN meeting. In his peculiarly dispassionate, persuasive way, Blix further undermined and, for many, destroyed the credibility of the Anglo-American case for an early, pre-emptive attack."
"A third core argument... - that Saddam is in cahoots with al-Qaida and is somehow linked or even to blame for 9/11 - is not seen as convincing even by those who have espoused it."
"The onus is surely on Blair, not his opponents, to explain the morality of rejecting Blix's provisional conclusion that his inspections are beginning to work. It is not 'moral' to turn to the 'last resort' of violence when Iraq has conceded many of the UN's demands and when South Africa, for example, is offering its good offices and experience in assuring nuclear disarmament."
"Nobody advocates doing 'nothing' about Iraq.... An intensified, permanent UN-led disarmament process, containment and sustained diplomatic pressure to remove Saddam is hardly nothing. Rather, it is the consensual, common sense and proper way forward. For sure, Bush may scorn such arguments. But others have a moral duty not to aid and abet his irresponsibility. Like his other arguments, Blair's 'moral' case for war does not convince. It is but another excuse for the inexcusable." (Guardian Unlimited is a British newspaper.) 2-03
- Essay - Unintended Consquences of Attacking Iraq (AntiWar.com - Paul)
"It seems the obsession about Iraq's improbable possession of nuclear weapons far exceeds the more realistic possibility that our pre-emptive strike against Iraq may precipitate a nuclear exchange between these two countries [India and Pakistan], or even a first strike with nuclear weapons by Israel against Iraq." 11-30-02
- Essays - After Winning the War in Iraq (The Atlantic - Fallows)
Describes the obligations that the USA will have after a war with Iraq. Also challenges some basic assumptions about why the USA should go to war with Iraq.
"I ended up thinking that the Nazi analogy paralyzes the debate about Iraq rather than clarifying it. Like any other episode in history, today's situation is both familiar and new. In the ruthlessness of the adversary it resembles dealing with Adolf Hitler. But Iraq, unlike Germany, has no industrial base and few military allies nearby."
"As a rule, the strongest advocates of pre-emptive attack [against Iraq], within the government and in the press, had neither served in the military nor lived in Arab societies. Military veterans and Arabists were generally doves." 11-30-02
- European and Middle East Leaders Alarmed by Bush Administration's Position on Iraq (CNN - Oakley)
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said '' 'If you strike Iraq and kill the people of Iraq while Palestinians are being killed by Israel... then not one Arab leader will be able to control the angry outburst of the masses.' " In addition, European nations "have noted with alarm what they see as growing unilateralist attitudes in the U.S.," according to Oakley. "Even the United States' staunchest ally in Europe [the UK] still prefers the diplomatic course to the military one at this stage." 9-02
- Fragile Treasures of the World at Risk in Iraq (International Herald Tribune - Melikian)
"Within weeks, some of the most important monuments, works of art and written archives of the history of East and West could be at risk."
"If war breaks out in Iraq, the dangers threatening a cultural heritage - which matters not only to the land where the monuments stand and the artistic treasures were excavated, but also to our world - will be manifold."
"The harm caused by the Gulf War in 1991 was severe." 3-03
- Fueling War - Oil and Iraq (Christian Science Monitor - Francis)
"With the cold war over, more global conflicts are being spurred by a scramble for natural resources rather than by geopolitics, and poor countries rich in mineral deposits are the new focal point." "Altogether, about a quarter of the roughly 50 wars and armed conflicts active in 2001 had 'a strong resource dimension,' says Michael Renner, a senior researcher with Worldwatch Institute in Washington." 1-03
- Fueling War - Oil and Iraq (CommonDreams.org - Klare)
"As the United States gears up for an invasion of Iraq, the great unanswered question continues to be: Why is the Bush Administration so determined to topple a government that has been effectively contained by American power for eleven years?"
