From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: FCNL: Stop War Against Iraq
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 23:14:17 GMT

/** fcnl.updates: 25.0 **/
** Topic: G-236FOR Stop War Against Iraq **
** Written  8:59 am  Aug 20, 1992 by fcnl in cdp:fcnl.updates **
                                                 
G-236-FOR
                                                 
August 20, 1992

"If Saddam lets us into his Defense Ministry, then
we go a step further.  Maybe we demand access to
his private offices.  We will continue to escalate
as long as necessary, and sometime he will say no
or admit total impotence.  When he says no, we
bomb." --   White House policy advisor  
                                Washington Post 
                                August 19, 1992 


CITIZEN ACTION NEEDED TO STOP THE WAR AGAINST IRAQ


Military action against Iraq appears imminent,
perhaps inevitable if some leaders have their way. 
U.S. administration officials justify military
intervention on two grounds:  1) the government of
Iraq has refused to abide by the conditions of the
cease-fire agreement, and 2) the humanitarian
needs of the Iraqi population, particularly the
Kurds and the Shia in southern Iraq, dictates
intervention.  

The calming and rational voices of citizens must
be heard now to change the course of action. 
Military intervention only guarantees the
continued suffering of the people of Iraq.
 

ACTIONS:  

1.  Write or call George Bush and Bill Clinton. 
Tell them that military action is not the solution
to this or any other conflict, and should never be
used as a challenge in the rhetoric of political
campaigns.
 
President George Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC  20500
Phone: 202-456-1111

Governor Bill Clinton
Clinton/Gore Campaign Headquarters
PO Box 615
Little Rock, AR  72203 
Phone: 501-372-1992


2.  Visit your senators and representative while
they are in their home offices or contact their
Washington staff. (Congress returns to Washington
September 8.)   The President should not use
military force against the people of Iraq without
congressional debate and a vote on the use of
force.  This is BOTH a war-and-peace issue AND a
constitutional balance-of-powers issue.  The
President should not act alone, and Congress
should not shirk its responsibility.

Senator ______________      
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Representative __________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC  20515
Capitol Switchboard:  202-224-3121  


3.  Encourage UN Secretary General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali to strengthen the role of the United
Nations as a peacebroker, rather than a military
enforcer in the world community.  The decisions
and actions of the United Nations should not be
manipulated or circumvented by the United States.

Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Office of the Secretary-General
United Nations Headquarters, Room 3800
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212-963-5012

BACKGROUND:

On April 3, 1991, the United Nations Security
Council approved Resolution 687, which set forth
the conditions for the cease-fire agreement of the
Gulf War.  Among other things, the resolution
required Iraq to:

-  unconditionally accept the destruction,
removal, or rendering harmless, under
international supervision, all chemical and
biological weapons and all ballistic missiles with
a range greater than 150 kilometers; and agree not
to acquire or develop nuclear weapons or nuclear-
weapons-useable material;

-  cooperate in the demarcation of a recognized
boundary between Iraq and Kuwait;

-  facilitate the repatriation of all Kuwaiti and
third country nationals;

-  assume liability under international law for
any direct loss, damage, or injury as a result of
Iraq's unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait,
and to create a fund to pay compensation for
claims.  

The economic sanctions against Iraq, put in place
in August 1990, remained as a condition of the
cease-fire agreement.  However, in testimony
before congressional committees, State Department
officials have acknowledged that the United States
would insist that sanctions remain until Saddam
Hussein was no longer in power.  Regardless of the
debate over who is responsible for the effects of
the sanctions, the suffering of the people of Iraq
is the undisputed result.  

The U.S. administration insists that military
intervention is justified because Iraq has not
accepted the conditions of the cease-fire
agreement and the humanitarian needs of the people
of Iraq requires intervention.   

Additional resources available from FCNL:  

  August 2 Religious Leaders' Statement to the
United States Administration on the Postwar
Humanitarian Needs of Iraq; free with self-
addressed stamped envelope.

  Sanctions and Suffering: A Quaker Appeal for the
People of Iraq; $1.00, includes postage and
handling..
** End of text from cdp:fcnl.updates **