Posted on 5-3-2003

Peition Against Invasion Of Iraq

Just launched, an emergency petition from citizens around the world to the
U.N. Security Council. We'll be delivering the list of signers and your
comments to the 15 member states of the Security Council on THURSDAY, MARCH 6.

If hundreds of thousands of us sign, it could be an enormously important
and powerful message -- people from all over the world joining in a single
call for a peaceful solution. But we really need your help, and soon.
Please sign and ask your friends and colleagues to sign TODAY at:

www.moveon.org/emergency/

In the next week, the U.N. Security Council will likely meet to decide on
authorizing a war against Iraq. If the Council votes to accept a second
resolution, it'll be very difficult to avert a war. But if the resolution
doesn't get enough votes, it'll be a major setback for the Bush
Administration's plans to invade and occupy Iraq. In the United States and
around the world, millions of us oppose a war against Iraq. We believe
that tough inspections can disarm Saddam Hussein without the loss of a
single life. This week may represent our last chance to win without war.

The stakes couldn't really be much higher. A war with Iraq could kill
tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and inflame the Middle East. According
to current plans, it would require an American occupation of the country
for years to come. And it could escalate in ways that are horrifying to
imagine.

We can stop this tragedy from unfolding. But we need to speak together,
and we need to do so now. Let's show the Security Council what world
citizens think. You can add your voice at:

www.moveon.org/emergency/

Then please ask your friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances -- anyone
you know who shares this concern -- to sign on today. As the New York
Times put it, "there may still be two superpowers on the planet: the United
States and world public opinion." The Bush Administration's been flexing
its muscles. Now let's flex ours.

Sincerely, Eli Pariser, International Campaigns Director, MoveOn.org, March
3rd, 2003

P.S. Here's the letter we'll be delivering to the Security Council members
along with the petition:

Dear Member of the U.N. Security Council,

We are citizens from countries all over the world. We are speaking
together because we will all be affected by a decision in which your
country has a major part -- the decision of how to disarm Iraq.

The first reason for its existence listed in the Preamble to the Charter of
the United Nations is "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of
war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind." If
your country supports a Security Council resolution that would authorize a
war on Iraq, you will directly contradict that charter. You will be
supporting an unnecessary war -- a war which immediately, and in its
unknown consequences, could bring "untold sorrow to mankind" once again.

The U.N. was created to enable peaceful alternatives to conflict. The
weapons inspections under way are a perfect example of just such an
alternative, and their growing success is a testament to the potential
power the U.N. holds. By supporting tough inspections instead of war, you
can show the world a real way to resolve conflict without bloodshed. But if
you back a war, it will undermine the very premise upon which the U.N. was
built.

President Bush argues that only by endorsing a war on Iraq can the United
Nations prove its relevance. We argue the opposite. If the Security
Council allows itself to be completely swayed by one member nation, in the
face of viable alternatives, common sense and world public opinion, then it
will be diminished in its role, effectiveness, and in the opinion of
humankind.

We do not support this war. For billions of citizens in hundreds of
countries, and for the future generations whose lives will be shaped by the
choice you make, we ask that you stand firm against the pressuring of the
Bush Administration, and support tough inspections for Iraq. The eyes of the
world are on you.

Sincerely,
[Number] citizens of the world.