"Growing worries about the stability of Saudi Arabia, principal US supplier there, heightened by revelations of Saudi extremists' involvement in the September 11 terror attacks, have prompted US strategists to seek a backup should future instability lead to a drop in Saudi oil production, which could trigger a global recession." "With proven reserves of 112 billion barrels of oil (compared with 49 billion for Russia and 15 billion for the Caspian states), Iraq alone can serve as a backup for Saudi Arabia. At the same time, control over Iraqi oil would allow US leaders to more easily ignore Saudi demands for US action on behalf of the Palestinians and would weaken OPEC's control over oil prices."
"Whoever gains possession of these fields will exercise enormous influence over the global energy markets of the twenty-first century."
"This could prove to be the biggest oil grab in modern history, providing hundreds of billions of dollars to US oil firms--many linked to senior officials in the Bush Administration--and helping to avert a future energy crunch in the United States. But is oil worth spilling the blood of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians who get caught in the way? This is the question Congress must ask if we are to have an honest debate on the merits of invading Iraq." 1-03
- Fueling War - Oil, War, and Global Warming (CommonDreams.org - San Francisco Chronicle, Martinez and Karliner)
"The United States and the rest of the world would be much better off if we cracked down on corporate criminals, while taking the billions of dollars we're set to spend on war and investing them in kicking the oil habit and transforming our energy systems into environmentally sound alternatives." 11-02
- Fueling War - Opposition to War for Oil (TargetOil.com)
Provides articles to peacefully oppose going to war with Iraq for the purpose of gaining stable oil supplies. "No conflict can ever be understood by looking at just one factor – factors other than oil (e.g. supposed links to terrorism and possible weapons of mass destruction) clearly contribute to the rationale for war – but the dominant economic interest in the region and Iraq has been, is, and will continue to be oil. The peace movement’s rallying cry of 'No blood for oil' has resonance and power because it holds more than a grain of truth when talking about any proposed military action in Iraq." 1-03
- Global Outcry Against US Attack on Iraq (Guardian - Watt, Norton-Taylor, and Ward)
"Alarmed by growing rhetoric from leading hawks in Washington, key countries from China to Saudi Arabia warned of the devastating consequences of a US-led assault against Iraq." 8-02
- Leaders Warn About Invasion of Iraq (MSNBC)
"Former Secretary of State James Baker became latest member of former President George H. W. Bush’s administration to express reservations about a U.S. attack on Iraq Sunday and encouraged the the White House to build an international coalition." "A number of other influential Republicans — including former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft and outgoing House of Representatives Majority Leader Dick Armey — have questioned both the need for and the consequences of a pre-emptive U.S. attack."
"Scowcroft, who remains close to the former President Bush, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that attacking Iraq would distract the United States from the war on terrorism. Washington’s European and Arab allies and friends are almost universally opposed to military action." 8-02
- Mandela Harshly Criticizes President Bush on Iraq (CBS News)
"Former South African President Nelson Mandela delivered a fiery speech denouncing the United States and aiming harsh personal criticism at President Bush."
"Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and one of the world's most respected elder statesmen, let the Bush administration have it right between the eyes, reports CBS News Correspondent Tom Fenton."
"Mandela said he would support action against Iraq only if it is ordered by the U.N. He urged the people of the United States to join massive protests against Mr. Bush and called on world leaders, especially those with vetoes in the U.N. Security Council, to oppose him."
" 'What I am condemning is that one power, with a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust.' "
"Last July, the president awarded Mandela the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation's highest civilian honor — dubbing him 'perhaps the most revered statesman of our time.' " 1-03
- Misinterpretation of Report on Nuclear Capacity in Iraq (MSNBC)
"Seeking to build a case Saturday that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction, President Bush cited a satellite photograph and a report by the U.N. atomic energy agency as evidence of Iraq’s impending rearmament. But in response to a report by NBC News, a senior administration official acknowledged Saturday night that the U.N. report drew no such conclusion, and a spokesman for the U.N. agency said the photograph had been misinterpreted."
"And both leaders [President Bush and British Prime Minister Blair] mentioned a 1998 report by the U.N.-affiliated International Atomic Energy Agency that said Saddam could be six months away from developing nuclear weapons."
