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--- Begin Message ----Caveat Lector- News From The Congressional Black CaucusU.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Chair FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 18, 2003 Rep. Cummings Issues Statement on Possible Military Action in Iraq Washington, D.C. - Tonight, on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, addressed the current crisis in Iraq. He issued the following statement: "Mr. Speaker -- I would like to insert into the record the Congressional Black Caucus' principles on U.S. military action in Iraq. They are as follows: 1. We oppose a unilateral first-strike action by the United States without a clearly demonstrated and imminent threat of attack on the United States. 2. Only Congress has the authority to declare war. 3. Every diplomatic option must be exhausted. 4. A unilateral first-strike would undermine the moral authority of the United States, result in substantial loss of life, destabilize the Mideast region and undermine the ability of our nation to address unmet domestic priorities. 5. Further, any post-strike plan for maintaining stability in the region would be costly and would require a long-term commitment. "Mr. Speaker -- I rise at a moment when America stands at the brink of war. "Our actions in Iraq will define our moral standing in the world -- for this generation and for generations yet unborn "I have given my oath to do everything within my power to support our men and women in uniform. "We have a great American tradition that when we engage in combat we support our troops. "I will fulfill that solemn obligation. "However, I also have pledged my commitment to ensure that their sacrifice is warranted and just. "That obligation does not allow me to remain silent tonight. "Mr. Speaker, the President has declared that he will allow no more time for a negotiated disarmament of Iraq. "We all know the terrible consequences of that decision. "The stakes are enormous. "Many human beings will be harmed and others will be killed. "And, the course of American foreign policy could be seriously changed. "So, before a single shot has been fired, I must again raise what I consider to be the fundamental question about this 'preemptive war.' "By what authority -- by what right does this nation justify the taking of life in Iraq? "Mr. Speaker -- the American people have created the strongest military force in history. "We, in this Congress, will continue to support our troops -- we will continue to assure that they are the best trained and equipped in the world. "Yet, as a people, Americans have never subscribed to the proposition that our might makes us right. "America has never led by military power alone -- but by our devotion to principle, and the legitimacy of our mission. "And, now, that principled foundation of our national security has been placed in jeopardy and the legitimacy of our mission and therefore the credibility of our nation is challenged by a significant part of the global community and our own citizens. "The Administration has failed to achieve the U.N. approval and broad-based international support that are critical to achieving our objectives and protecting our men and women in uniform in the Middle East. "We have an obligation to ask why the Administration has failed to make its case. "If the President's rationale for war were self-evident, a broad-based, multi-national "coalition of the willing" would indeed have materialized. "At the heart of the Administration's failure, I am convinced, is the absence of clear and convincing evidence that Iraq poses an imminent threat -- either to the United States or to other nations of the world. "Moreover, the Administration has yet to adequately explain the consequences of going to war to the American people. "Have we received clear and convincing evidence that the President's decision: - will not destabilize the Middle East, - will not make our defense against terrorism more difficult, and - will not undermine our ability to meet the compelling domestic needs of Americans here at home? "Where is the Administration's comprehensive plan for the political and economic stability of Iraq once hostilities have ended? "Where is the President's evaluation of the cost of military conflict and reconstruction? "Where is the President's analysis of the impact upon our economy? "Will both affluent and working class Americans share fairly in that sacrifice? "The answers to these questions raise the classic conflict between whether we pursue questionable international missions or spend the resources for urgent domestic priorities. "Mr. Speaker, that is why we have not yet received the Administration's answers to any of these critical questions. "Fundamentally, however, the issue of war remains one of morality. "Following President Bush's ultimatum last night, the Vatican offered this response: "Whoever decides that all peaceful means that international law has put at our disposition have been exhausted assumes a serious responsibility before God, his conscience and history." "I submit, Mr. Speaker, that the heavy weight of this responsibility is shared by the President and every member of this House and that realization should give us pause, that we have pursued the right course and that we are doing the right thing by this military action. "So, tonight, as I speak, tens of thousands of religious congregations throughout the world - women and men of every faith tradition - are praying that peace will prevail, for the good of our country and the enlightened progress of humanity. "May God protect our men and women in uniform - and all of the innocents who now stand in harm's way, and bring them home safely. "And, may God guide America during these dangerous times." ##### Doug Thornell Communications Director Congressional Black Caucus 1632 Longworth HOB Washington DC 20515 202-226-8487 202-225-3178 fax [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ________________________________________________________________________ March 22, 2003 War Resisters League Statement on War in Iraq "War is a respectable term for hooliganism practiced on a mass or national scale." Mohandas Gandhi March 20, 2003, marks one of the darkest days in U.S. and world history. As this statement is written, bombs fall on Baghdad, and U.S. and British troops, in violation of international law and world opinion, have crossed the borders of Iraq. The War Resisters League does not support the regime of Saddam Hussein (nor do we support the regime of George Bush and the tiny cabal of the Supreme Court who put him in the White House and the others who advise him of his every move). When Saddam invaded Iran, we opposed that action. The U.S. government supported Iraq in that war, providing it with chemical and biological weapons, some of which it used - with tacit U.S. consent - because this country feared Iran and its Islamic revolution. That terrible war took nearly a million Iraqi and Iranian lives. Now, in his turn, Saddam has earned U.S. wrath, and the Bush administration has declared war on Iraq, allegedly to liberate it from his regime. But every