Bush issued his ultimatum in an address to the nation Monday: Saddam Hussein and his sons must get out of Iraq by 8 p.m. Wednesday or bombs will start devastating the country. In the name of ridding the world of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, 3,000 cruise missiles and the mother of all bombs will be dropped on the people of Baghdad in the first 48 hours.
Pentagon officials have bragged “there will not be a safe place in Baghdad.” We say, Not in Our Name! In response to Bush’s ultimatum, Not in Our Name calls on everyone to begin massive opposition to this war.
We cannot go about our daily business as usual while bombs designed to flatten Baghdad and “shock and awe” the world into submission to U.S. might are loaded into planes. This war is an outrageous crime against the people of Iraq and a blow to the very humanity of people the world over. We must act now to show the world that people in this country repudiate this war and are doing everything in our power to stop it.
As Bush and his allies have made murderously clear, this diplomacy was never really about disarmament. It was about “regime change.” In the name of liberating Iraq from brutal dictatorship, our own government and others have launched a full invasion and occupation of another country. After the deaths of many thousands of civilians who will be heartlessly dismissed as collateral damage, Saddam Hussein will be deposed and a military dictatorship will be established in the name of bringing democracy to Iraq.
However, as the U.S. government’s own State Department reports make clear, there is no plan for any kind of democratic government (even after indefinite military occupation and rule by U.S. generals and U.N. troops) because “electoral democracy, were it to emerge, could well be subject to exploitation by anti-American elements.” How dare this president call on us to support this unjust and illegitimate war!
This president who has put the United State’s beyond any international treaties; who has declared all votes that go against his imperial designs invalid; whose administration is unprecedented in eroding the very freedoms he claims to be fighting for; who has detained people without trial based on their nationality and religion; who is torturing prisoners of war being held in Guantanamo; who has manufactured fear to herd people into endless war and a Big Brother society that George Orwell only dreamed of; who is ordering the spending of billions for weaponry that will secure oil and, through death and mass destruction, re-order strategic regions of the world to serve a U.S. imperial order – while people the world over will have to go without.
At this time when they try to stifle dissent and intimidate opposition by the loud drums of war, it is important to understand that the powerful anti-war resistance around the world, including in the United States, has had a huge impact. It has torn the legitimacy from this war and demonstrated that the U.S. government is acting against the will of millions of people worldwide.
In these crucial few days ahead, we need to intensify this resistance. War begun by governments can be stopped by people and the last few months have witnessed the moral and material power of people who have organized this historically unprecedented international movement. We in this country should stand with people all over the world in saying we don’t want this war!
As Bush demands that the world fall in line — as he threatens whole countries and people — our resistance must rise to new heights of breadth, daring, creativity and determination. Another world is possible and we pledge to make it real.
(The preceding statement was taken from Not In Our Name, a national anti-war movement dedicated to sounding the voice of peace in contrast to this greed-driven war with Iraq. I am not the author of this statement, merely the messenger who hopes that you will recognize it’s importance and feel compelled to educate our peers here at BGSU on the arguments of this peace seeking movement.)
