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February 2003
As the US government rushes into war, it is easy to get overwhelmed, and
to feel that there is nothing we can do.
But as ever more citizens wake up to the potentially catastrophic
consequences of Bush’s war, as hundreds of thousands of people all over
the globe protest this war, there are more groups to get involved with,
actions to take, and ways to become informed and inspired. Long-term political activist and writer Mina Hamilton
came up with this list. #1 The Beginning of Wisdom Back in the fall of 2002, we suffered a major setback when the US Congress voted to support Bush’s War against Iraq. However, in the winter of 2003 opposition is building around the globe (only 23% of the French, 24% of the Germans, 17% of the Turks support the war). US war critics are also increasingly visible. On January 13 a group of Republican businessmen took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal opposing the war. Meanwhile Roman Catholic Bishops and almost all the Protestant denominations have gone on record opposing the war. In the US Congress war critics are becoming bolder. On January 21, Senator Edward M. Kennedy accused the administration of rushing to war saying, “The threat from Iraq is not imminent, and it will distract America from the two more immediate threats to our security: the clear and present danger of terrorism and the crisis with North Korea.” Contact your representatives and let them know you oppose the rush to war and support a reasonable timetable for the UN inspectors to do their job. Addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of all representatives can be found at http://www.house.gov/writerep/ (House of Representatives) and at http://www.Senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm (Senate). #3 Become a Media Watchdog #4 Remember
History Later, it became known that for months, South Vietnamese
vessels supplied and armed by the US/CIA had made incursions into North
Vietnam’s territorial waters, dropping off saboteurs armed with explosives.
On August 1st these vessels engaged in a provocative
attack that was a major escalation: they bombarded North Vietnamese islands for
the first time.(It’s hard, more than forty years later to remember that
this attack was a major provocation.
This was long before the carpet-bombing of North Vietnam.) #5 Join NION #6 Give Yourself A Break from CBS, NBC, Fox or CNN. Support these sites financially, even a $5.00 or $10.00
donation can help. #7 Favor the Letter Z #8 Re-Read the United Nation’s Charter #9 Get Creative Wanted: The stop nato site has an excellent article by Helen
Caldicott, “Medical Consequences of Depleted Uranium.” Another informative article is Joanne Baker’s,
“Weapons of Silent Mass Destruction.”
It details the 300% rise in leukemia’s and 384.2% rise in malignancies
in those areas in Iraq where DU munitions were used. Also reported are significant increases in congenital diseases and
birth deformities. Other good
sources include World Information Service on Energy, also on the net
at http://www.antenna.nl/wise/. #11 Call Your Friends For example, Bush and the media have upped their war mongering over the January 2003 discovery in Iraq of 11 empty warheads. Discover the meaning of this finding by checking out a radio interview with Phyllis Bennis at www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm. Also share with your friends information about Hussein’s ballistic missiles, long a favorite topic of the President’s. Actually, according to the UN inspection team, known as UNSCOM, 817 of Iraq’s 819 Soviet-built missiles have been accounted for and destroyed. Any other missiles Iraq has are homemade clunkers that have not been tested. A recently revealed CIA analysis says it would take until 2015 for Iraq to develop long-range missile capacity – if the sanctions were completely lifted. For more information regarding distortions in the Bush administration’s allegations go to www.accuracy.org. One friend we know tired of seeing repeated references
in the Times to the “100 Palestinian gunmen” holed up in the
Church of Nativity and e-mailed the editorial board. (This was in Spring, 2002 during the long siege of the Bethlehem
Church.). She pointed out that
nobody actually knew how many gunmen were in the Church, but that there
were also innocent civilians present.
The next reference she saw in the Times they had modified
the 100 gunmen remark to an “unknown number” of gunmen. For letters to the editor e-mail, letters@nytimes.com, for editorial page
editor e-mail, editorial@nytimes.com,
for other news articles write managing-editor@nytimes.com #14 Learn
About Collateral Damage #15 Unmask Hyprocrisy In 2002, Rumsfeld can’t say enough about the evil horrors
of Saddam Hussein’s gassing of Iranian soldiers. Yet fourteen years ago, in 1984, Rumsfeld had
a very different attitude about this tragedy. That was the year that Saddam’s Hussein used mustard gas and Tabun
gas against Iranian soliders. What
is interesting about the date is that, as reported by Jeremy Scahill
on Z-net, Saddam was engaged in this heinous behavior at the exact moment
that Rumsfeld was in Iraq to arrange for the resumption of diplomatic
relations between the US and Iraq.
