Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- > Sample letter to President Bush > > Dear friends, > > In these troubling times, I hope we can all remember that the true path to > peace lies in forgiveness and reconcilliation, not in revenge. The tragedy > of 9/11 can bring out the best in people by encouraging us to reach out to > those in need. At the same time, we should resist our President's misguided > calls for war, retaliation and revenge as a response to this tragedy. We > must let our leaders know that causing more killing is not the way to honor > the memory of the people who died in Tuesday's attack. > > To that end, I've drafted the following letter to Pres. Bush. I hope you'll > consider writing him one of your own, in your own words, using this one as a > guide. > > peacefully yours, > Nancy Hey > > September 15, 2001 > > President George W. Bush > The White House > 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. > Washington, DC 20500 > > Dear President Bush: > > In your efforts to comfort the families of the innocent victims of the > tragic events of September 11th, I beg you to please let mercy, and not > vengeance be your guide. I am very concerned by your constant use of the > term "declaration of war" to describe the attacks, and your calls for > retaliatory military action against the perpetrators of these attacks. > Vengeance will not heal the pain of the victims of this attack. It will > only perpetuate the cycle of violence. You should have learned from the > mistakes of your predecessor, William J. Clinton, that such retaliatory > strikes only cause more civilian deaths, and increase resentment of the US > in the world, increasing the risk of more terrorist attacks. This was the > case when your predecessor attacked the Al Shifa pharmaceutical plant in > Sudan in 1998. This attack destroyed life-saving medicine for people in > this famine-struck country, thus causing suffering and death to innocent > people, and did not result in the capture of Osama bin Laden. Now is the > time to heed the words of Mahatma Gandhi, who said, "an eye for an eye makes > the whole world go blind". > Rather than rallying the nation to war, this latest attack should be seen > as a call for the United States to reflect upon our policy which has caused > so much resentment against us in the Arab world. Over one million people, > most of them children have died in Iraq as a result of the crippling > economic sanctions by the US and the UN. US warplanes continue to drop > bombs on Iraq almost daily, and the Palestinian people have suffered under > 50 years of repression under Israeli occupation, an occupation which entails > Israeli assassination of Palestinian leaders, home demolitions, and > destruction of the Palestinians' olive groves and other means of livelihood. > Mr. President, I think this is also a time for you to remember your own > promises to the American people. You campaigned on a promise of restoring > integrity to the White House after the scandals of the Clinton > Administration. Yet, you have continued Clinton's policy of bombing Iraq > several times a week in the "no-fly" zones, which have no legitimacy under > International Law, and are a clear violation of Iraq's national sovereignty. > You have offered the Iraqi people no relief from the devastating effects > of the sanctions, as your so-called "smart" sanctions policy would have done > nothing to solve the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. > Mr. President, what do you hope to achieve by continuing the failed > policies of your father and your predecessor toward Iraq, when worldwide the > sentiment is in favor of abandoning the bombings and sanctions? > Furthermore, in your campaign, you specifically promised the American > people that you would withdraw troops form the Balkans, and that you would > not have the United States be "the world's 911" over there anymore. Yet, > since being in office, you have not only failed to withdraw the troops from > Bosnia and Kosovo, but you have sent troops into yet another Balkan nation, > Macedonia. How can you justify such an abandonment of your promise? What > do you hope to gain by keeping American and NATO troops in the Balkans, when > our past record of intervention over there has been such a dismal failure, > leading to more ethnic conflict, encouraging the violence of the KLA and NLA > against Slavs and other non-Albanians? What do you hope to gain by > supporting these groups in their aim to carve up Slavic countries into a > "greater Albania"? > Please take this time to correct the past mistakes of US foreign policy, > not to make new ones. The last thing this country needs is another war. > Please use these troubling times for healing and reconciliation, not for > retaliation. > > Sincerely, > > Nancy A. Hey > > CC: Secretary of State Collin Powell > Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld > Senator Paul Sarbanes > Senator Barbara Mikulski > Congresswoman Constance Morella > > ________________________________ ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
