FM: John Whitbeck
This is a worthy initiative, suitable for circulation as a "chain letter".
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phyllis Bennis" <pbennis2@cs.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 3:38 AM
Subject: Please help me reach the Security Council and prevent an invasion
of Iran
Dear friends,
As you know, the U.S. is escalating its threats -- including threats of a
nuclear strike -- against Iran. On April 28 the United Nations Security
Council will receive a report from the UN's nuclear watchdog agency, the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It is likely the IAEA report
will repeat what it has said earlier: that despite some unanswered
questions, there is no evidence Iran has diverted nuclear production to a
weapons program.
>> But whatever the report says, the Bush administration has made clear its
>> demand that the Security Council take up Washington's anti-Iran campaign
>> and move towards UN-approved sanctions or even more extreme measures.
>>
>> Just a few years ago, massive global mobilization, and the millions of
>> people in the streets of cities around the world saying NO to Bush's war,
>> forced governments to resist U.S. pressure. That same mobilization forced
>> the United Nations to do what its Charter requires: standing against "the
>> scourge of war." The UN refused to grant the U.S. legitimacy for its
>> illegal invasion of Iraq. That UN resistance insured that the whole world
>> had to recognize the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq was and remains
>> illegal.
>>
>> Now we must insure that the Security Council hears those voices once
>> again.
>>
>> United for Peace and Justice, the largest and broadest anti-war coalition
>> in the United States, has launched a campaign aimed at the UN Security
>> Council, demanding that the Council stand firm against U.S. pressure.
>>
>> Please go to the following website and sign the letter. With your
>> signature it will be sent automatically to the ambassador and foreign
>> minister of each member of the Security Council.
>>
>> Please stand with UFPJ to demand again that the world say NO to war!
>>
>> http://www.democracyinaction
>>
>> ** If you are signing outside the U.S. or Canada, please list your city
>> in the "City" box and country in the "Street 2" box, select "Other" in
>> the State/Region box, and be sure to add your own or another postal code
>> in the "Zip/Postal code" box.
>>
>> Many thanks.
>>
>> Phyllis Bennis
>>
>> ******************************
>>
>> TEXT OF THE LETTER TO UN SECURITY COUNCIL:
>>
>> Dear Ambassador,
>> Dear Foreign Minister,
>>
>> On April 28 you will be called upon to consider a report from the
>> International Atomic Energy Agency evaluating Iran's nuclear program. The
>> IAEA is unequivocal that there is no evidence that Iran has diverted
>> nuclear materials to weapons.
>>
>> And yet escalating rhetoric from Washington continues to threaten
>> sanctions and other "painful consequences" against Iran. According to
>> recent credible reports, the U.S. government is engaged in serious
>> planning for air strikes against Iran, including the possibility of using
>> nuclear weapons. In this circumstance, members of the Security Council
>> have a grave responsibility to prevent Washington from launching an
>> attack against Iran or using nuclear weapons, and to work diligently for
>> a diplomatic solution.
>>
>> Like you, we recognize that nuclear weapons represent the most serious
>> threat to all our lives, our children's future, indeed to our planet.
>> Like you, we support the decision of the International Court of Justice
>> that said even threatening to use nuclear weapons is illegal. Like you,
>> we are appalled that the United States is considering actually using
>> nuclear weapons against Iran, a non-nuclear weapons state, thus
>> undermining the entire legal framework of disarmament and
>> non-proliferation that so many governments, millions of people around the
>> world, and the United Nations itself, have worked so hard to build and
>> protect.
>>
>> We urge members of the Council to prevail upon the United States to rule
>> out the option of using nuclear weapons, to commit to meeting its own
>> disarmament obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and to
>> refrain from undertaking any military action against Iran.
>>
>> More than three years ago, when the United States falsely claimed that
>> weapons of mass destruction in Iraq threatened international peace and
>> security, the Security Council recognized the lies, rejected the
>> pressure, and refused to approve any use of force. On that occasion the
>> United States and United Kingdom invaded anyway, launching an aggressive
>> war in direct violation of the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg
>> Charter. Iraqis and others in the region continue to pay the price for
>> that invasion today. Now the Council must again avoid adopting a
>> resolution regarding Iran that gives Washington any basis whatever for
>> claiming that U.S. military action is somehow enforcing UN decisions.
>>
>> Diplomatic solutions are within reach and members of the Security Council
>> must find ways for them to be achieved. As part of that effort, we remind
>> you that the Council is already on record (1991, Resolution 687, Article
>> 14) in support of "establishing in the Middle East a zone free from
>> weapons of mass destruction and all missiles for their delivery." We call
>> on you to reaffirm that commitment, and to immediately convene a regional
>> and international conference aimed at establishing throughout the Middle
>> East just such a covenant, aimed at eliminating all weapons of mass
>> destruction, especially nuclear weapons, from the region for all time.
>>
>> We call on you to remember:
>> --That any preventive military strike against Iran is illegal.
>> --That even threatening a nuclear strike against Iran is illegal
>> --That a nuclear strike would have dire consequences for Iran, the
>> region, and perhaps the entire world.
>>
>> Stand with us against war.
>> Stand with us for negotiations, international law, and disarmament.
>>
>>
>> Phyllis Bennis
>> Institute for Policy Studies
>> 1112 16th Street NW #600
>> Washington DC 20036
>> tel: (202) 234-9382 ex 206
>> fax: (202) 387-7915
>> www.ips-dc.org
>>