Although the UN report on the use of the gas came out while
Rumsfeld was in Baghdad, Rumfeld said nothing. Did the US government
publicly protest this atrocity? No! Did Rumsfeld refuse to negotiate with Saddam? No! Why? Because, at that time, just as with Dostum now,
Saddam was seen as useful to the US government and therefore his atrocities
went uncensored. In fact, shortly
after Rumsfeld’s visit and the gassing of the Iranians the US resumed
diplomatic relations with Iraq, giving a clear signal that the US government
did not object to Saddam’s use of gas. #16 Think About Oil #17 Do Some Arithmetic In the fall of 2002, the Bush Administration estimated the Iraq War would cost $80-100 billion. Predictably, by winter of 2003, this estimate had ballooned to $200 billion – an estimate that does not take into account a long-term, military occupation or nation building activities. Add Bush’s proposed enormous tax cuts and the already weak US economy is in deep trouble. With the US government running a huge deficit, where is this money going to come from? You got it – education and health budgets, environmental protection and National Parks’ budgets, senior citizens’ prescription monies, mass transportation, social security, and other vital programs. Remember, the cost of Gulf War 1 ($60 billion) was largely borne – about four/fifths -- by the US’s allies. This time around Saudi Arabia, Japan, etc. are unlikely to be as generous. Add to this big bite the anticipated rise of oil per barrel (it might zoom up from the current price of $30.00 to $50.00 per barrel) and some experts predict the US economy will sink into a recession. Check out an article by Miriam Pemberton, “War Fever Weakens Ailing Economy,” in the Baltimore Sun. Read at http://www.ips-dc.org, the website of the Institute for Policy Studies. Pemberton is an IPS Foreign Policy Fellow. #18 Sign the Campaign for Peace and Democracy Ad This is the most intelligent and well-reasoned statement against the Iraq War we have found yet. The statement signed by such luminaries as Barbara Ehrenreich, Katha Pollitt, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Daniel Ellsberg, minces no words about the vicious, dictatorial policies of the Hussein regime, but also clearly analyses the goals and likely effects of Bush’s War. The statement says, “The US military may have the ability to destroy Saddam Hussein, but the United States cannot promote democracy in the Muslim world and peace in the Middle East, nor can it deal with the threat posed to all of us by terrorist networks such as Al Qauda, and by weapons of mass destruction, by pursuing its current policies.” To read the whole statement and sign on go to www.cpdweb.org #19 Design and Make Your Very Own T-shirt DU Spells WMD*
*WMD is the acronym the Department of Defense uses for
Weapons of Mass Destruction. Depleted
uranium is used in cruise missiles, tank penetrators and other munitions.
It explodes and burns on impact – releasing clouds of highly
radioactive, toxic dust. This dust will remain poisonous for hundreds
of years. #20 Quote Mark Twain This story appeared in an excellent Lewis Lapham article,
“The Road to Babylon: Searching for Targets in Iraq.” Lapham details the perils of war against Iraq
in the October 2002 Harper’s Magazine. #21 Choose a Different Credit Card #22 Think Some More About Oil How can you help to reduce oil consumption in the US?
Currently, the US consumes one-quarter of the total world’s oil
consumption, with automobiles gobbling up 40% of the US total of 19.3
million barrels of oil per day. Read Ending the Oil Age: A Plan to Kick
the Saudi Habit, by energy expert Charles Komanoff. Komanoff explains how minor adjustments in
our energy consumption habits can reduce our oil use by 5% virtually
overnight. This reduction would
equal 65% of our imports from Saudi Arabia.
His report is available at www.rightofway.org.
A reduction of oil use will also help reduce global warming. #23 Attend a
Teach-in #24 Ask Yourself --
How Safe Are Our Freedoms? Check out Nancy Chang’s Silencing Political Dissent
for a clear review of the new threats to our freedoms, then let your
representatives know you want this dangerous act amended. Available
at local bookstores and on the web at www.sevenstories.com.
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