ACT NOW TO STOP WAR WITH IRAQ THIS CHRISTMAS
Dear Everyone,
We are coming to the Christmas season, when most people go on holiday or
spend time with their families.
Most of us will be trying to take a break from the usual round of
frenetic activity.
Unfortunately, this means that the holiday break is the very best time
for a war on Iraq to be commenced.
There is a significant risk that George Bush, knowing that people will
be in no position to respond with immediate protests, will choose to
commence hostilities on some flimsy pretext. There is a significant
risk here in Australia that John Howard may choose this time to make a
committment of Australian troops, knowing that activists too, take time off.
If hostilities do NOT break out in this period, it is vital - for
Australia - to convince the Labor Party that it must take a much
stronger position in opposition to war. If hostilities DO break out or
if Australian troops are committed, emergency actions will need to be
commenced within hours of an announcement or within hours of the bombs
falling.
Anyone who IS available over the Christmas break is urged to work on
either readiness for an emergency response to war, or else on pressing
the ALP to more strongly oppose war and to be prepared to act in the
Senate to do so.
THE ALP
Below you will find:
--A draft letter to John Howard, copied to Simon Crean.
--A letter sent by a number of organisations Austtralia-wide faxed to
much of the ALP caucus.
--An email list for the entire federal labor party caucus.
You are urged to borrow as much as you can from both letters and write
either to Simon Crean (02-6277-8444, 03-9545-6299) or Kevin Rudd
(02-6277-8508, 07-3899-5755), urging them to take a stronger position in
opposition to war. Above all you should urge that the inspection
process be allowed to proceed and that it not be white-anted by the Bush
administration, and that the real problem of weapons of mass
destruction, the massive and deadly arsenals held by the US itself,
Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, and Israel be highlighted.
You should also write to Carmen Lawrence (02-6277-8501, 08-9336-1059)
Tanya Plibersek (02-6277-8513, 9550-3820) and Harry Quick (02-6277-8588,
03-6263-5050), congratulating them on having taken a stand and urging
them to keep making that stand against war.
You may wish to write to Prime Minister Howard (02-6273-4100,
9251-5454), urging him not to consider joining with a US made war with
Iraq, and urging him tp press the US to get rid of its own weapons of
mass destruction. If you do, cc your letter to Simon Crean and Kevin Rudd.
You are urged, if you write to Crean and Rudd, to send an electronic
version of your letter to the entire ALP Federal Caucus, whose emails
are included at the end of this email. (Some emails will bounce - this
is inevitable don't worry)
EMERGENCY ACTION
If war breaks out or if Australian troops are committed, emergency
actions will take place Australia-wide and worldwide.
In Sydney, people are being urged to assemble in front of Sydney Town
Hall at 5pm the day hostilities commence or troops are committed, unless
that happens late in the day in which case it will be 5pm the following day.
(Contact 9386-1240, 0409-792-081, 0418-668-098)
In Melbourne you are urged to assemble in front of the State Library at 5pm.
(Contact 0418-140-387, 03-9659-3582)
In Adelaide, please assemble on the steps of of Parliament House at 5pm
(0439-401-090, 0414-773-918)
Vigils are being held every Friday from 5pm to 8.30pm in front of Sydney
Town Hall. If you are in Sydney you are urged to come.
Please don't just wait for the emergency action - Do let your federal
member know what you think about war with Iraq, and press the Labor
Party to take decisive action against war.
You are encouraged to use ideas and inspiration from the leters below,
but do use your own words as much as possible.
Happy wariting,
And merry Christmas,
John Hallam
TO:
PRIME MINISTER JOHN HOWARD 9251-5454, 6273-4100 9816-1349
FOREIGN MINISTER ALEXANDER DOWNER 6273-4112, 08-8370-8166
CC
SIMON CREAN 6277-8444, 03-9545-6299,
KEVIN RUDD, SHADOW MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 6277-8498, 07-3266-4263
Dear Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer,
I am writing to express my extreme concern over the possibility that
Australia might follow the United States into a war against Iraq.
