From: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org" <moveon-help@...>

Subject: Emergency Petition to the Security Council



> We've 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:
>
> http://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:
>
> http://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.
>
> ________________
>
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