principle of democracy holds that regime change, whether in Iraq or in the United States, is the task of the people of that country, and not of any foreign power. We would not support this war no matter what its rationale. As pacifists we support no war and find no war meets the standard of justice. We believe in the concept of Gandhian nonviolence to resist injustice, even to resist a military attack. In any war civilians are killed. Even if the only casualties are among the military, those casualties are almost always from among either conscript troops (as is the case with Iraq) or virtually conscripted troops, conscripts out of economic need, as most of the U.S. forces are. But in fact there are civilian casualties in every war, more than ever in modern warfare, where the weapons of mass destruction, no matter how "smart" they are meant to be, are blind in their ability to choose between civilians and military. In the U.S. attack on Afghanistan, despite the "smart" bombs, more civilians died than were in killed in the attack on the World Trade Center. As to Iraq, hundreds of thousands - most of them children - have already died as a result of the U.S. and British sanctions, which have lasted more than ten years. This prolonged silent violence, approved by every administration (including Bill Clinton's) since 1991, is as violent as any of the actions Saddam has taken. This war, however, is an act of naked aggression so blatant that the United States was unable even to get a U.N. resolution to support it. (In any case, the United States chooses which U.N. resolutions to enforce. Israel has defied U.N. resolutions for decades and daily kills Palestinian civilians - now a U.S. peace activist, Rachel Corrie, has been added to those dead - yet it can count on U.S. military and economic support and is in no danger of a U.S. attack to enforce the U.N. resolutions.) Thus, the U.S. and British attack on Iraq is in violation of the Charter of the United Nations. As a war of aggression, it is also in violation of every other body of international law including the standards of the Nuremberg Tribunal. If we believe that every nation should be subject to the same international standards, then we must acknowledge that George Bush, every member of his cabinet, and all their leading military officers should face trial for the crime of planning and launching this attack. Finally, the attack is simply in violation of every standard of human decency. For all those reasons, the War Resisters League opposes this war, along with much of the rest of the world. So far, our opposition has failed to stay the hand of death. But we are enormously encouraged at the broad, almost universal opposition to the war, which reaches across the globe. That opposition is not based on a love of the regime of Saddam Hussein, but a revulsion against a war so needless, so clearly an act of aggression. Rarely, for instance, has the Pope spoken as clearly for peace, calling on the faithful to oppose the war. And polls of the population of Europe, taken by Time Magazine, show that a stunning 85 percent of those polled believe George Bush to be a greater threat to peace than Saddam Hussein. Now we call on all responsible governments to act to bring this issue at once to the U.N. General Assembly and vote to end the war immediately. If international law has any meaning, it needs to be applied now against the U.S. and British governments and their leaders. Within our own country, we believe it is important to maintain pressure on all elected officials. We live in a moment when silence is treason. Let us talk to our neighbors, reach out to relatives and friends, inform them of the facts they cannot easily get from the corporate-controlled media. Hope of change, in the long term, requires a change in our own national values. We are in a country driven mad by fear, driven to spend obscene sums on the military at a time when the poor among us cannot find medical care or housing and when even those who are employed find themselves driven against the wall by cutbacks in social services. We can, each of us, withdraw our support from the government in the ways open to us. For some this may be something as simple as putting a peace sign in our window or on our lawn, or wearing a button to work, to the laundromat, to church, to school. Some will want to wear a black armband as a sign of mourning for the civilians being killed and shame that our own country is doing the killing. Others will want to take part in vigils to make clear how little support the war has. Some, including many of us in the WRL national office, have already taken part in civil disobedience. We encourage those who have thought about refusing war taxes to carry that into action; the risks carried by tax resistance and civil disobedience are necessary if we expect the government to pay the slightest heed to our protests. Despite the inconvenience and danger that all of this may entail, the Iraqi people, U.S. and British soldiers, and many others will be suffering far more. And we encourage those in the military to consider the consequences of their actions in the light of their deepest moral or religious beliefs. We have always supported those who refuse to fight and will continue to do so. Finally, we ask why, in the year 2003, are we still waging war to keep peace? The shock and awe the people of Iraq are subject to should not be further death and destruction. Why not shock them by setting an example, by refusing to harbor weapons of mass destruction ourselves? Why not awe them with our compassion rather than with the effects of our hatred? These are strikingly simple ideas. However, instead of promoting death and war, they promote life and peace. Let us take heart from the fact we are, at this time, not part of a minority opinion but of the vast majority of humanity. The minority, isolated from reality and facts, is our own government. The struggle ahead of us is a long one, far past the end of this war: It is to disarm. Nations that are militarily powerful will feel a need neither to use diplomacy, nor to consider the long-term effects of war. The United States today is a threat to the peace of the world. Let us redeem the best of our past and, more important, redeem the future for a world of peace for our own children and for those in Iraq, in Israel, in Palestine, in Colombia, and in all the places troubled by armed conflict. -30- wrlwrlwrlwrlwrlwrlwrlwrlwrlwrlwrlwrlwrlwrlwrlwrl War Resisters League 339 Lafayette St. New York, NY 10012 212-228-0450 www.warresisters.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________________________ Try AOL and get 1045 hours FREE for 45 days! http://free.aol.com/tryaolfree/index.adp?375380 Get AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 for FREE! Download Now! http://aim.aol.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp?promos=380455 portside (the left side in nautical parlance) is a news, discussion and debate service of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. It aims to provide varied material of interest to people on the left. 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