Please note that I shall be discussing this issue with all my friends
and that I shall be taking the matter up with my local member of Parliament.
Plans for war against Iraq have recently been strongly criticised by
Arab nations, by Nelson Mandela and French President Chirac, by the
government of Germany, by senior fiigures in the United States
(including the republican party), and by non-government groups around
the world.
The main argument used by those who advocate a war with Iraq is that
Saddam Hussein may be developing weapons of mass destruction.
Weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons, are a global
problem whose most important component is the massive arsenals
maintained by the nuclear weapons powers, who seem determined to
maintain a capability to eliminate civilisation and most life on land
indefinitely in spite of a clear legal obligation to eliminate their
nuclear arsenals. Iraq does not posess even a tiny fraction of this
massive and deadly (and illegal) capability.
When the US performed a subcritical nuclear test on Thursday 29Aug,
and tested a minuteman missile some weeks earlier, there were no calls
from Iraq or anywhere else, for invasion of Nevada, or for 'regime
change' in Washington.
Whether Iraq has in fact obtained weapons of mass destruction of any
kind or whether Iraq has made any progress whatsoever toward doing so is
highly problematic. Iraq is unlikely to have nuclear weapons or to be
close to obtaining them. It could concievably posess biological or
chemical weapons.
Iraq in spite of repeated statements from the US government that it
poses a 'threat' to its neighbours, is in no position to pose a threat
of any kind, and even Iraqs conventional forces are far less formidable
than during the gulf war. Iraqs neighbours, including Kuwait, are
strongly opposed to military action against Iraq.
The reality is that military action by the US and possibly Australia
against Iraq would destabilise the middle east with highly unpredictable
and possibly very negative consequences, fuel support for Al Queda and
similar groups, and in the long run, render the world a more dangerous
place.
It would put in question the rule of international law, and would weaken
and divide the United Nations.
It is not in Australias interest to support an ill-considered venture
merely out of desire to please the US. Australia must excercise its
own independent judgement as it did over the ICC and the BWC.
Your government must:
1) Convey a strong and public message to the US that Australia believes
war against Iraq to be ill-advised, dangerous, and counterproductive,
and that Australia will vcarry this message in all its diplomatic activity
2) Your government must demand that the joint facilities in no way be
used to facilitate military operations against Iraq.
I await your prompt, frank, and detailed reply.
Signed (your name)
LETTER TO ALP FEDERAL CAUCUS
TO MEMBERS OF ALP FEDERAL CAUCUS
RE: WAR WITH IRAQ/FIRST STRIKE
Dear ALP Federal Caucus Member,
The groups signed below are writing to you in the wake of the peace
rallies in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin, Canberra, Brisbane ,
Perth and several regional cities of Nov30/Dec1.
We also write with the Prime Minister having expounded a dangerous and
irresponsible 'first strike' doctrine, that has quite rightly brought
widespread condemnation from within our region.
The Nov30/Dec1 rallies show a large cross-section of the voting public
are strongly opposed to war with Iraq, with or without a resolution
from the UN Security Council providing a spurious justification for it.
It is widely percieved that a UN Security Council resolution
authorising war would be brought about only as a result of undue
pressure and diplomatic arm-twisting on the part of the Bush
Administration. As such it would not be truly representative of the
real beliefs and feelings of most governments, let alone the majority
of peoples of the world.
UN Security Council Resolution 1441, under which inspections are taking
place, while providing many technical 'tripwires' that would place Iraq
in breach of that resolution, still requires a further decision by the
Security Council to authorise military action.
The Bush administration is engaging in the most agressive bullying and
vote-buying to support its position in the Security Council. The
likelihood is that extreme pressure would be bought to bear by the Bush
Administration in order to achieve a favorable decision. Alternatively
the US may argue (incorrectly) that military action is justified by the
current resolution.
