Fw: Emergency Petition to the Security Council

["Paolo Candelari" <paolocand at inwind.it>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org" <moveon-help at list.moveon.org>
To: "paolo candelari" <paolocand at inwind.it>
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 1:33 AM
Subject: Emergency Petition to the Security Council


> Dear MoveOn member,
> 
> We've launched an emergency petition from citizens around the
> world to the U.N. Security Council.  We'll be delivering the
> list of signers and your comments to the 15 member states of
> the Security Council on THURSDAY, MARCH 6.
> 
> If hundreds of thousands of us sign, it could be an enormously
> important and powerful message -- people from all over the
> world joining in a single call for a peaceful solution.  But
> we really need your help, and soon.  Please sign and ask your
> friends and colleagues to sign TODAY at:
> 
>    http://www.moveon.org/emergency/
> 
> In the next week, the U.N. Security Council will likely meet 
> to decide on authorizing a war against Iraq.  If the Council
> votes to accept a second resolution, it'll be very difficult
> to avert a war.  But if the resolution doesn't get enough
> votes, it'll be a major setback for the Bush Administration's
> plans to invade and occupy Iraq.
> 
> In the United States and around the world, millions of us
> oppose a war against Iraq.  We believe that tough inspections
> can disarm Saddam Hussein without the loss of a single life.
> This week may represent our last chance to win without war.
> 
> The stakes couldn't really be much higher.   A war with Iraq
> could kill tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and inflame
> the Middle East.  According to current plans, it would require
> an American occupation of the country for years to come.  And
> it could escalate in ways that are horrifying to imagine.
> 
> We can stop this tragedy from unfolding.  But we need to speak
> together, and we need to do so now.  Let's show the Security
> Council what world citizens think.  You can add your voice at:
> 
>    http://www.moveon.org/emergency/
> 
> Then please ask your friends, family, colleagues, 
> acquaintances -- anyone you know who shares this concern -- to
> sign on today.  As the New York Times put it, "there may still 
> be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world 
> public opinion."   The Bush Administration's been flexing its 
> muscles.  Now let's flex ours.
> 
> Sincerely,
> --Eli Pariser
>   International Campaigns Director
>   MoveOn.org
>   March 3rd, 2003
> 
> P.S. Here's the letter we'll be delivering to the Security
> Council members along with the petition:
> 
> Dear Member of the U.N. Security Council,
> 
> We are citizens from countries all over the world.  We are
> speaking together because we will all be affected by a
> decision in which your country has a major part -- the 
> decision of how to disarm Iraq.
> 
> The first reason for its existence listed in the Preamble to 
> the Charter of the United Nations is "to save succeeding
> generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our
> lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind."  If your
> country supports a Security Council resolution that would 
> authorize a war on Iraq, you will directly contradict that 
> charter.  You will be supporting an unnecessary war -- a 
> war which immediately, and in its unknown consequences, 
> could bring "untold sorrow to mankind" once again.
> 
> The U.N. was created to enable peaceful alternatives to
> conflict.  The weapons inspections under way are a perfect
> example of just such an alternative, and their growing 
> success is a testament to the potential power the U.N. holds.
> By supporting tough inspections instead of war, you can show 
> the world a real way to resolve conflict without bloodshed.
> But if you back a war, it will undermine the very premise 
> upon which the U.N. was built.
> 
> President Bush argues that only by endorsing a war on Iraq 
> can the United Nations prove its relevance.  We argue the
> opposite.  If the Security Council allows itself to be 
> completely swayed by one member nation, in the face of viable 
> alternatives, common sense and world public opinion, then it 
> will be diminished in its role, effectiveness, and in the 
> opinion of humankind.
> 
> We do not support this war.  For billions of citizens in
> hundreds of countries, and for the future generations whose
> lives will be shaped by the choice you make, we ask that you
> stand firm against the pressuring of the Bush Administration,
> and support tough inspections for Iraq.  The eyes of the 
> world are on you.
> 
> Sincerely,
> [Number] citizens of the world.
> 
> ________________
> 
> This is a message from MoveOn.org. To remove yourself from 
> this list, please visit our subscription management page at:
> http://moveon.org/s?i=1127-1012802-26x8FK5C.jZupP1TmtBt3g
>