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REASONS TO STOP THE WAR
1. Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have been destroyed and Iraq is not a military threat
Ex-weapons inspector Scott Ritter wrote, "… From a qualitative standpoint, Iraq has in fact been disarmed... The chemical, biological, nuclear and long-range ballistic missile programs that were a real threat in 1991 had, by 1998, been destroyed or rendered harmless." [Boston Globe op-ed (3/9/00)]
“Iraq today is no longer a military threat to anyone. Intelligence agencies know this. All the conjectures about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq lack evidence.” [Hans von Sponeck, UN humanitarian coordinator, 29 May 2001]
2. Attacking Iraq will not reduce that threat of terrorist attacks to the U.S.
Although the current military action planned against Iraq is being pursued as part of the war on terrorism, there has been no evidence presented that Iraq is supporting or harbouring terrorists.
The War on Terrorism is a war against independent militia groups and individuals, not entire nations. There is no need to destroy whole nations or depose the leaders of these countries.
Addressing the long-term grievances against the United States that give rise to terrorist attacks (such as the sanctions on Iraq, U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia, and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict) will lead to long-term peace. Fighting wars against nations will increase underlying anger at the United States and increase the risk for terrorist attacks.
3. Iraq WILL allow weapons inspectors:
Rather than working in good faith to reintroduce UN inspectors as a means to disarm Iraq and lift sanctions, the U.S. administration appears to be (once again) using UN inspections as a trigger for a U.S. military assault -- this time intent on removing Saddam Hussein from power. In a Feb. 13 analysis, David E. Sanger of the New York Times asserts that the Bush team plans to create an inspection crisis between now and May. They would then use the crisis as proof that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction, and use Iraqi resistance to justify more forceful action.
"A team of nuclear experts is due to arrive in Baghdad for an annual inspection of Iraq's uranium stockpiles." [CNN.com, January 25, 2002]
"Iraq will still need to allow the return of 687 inspectors before sanctions can be lifted. This, of course, means the US and the UN would have to be willing to run a legitimate inspection program, and also be willing to allow sanctions to be lifted -- per UN resolutions --once a clean bill of health was issued. Given the US policy of removing Saddam, this seems highly unlikely at this time." [Scott Ritter, former chief of the Concealment Investigations Unit for the UN Special Commission on Iraq.]
4. As for the people of Iraq ...
During the Gulf War, between 2,500 and 3,500 civilians were killed in the bombing campaign. After, the civilian death toll rose to 110,000 people killed due to the destruction of Iraq's civilian infrastructure. [War and Public Health, American Public Health Association, 2000]
Under the 88,500 tons of bombs (the equivalent of seven Hiroshimas) that followed the launch of the air campaign on January 17, 1991, and the ground attack that followed, fully 150,000 Iraqi troops and 50,000 civilians were killed. [Z-Magazine, David Edwards, February 28, 2002]
For almost 11 years, the Iraqi civilian population has been suffering from the most draconian and prolonged economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations. One-fourth of Iraqi children under the age of five are malnourished and there has been a 160 percent rise in Iraq's infant mortality rate since 1991 [UN Report, March 1999].
5. International opposition to an attack on Iraq
"The United States is preparing to destroy the regime of Saddam Hussein. The timetable is flexible but will be dictated by America's strategic and military readiness and by nothing else, certainly not by righteous whisperings from Brussels to Berlin. The goal is fixed." ('To Free Iraq Blair must prepare party and country for military action,' the Times, February 15, 2002)
"There is not a single Arab country which backs a recourse to force against Iraq, and all are preoccupied by the lot of the Iraqi people." [Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, November 10, 2001]
"...Any attack on Iraq at this stage would be unwise." [UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, February 25, 2002]
"Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the United States had no basis to extend the war against terrorism to Iraq." [Judith Ingram, Associated Press Writer, Feb 14,2002]
For Further Information
Visit the Coalition Against the War on the People of Iraq Website at www.geocities.com/stopthewaroniraq.
This document is based on a flyer from www.stopthewaragainstiraq.org. It has been modified with permission.
"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."
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