Presidential adviser Richard Perle has argued in a recent interview that
no matter what the results of the current round of inspections may be,
the US should invade Iraq. Similar sentiments have been expressed by
other people and bodies associated with the Bush Administration, which
has actively sought to discredit the inspection process.
There is no justification in international law or the actual security
situation for such a position.
The current position of the Labor Party as we understand it, is that the
ALP will not support military action against Iraq, unless it has the
authorisation of a new security council resolution.
This leaves open the possibility that the ALP might support action
against Iraq that was covered by a UN Security Council resolution, or
that it might support military action that the Bush administration would
argue, correctly or otherwise, was 'justified' by a UN security
council resolution.
Given the potential for the Security Council to be pressured by the Bush
administration, this is not a strong or clear enough position.
The arguments for war against Iraq, especially those based on the issue
of weapons of mass destruction, remain spurious no matter how many
Security Council resolutions are brought forth under US pressure.
It remains a fact that the most probable number of deliverable Iraqi
nuclear weapons is currently zero, while the US possesses some 12,000
warheads of which at any given time, 2,500 are on 'launch on warning'
status. This will remain the case no matter how the security council
may be pressured to agree to military action, or bypassed as
'irrelevant' if it does not so agree.
It remains the case, no matter how much fuss is made over Iraqs current
ambitions to obtain chemical and biological weapons, that in 1983, Mr.
Rumsfeld himself knew of and did not discourage their use by Saddam
Hussein, then seen as an ally against Iran.
No matter how the US succeeds to pressure the UN, it is clear from the
recent rallies that the overwhelming majority of the Australian
electorate does not support war with Iraq, and does not support a 'first
strike' policy of any kind.
We urge you as a member of ALP caucus to bring this matter up in the
deliberations of the ALP. We urge the ALP to take a stand that is
unambiguously opposed to military action against Iraq, as well as
unambiguously opposing the dangerous 'first strike' concept recently
expounded by our Prime Minister.
Signed
John Hallam, Dimity Hawkins, Friends of the Earth Australia,Turella NSW,
Adelaide,
Harry Cohen Vice President,Giji Gya, Medical Association for the
Prevention of War Australia (MAPWA),WA/Vic,
James Courtney, Greenpeace Australia-Pacific,
Irene Gale AM, Australian Peace Committee, Adelaide,
Natalie Stevens, Campaigner, People for Nuclear Disarmament NSW,
Jo Valentine, People for Nuclear Disarmament W.A.,
Leah Mason Sydney People Against a New Nuclear Reactor (SPANNR),
Michael Priceman, People Aganst A Nuclear Reactor (PANR),
Pauline Mitchell, Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament,
Jacob Grech, Ozpeace,
Joan Shears, Rally for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, Brisbane,
Kirsten Blair & Mark Wakeham, Coordinators, Environment Centre of the
Northern Territory (ECNT),
Harry van Moorst, Western Region Environment Centre
Andrew Ferguson, Secy, CFMEU- NSW Construction & General Division.
Alison Lyssa, Greens, Australian Writers Guild,
Frank Barbaro, FILEF,
Marlene Obeid, Action for World Development,Turella, NSW,
Father Claude Mostowik MSC, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Justice and
Peace Centre [Australian Province]
Rev. Ray Richmond, Wayside Chapel, Uniting Church in Australia
Margeret Hinchey, Catholic Coalition for Justice and Peace (CCJP),
Keysar Trad, Lebanese Moslem Association, Lakemba,
Peter Murphy, Coordinator, SEARCH Foundation,
Franklin Scarfe, Earth Repair Foundation,
Bea Bliele, UNE Community for Peace and Freedom,
Damien Lawson, Federation of Community Legal Services, Vic,
Lee Rhiannon, MLC,Greens, NSW Legislative Council,
Ian Cohen MLC Greens, NSW Legislative Council,
Giz Watson MLC, Greens, W.A.,
Dee Margetts, MLC, Greens, W.A.,
Senator Kerry Nettle, Greens, NSW,
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