"Contrary to Bush’s claim, however, the 1998 IAEA report did not say that Iraq was six months from developing nuclear capability, NBC News’ Robert Windrem reported Saturday."
"Instead, Windrem reported, the Vienna, Austria-based agency said in 1998 that Iraq had been six to 24 months away from such capability before the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the U.N.-monitored weapons inspections that followed."
"The war and the inspections destroyed much of Iraq’s nuclear infrastructure and required Iraq to turn over its highly enriched uranium and plutonium, Windrem reported."
"In a summary of its 1998 report, the IAEA said that 'based on all credible information available to date ... the IAEA has found no indication of Iraq having achieved its programme goal of producing nuclear weapons or of Iraq having retained a physical capability for the production of weapon-useable nuclear material or having clandestinely obtained such material.' ” 9-02
- National Council of Churches Urges Diplomacy (Guardian Unlimited)
"A visiting U.S. church official urged the United States on Thursday to negotiate with Iraq to avert a war that he said would make the United States less secure and increase the risk of terrorism in the Middle East."
"Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches and a former congressman from Pennsylvania, told a news conference that his 13-member delegation expected - on their return to the United States - to meet with Bush administration officials and members of Congress to press for a peaceful solution."
"Edgar and other delegation members said they had found a distressing humanitarian situation during four days of visits to Iraqi hospitals and schools. He said the food ration for Iraqis was inadequate to keep them healthy."
"He said he wanted to make clear the group does not support authoritarian governments and had asked ``pointed questions'' about freedom in Iraq in a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz."
"Edgar said a war would harm innocent Iraqis and increase the threat of terrorism aimed at both America and Israel." 1-03
- New Black Peace Movement Needed (Guardian Unlimited)
Walter Mosley has written a "newly completed book, What Next?, to be published in America early next year. It is a collection of essays whose central theme is that America needs a new peace movement and that the black community should be at the vanguard of that movement." 9-03
- Nuclear Risks Grow (Independent - Popham)
"At least as damaging as North Korea's departure [from the non-proliferation ban] have been successive moves by Washington to distance itself from nuclear disarmament."
"In the run-up to the Iraq war, the US President, George Bush, signed National Security Presidential Directive 17, which said: 'The United States will continue to make clear that it reserves the right to respond with overwhelming force – including potentially nuclear weapons....' "
"This assertion, analysts say, undermined...the so-called 'negative security assurances'...not to use nuclear weapons against the non-nuclear weapon states."
"The assurances were considered vital in discouraging states from developing their own nuclear weapons." "More and more states are likely to buy the argument that the only way to be secure in a unipolar world is to go down the nuclear road – 'to pre-empt pre-emption', one analyst said." 4-03
- Pope Opposes War - Calls for Fasts (ABC News)
"Pope John Paul II called on Catholics to fast on Ash Wednesday in the name of peace and said again on Sunday he worried a U.S.-led war against Iraq could unsettle the entire Middle East."
"Looking wan and tired, John Paul opened his traditional Sunday remarks from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square by denouncing war as a way to resolve the conflict."
" 'It is the duty of all believers, to whichever religion they belong, to proclaim that we can never be happy pitted one against the other; the future of humanity will never able to be secured by terrorism and by the logic of war,' John Paul said." 2-03
- Pope Speaks Against Preventive War (CNN)
"Pope John Paul II used his Christmas Day address to urge the world to avoid war in the Middle East, an apparent reference to the crisis over Iraq."
"His remarks echoed recent comments about Iraq by top Vatican officials, who have reiterated Catholic teaching that 'preventative' war is not justifiable, The Associated Press said."
- Presidential Advisor Urges Restraint With Iraq (WashingtonPost.com - Mufson)
"Leading members of Congress and a key adviser to President Bush took the debate over whether to invade Iraq to television talk shows yesterday, with retired Gen. Brent Scowcroft, chairman of the president's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, strongly urging restraint."
