US Peace Activist Appeal To Turkish Assembly
Below is the appeal:
"We are writing to you as members of the peace movement in the United States to applaud the Turkish Parliament's decision to resist pressure from the American government and say "NO" to a war in Iraq. You have played a pivotal role in opposing the dangerous U.S. drive toward war. We ask you to stand firm in your decision.
Saddam Hussein is a tyrant who should be removed from power, both for the good of the Iraqi people and for the security of neighboring countries. However, it is up to the Iraqi people themselves to oust Saddam Hussein, dismantle his police state regime, and democratize their country. People around the world can be of immense help in this effort -- not by supporting military intervention, but by building a strong peace movement and working to ensure that the U.S. government and other governments pursue consistently democratic and just foreign policies in the Middle East and around the world.
We do not believe that the goal of the approaching war against Iraq is to bring democracy to the Iraqis, nor that it will produce this result. Instead, the Bush Administration's aim is to expand and solidify U.S. predominance in the Middle East, at the cost of tens of thousands of civilian lives if necessary. This war is about U.S. political, military and economic power, about seizing control of oilfields and about strengthening the United States as the enforcer of an inhumane global status quo. That is why we are opposed to war against Iraq, whether waged unilaterally by Washington or by the UN Security Council, unaccountable to the UN General Assembly and bullied and bribed into endorsing the war.
Weapons of mass destruction endanger us all and must be eliminated. But a war against Iraq is not the answer. War threatens massive harm to Iraqi civilians, will add to the ranks of terrorists, and will encourage international bullies to pursue further acts of aggression. We believe that the road to peace in the Middle East lies in abandoning IMF/World Bank economic policies that bring mass misery to people in large parts of the world. We also believe that peace can only be achieved by supporting the right of national self-determination for all peoples in the Middle East, including the Kurds, Palestinians and Israeli Jews.
We stand in solidarity with the Turkish public, the international public, and the Turkish Parliament, all of whom have resisted calls for war. At this crucial moment, when there is still precious time left, we ask that the parliament of Turkey continue to place itself squarely with this international campaign for peace."
Signatures
1. Joanne Landy-Co-Director, Campaign for Peace and Democracy
2. Thomas Harrison-Co-Director, Campaign for Peace and Democracy
3. Jennifer Scarlott- Co-Director, Campaign for Peace and Democracy
4. Barbara Bader Aldave-National Chair, Gray Panthers
5. Chris Anderson
6. Stanley Aronowitz-Professional Staff Congress, American Federation of Teachers, NYC
7. Judith Butler-University of California at Berkeley
8. Noam Chomsky-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
9. Josh Cohen-MIT; Co-Editor, Boston Review
10. Richard Deats, Editor, Fellowship magazine
11. Bogdan Denitch-Transitions to Democracy
12. Ariel Dorfman-writer
13. Barbara Ehrenreich-writer
14. Carolyn Eisenberg-Hofstra University
15. Cynthia Enloe-Clark University
16. Liza Featherstone- journalist, New York, NY
17. Barry Finger-New Politics magazine
18. Janeane Garofalo- North Hollywood, California
19. Adam Hochschild
20. Jesse Lemisch, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
21. John Leonard-New York City
22. Sue Leonard -New York City
23. Rabbi Michael Lerner-TIKKUN
24. David McReynolds, Socialist Party
25. Mary Nolan, New York University
26. David Oakford-NYC
27. Grace Paley and Robert Nichols
28. Katha Pollitt-The Nation magazine
29. Adrienne Rich
30. Linda Rosenberg-NYC
31. Edward Said, Columbia University
32. Lydia Sargent, Z Magazine
33. Stephen R. Shalom- William Paterson University
34. Alan Sokal, New York University
35. Leyla Vural-NYC
36. Kent Worcester- Marymount Manhattan College
37. Howard Zinn, historian
Affiliations for Identification Only