"No" to War in Iraq October 2002
"No" to War in Iraq
October 2002
In response to the Chancellor's call for positive engagement on world
issues, we write to voice our opposition to war against Iraq. We are
historians, specialists on international politics, humanists, and
social scientists with expertise in Western and non-Western societies
and cultures. We believe such a war is indefensible on moral and
legal grounds. It will have terrible consequences for public safety
and the economy here in the U.S., and even more tragic more outcomes
abroad.
Why War?
* The Bush Administration has consistently failed to demonstrate
that Saddam Hussein is a critical threat to the U.S. and the world.
The U.S. enacts a double standard, supporting anti-democratic regimes
throughout the region, and the Administration's own estimates put
Iraq behind Pakistan, India, North Korea, and other hotspots in the
development and delivery capability of various types of weapons of
mass destruction. Moreover, the CIA states that the Iraqi government
is not likely to strike the U.S. unless it believes a U.S. attack is
imminent (The World Today, 10/11/02).
* War would interrupt a successful UN inspection process. Evidence
shows that the UN inspection program in Iraq resulted in considerable
disarmament from 1992 to 1998. Many experts believe that Iraq's
nuclear, chemical, and biological capabilities are still lower today
than in 1991 because of inspections. Both nuclear and
chemical/biological experts on inspections are confident they can
move disarmament forward through inspections, even if imperfect.
National Insecurity and Global Disorder
* The new, so-called "Bush Doctrine" that attempts to justify
preventive war against any adversary is an extremely dangerous
foreign policy precedent. No previous administration has ignored
history and international law so blatantly as to promulgate such a
destabilizing doctrine.
* Anti-American sentiment on the ground in many parts of the world
(including the Middle East, Indonesia, Jammu and Kashmir) is at
explosive levels, as the tragic bombing in Bali demonstrates. We
ignore this sentiment to our peril. This war and the accompanying
doctrine leave us no moral or legal justification to protest
preventive war by India or Pakistan, Israel or its adversaries, or
China against Taiwan.
Consequences
* A war against Iraq will cause hardship for service families and
take the lives of young American men and women as well as innocent
Iraqi civilians, most of whom do not support Saddam Hussein. The
street-to-street fighting now forecast by our military cannot be
waged without bloodshed on both sides, adding to the anguish of a
people still suffering medical consequences from depleted uranium 238
shells used in the Persian Gulf War (SFChronicle, 10/10/02).
* The estimated economic costs of this war are huge. The
Administration acknowledges a base price of between 0 and 0
billion, without calculating the costs of reconstruction. In the
Persian Gulf War the first Bush Administration traded favors to
obtain financial and military support from wealthy allies including
Saudi Arabia, Germany, and Japan. In contrast, the justifiable
opposition of most of the world to this war means that the current
Administration is attempting to negotiate enormous concessions simply
to get our allies to be quiet. The costs of this war will fall on the
American people, especially the poor and working-class. The costs to
U.S. social service programs, education, and health care are
unacceptable.
* When we invaded Afghanistan we promised its people that we would
ensure its rebuilding, but we are far from attaining this goal.
Attacking Iraq would divert resources from reconstruction in
Afghanistan, not to mention from the Administration's stated goal of
incapacitating the instigators of the 9/11 attacks. The
Administration has failed to explain how, especially given our
flagging economy, we would pay for this venture. Instead, it is
making profligate promises to occupy and reconstruct Iraq, promises
which even Bush supporters like Henry Kissinger oppose (NYTimes,
10/11/02).
The American people are rightly skeptical of an administration whose
war-mongering comes in the midst of its officials' well-known desire
to control the world's second-largest oil reserves. Whether this
Administration wants war against Iraq because of its oil interests,
its anger that Saddam Hussein was not deposed in 1991, its need to
deflect attention from corporate scandals, or a sincere belief that
Saddam Hussein poses a future threat, its current course of action
betrays an imperial arrogance in wielding U.S. power. Statements
from right-wing pundits and even Administration officials making a
favorable comparison between the U.S. and the Roman Empire
demonstrate a chilling neglect of brutal historical realities.
Despite the congressional vote in favor of a resolution granting the
Bush administration the power to use force against Iraq even without
the sanction of the United Nations, a significant minority in both
the House and the Senate, a number of high-ranking military
officials, past administration officials of both major parties, and
substantial numbers of citizens are uneasy about such a war. We
applaud the thousands of people throughout the U.S. and the hundreds
of thousands around the world who have demonstrated peacefully
against this war.
We believe that the Administration's course of action is
unconscionable, and we write in the hope that there is still time to
turn the tide in favor of peace. We support the graduate students'
Teach-In on Iraq: Wednesday, October 23rd, 3-5 p.m. in the Cross
Cultural Center, and urge all members of the UCI/Orange County
community to engage in education and positive debate about this most
serious of public issues
The following is a list of groups through which to learn more and
express opposition:
Americans Against War with Iraq (www.aawi.org)
Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities
MoveOn (www.moveon.org)
Not in Our Name (lanotinourname@hotmail.com)
People for the American Way
OC 911 Peace Coalition (714-637-8647)
Professors for Peace (http://www.action-tank.org/pfp/)
True Majority (www.truemajority.com)
uci-peace-justice@uci.edu
UCI Faculty for Peace and Justice
Original: UCI Faculty say NO to war on Iraq