"While acknowledging that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was trying to become a threat to the region, Scowcroft, on CBS's 'Face the Nation,' warned that a U.S. invasion of Iraq 'could turn the whole region into a cauldron and, thus, destroy the war on terrorism.' " 8-02
- Promoting an "Especially Bad War" (CBS News - Rooney)
"The word makes it sound as though we're just a few countries short of having the whole world on our side, and that isn't true. Most of the world is against us. The Administration says 49 countries are part of the coalition. I see that Eritrea, Uganda and Iceland are on our side."
"The fact is, though, we're in this thing with the British, who have 45,000 soldiers there, and the Australians, who have 2,000. That's it. The other 46 wish us well or let us fly bombers over their country. Big deal."
"We've practically bribed some of them. We offered Turkey $15 billion to let our troops go through there but they refused. President Bush won't be sending the president of Turkey anything for his birthday this year." 4-03
- Senator Byrd Against War Powers Act for President Bush (BBC News)
" 'This resolution authorizes the president to determine, and authorizes the president to use, military forces as he will, when he will, how he will and wherever he will as long as the threat is tied to Iraq,' Byrd said. 'Suffice it to say that this is a blank check ... given over to the chief executive, not just this one but chief executives who will succeed him....'
'Congress is ceding lock, stock and barrel its power to declare war,' he said.
Byrd, who is widely respected for his deep knowledge of the Senate rules, told his colleagues at a Democratic Party luncheon that he would use those rules to put off a vote, a prospect that angered supporters of the resolution.' " 10-02
- Timing for the Push Against Iraq (CNN)
The Bush administration claims that it did not advocate for a war with Iraq just before the 2002 elections for the purpose of political gain. The record is not so clear and adversaries claim that the talk of war was for political gain.
"What's the political convenience? Strategist Dick Morris spelled it out in a recent column: 'Polls show that only one issue works in Bush's favor: terrorism.' '' 12-02
- Turkey Endorses Foreign Troops in Turkey (Guardian Unlimited)
"Turkey's top military and civilian leaders endorsed basing foreign troops in the country, a move that could open the way for American soldiers to use Turkey as a base for military action against Iraq."
However, a bishop from President Bush's church came out against waging war with Iraq. "A bishop of the United Methodist Church, Bush's denomination, appears in a new anti-war ad in which he declares that making war against Iraq 'violates God's law and the teachings of Jesus Christ.' 'Iraq hasn't wronged us. War will only create more terrorists and a more dangerous world for our children,' Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, chief ecumenical officer of the United Methodist Church, says in the 30-second television ad." 1-03
- U.N. Inspectors Demand Bush Give Evidence (Independent - Cornwell and Grice)
"George Bush was under intense pressure yesterday to give UN weapons inspectors intelligence data that the US says proves Iraq is lying when it claims to have given up its weapons of mass destruction."
" 'If the UK and the US are convinced and they say they have evidence, then one would expect they would be able to tell us where is this stuff,' Mr Blix said."
"Mr Blair said Britain would aid the weapons team in its search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. But doubts persist over whether the US and Britain possess the hard evidence they claim to have." 12-02
- UN Oil-for-Food Program for Iraq (Transnational Foudation for Peace and Future Research - Harleman)
"To sum up, in 10 years, the UN sanctions against Iraq have transformed a nearly fully developed country into a developing one. The 'Oil-for-Food' Programme has not become the solution to the problem - it has become the problem itself." 9-02
- View - Iraq Would Not Start a War With the USA (CNN)
"It's unlikely Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would use weapons of mass destruction against the United States unless his country were attacked, a leading U.S. senator on defense policy said Saturday." 5-02
- War Resistance Online (CBC News)
"The peace movement believes it has managed to move millions of people to the streets in protest - from their computers. That's something that wouldn't have happened without the Internet." 3-03
Projects
- ANSWER Anti-War Organization (InternationalAnser.org)
Provides organization for protests to war.10-03
- Peace Coalition (National Youth and Student Peace Coalition)
Dedicated to working with other groups to promote world peace and protest war. 2-03
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