From: Rania Masri <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 22:14:19 +0000 (GMT) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [IAC] epic ACTION ALERT - Protest U.S. Bombing of Iraq! ***please forward widely*** ACTION ALERT ? Protest U.S. Bombing of Iraq! Who to call/ email Background TalkingPoints 1. Who to call/email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] CALL RIGHT NOW: -White House comment line 202-456-1414 -State Department comment line 202-647-6575 -YOUR local media ON TUES: -Your elected representatives 202-225-3121 2. Background On Friday, February 16th, the Bush Administration initiated a brief bombing campaign within the no-fly-zones and outside of those zones, striking five ?strategic? sites north of the 33 parallel ? just outside Baghdad. While the U.S. has regularly bombed sites within the self-declared ?no-fly-zones,? this bombing expands the United States? ?free-strike? zone to include all of Iraq. The Bush Administration may have been attempting to sneak an expansion of U.S. military efforts against Iraq under the radar, and appears to have been caught off-guard with the press response to this escalated campaign. News of this bombing has superceded planned coverage of the President?s first foreign trip in Mexico, and the White House has responded by trying to downplay the significance of today?s actions in Iraq. Today?s bombing seems to contradict previous statements by Bush policy advisors criticizing President Clinton for not hitting Iraq ?hard enough? over the last two years, and during the Dec. 1998 Desert Fox bombing campaign. Bush National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice told the Washington Post last August, ?[I]f Saddam gives you a reason to use force against him, then use decisive force, not just a pinprick.? On Good Morning America two years ago, current Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz derided the Desert Fox bombing, saying, ?[R]ather than a relatively ineffective bombing campaign? I think we should be more serious about helping the Iraqi people overthrow him. ? I think what's essential is to get the Iraqi army out of a protected area in southern Iraq.? And last spring, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick complained to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that, ?Saddam Hussein tried to assassinate President Bush [Sr.], and there were a few lousy cruise missiles sent in the middle of the night?? Furthermore, today?s bombing may also be evidence of a widening split between Secretary of State Colin Powell, and the more hawkish Wolfowitz and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. This bombing will likely inflame the public through-out the Middle East, making Powell?s planned trip to the region on Feb. 23rd much more controversial and difficult. Today?s bombing, and the resulting press coverage, is a strong opportunity for anti-war activists and organizations to educate the American people on the terrible consequences of this war, push our media to cover those consequences, and demonstrate to the new Administration the folly of pursuing this course. TAKE ACTION! Organize! Educate! Agitate! 3. Talking Points -Today?s bombing, while unusual in it?s choice of targets, is not new. The U.S. has been illegally bombing Iraq on the average of 2-3 times a week for over two years. -Today?s bombing was not by ?coalition? forces. It was done by the U.S. with some U.K. participation. The United Nations does not recognize the ?no-fly-zones,? and under international law, these self-declared zones are illegal. - Over 300 civilians have been killed by ?routine? U.S. bombings over the last two years, including at least 3 in today?s bombing. - Rather than undermine Saddam Hussein, this bombing will likely inflame the Iraqi and Arab peoples against the U.S., and strengthen Saddam?s political rehabilitation in the region by pitting him as David against the American Goliath. - The U.S. war against Iraq isn?t limited to bombings, our on-going blockade, the ?sanctions,? have resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, perhaps well over 1,000,000 people in all ? most of them children. According to UNICEF, over 500,000 children under the age of 5 have died due to our blockade. - Former Chief Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter, and former weapons inspector Dr. Raymond Zilinskas, have both stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed of any WMD capability by 1998 and does not pose a WMD-based threat to the region today. - Secretary Powell stated on Face the Nation on Sunday, Feb. 11th, ?[Saddam?s] much weaker. That million-man army of 10 years ago is gone. He is sitting on a very much smaller army of perhaps 350,000 that does not have the capacity to invade its neighbors any longer. ? I'm sure he can hold on to his power. ? What he can't do is invade his neighbors anymore?? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) 1101 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20003 tel. 202-543-6176; fax 202-543-0725 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Check out our WEBSITE, now updated weekly... http://www.saveageneration.org _______________________________________________ IAC-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://iraqaction.org/mailman/listinfo/iac-list _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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