Dear Friends and Colleagues,

More news from the American Anti-War Movement. The Grenoble Center for the Advanced Study of American Institutions and Social Movements just received this message and petition to US Congressmen (see item A.) from Joanna Learner, in Battle Creek, Michigan --a different perspective on American institutions, which is greatly welcomed in these dark days.

A second message (see item B.), forwarded to us by Richard Du Boff, is yet another public condemnation of the criminal policies of this administration.

And a third message, which we just received from Michael Albert at www.zmag.org  in Boston, is also an important element in the democratic mobilization now underway in the United States. (please read item C. below).
 

Sincerely,
Francis McCollum Feeley
Professor of American Studies/
Director of Research
 

_______________________________
A.
Francis this might be useful on your site.  This war is so unjust and
immoral - we need to continue to do everything we can to stop it.
Joanna
 

PLEASE take a moment to send the brief message below to the address
below--PLEASE. And forward to anyone you can. Laurel, I don't have the
peace group email list at work. Can you please shoot this out?
Thanks all,
Gail Petrosoff

----- Take 1 Minute to Help Stop Iraq War

THIS TAKES ALL OF 1 MINUTE AND COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WAR

Friends and Concerned Americans,

Against all odds, there were enough signatures, e-mails telegrams and
phone calls within the last 24 hours to Congressman Dennis J.
Kucinich of Ohio to persuade him to introduce before the House of
Representatives in Washington, D.C. a little known resolution that
deprives the President of his authority to wage war.

However, we must now persuade Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert
that there is a growing consensus, if not a plurality, to mandate the
resolution for a House ballot.

Therefore, please take a moment to e-mail Speaker Hastert by simply
saying,  "I am in favor of introducing House Joint Resolution 20 for a
vote."

Speaker Hastert's e-mail is:   Speaker@mail.house.gov
Please do this NOW.

And please send a copy of this e-mail to every other concerned citizen
you know.

============================================
Below is additional information and action you can take:

Posted March 20, 2003

* URGENT ACTION *
TO END THE WAR & BRING THE TROOPS HOME

The president, in violation of the UN Charter, international law and
world opinion, has gone to war against Iraq. The U.S. and Great Britain
have launched an invasion of Iraq. It is important we continue putting
pressure anywhere we can to try to end this war. Here are some things we
can all do:

1. Urge Congress to immediately act on House Joint Resolution 20, which
repeals Congressional authority for war.

Background: The Kennedy/DeFazio HJ Resolution 20 to Repeal the
Authorization for use of Military Force Against Iraq is held up in the
Foreign Relations Committee and House International Affairs Committee.
Senator Lugar from Indiana is the Chair of the Foreign Relations
Committee. Senator Kennedy's office has recommended calls be made to
support the resolution and ask for it to be released from committee for
a vote.

A list of the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and how
to contact them can be found at:

  http://foreign.senate.gov/
(use the link for "Committees" and then "Foreign Relations.")

They are:

Senator Richard G. Lugar, Chairman - Indiana
Senator Chuck Hagel - Nebraska
Senator Lincoln Chafee - Rhode Island
Senator George Allen - Virginia
Senator Sam Brownback - Kansas
Senator Michael Enzi - Wyoming
Senator George Voinovich - Ohio
Senator Lamar Alexander - Tennesse
Senator Norm Coleman - Minnesota
Senator John Sununu - New Hampshire
 

A list of the members of the House International Relations Committee can be
found at:

  http://www.house.gov/international_relations/fullmem108.htm

They are:

Henry J. Hyde, Chairman - Illinois, 6th District
James A. Leach - Iowa, 2nd District
Tom Lantos - California, 12th District
Doug Bereuter - Nebraska, 1st District
Howard L. Berman - California, 28th District
Christopher H. Smith - New Jersey, 4th District
Gary L. Ackerman - New York, 5th District
Dan Burton - Indiana, 5th District
Eni F. H. Faleomavaega - American Samoa
Elton Gallegly - California, 24th District
Donald M. Payne - New Jersey, 10th District
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen - Florida, 18th District
Robert Menendez - New Jersey, 13th District
Cass Ballenger - North Carolina, 10th District
Sherrod Brown - Ohio, 13th District
Dana Rohrabacher - California, 46th District
Brad Sherman - California, 27th District
Edward R. Royce - California, 40th District
Robert Wexler - Florida, 19th District
Peter T. King - New York, 3rd District
Eliot L. Engel - New York, 17th District
Steve Chabot - Ohio, 1st District
William D. Delahunt - Massachusetts, 10th District
Amo Houghton - New York, 29th District
Gregory W. Meeks - New York, 6th District
John M. McHugh - New York, 23rd District
Barbara Lee - California, 9th District
Thomas G. Tancredo - Colorado, 6th District
Joseph Crowley - New York, 7th District
Ron Paul - Texas, 14th District
Joseph M. Hoeffel - Pennsylvania, 13th District
Nick Smith - Michigan, 7th District
Earl Blumenauer - Oregon, 3rd District
Joseph R. Pitts - Pennsylvania, 16th District
Shelley Berkley - Nevada, 1st District
Jeff Flake - Arizona, 6th District
Grace F. Napolitano - California, 38th District
Jo Ann Davis - Virginia, 1st District
Adam B. Schiff - California, 29th District
Mark Green - Wisconsin, 8th District
Diane E. Watson - California, 33rd District
Jerry Weller - Illinois, 11th District
Adam Smith - Washington, 9th District
Mike Pence - Indiana, 6th District
Betty McCollum - Minnesota, 4th District
Thaddeus G. McCotter - Michigan, 11th District
Chris Bell - Texas, 25th District
William J. Janklow - South Dakota, At Large
Katherine Harris - Florida, 13th District

2. Ask Union and Community leaders to call Senator John Kerry to
pressure him to support the resolution NOW. He has so far refused to do so.
Kennedy needs Kerry's support for this resolution.

Kerry can be reached at (202) 224-2742
E-mail: john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov

3. Then contact your local Congressional Representative to urge their
support of House Joint Resolution 20, the companion to the Senate Bill.
Let them know that their position on this issue will determine your
decision at the polls in the next election.

You can find information on how to reach your representative at the
following websites:

For the House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/

For the U.S. Senate:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
 

_________________________________
B.
from Richard Du Boff:

From: "Richard B. Du Boff" <rduboff@brynmawr.edu>
Subject: ......and hoping
 

{}

Thinking, feeling and hoping
by Ian S. Lustick
copyright Philadelphia Inquirer Posted on Sun, Mar. 23, 2003.

There is nothing the United States military cannot break. That is the
belief among our generals. Once broken, there is no country we cannot
rebuild in our image. That is the belief of the politicians and bureaucrats
now sending the military into action against Iraq. Forget Eisenhower's
warnings about land wars in Asia. Forget Vietnam -- the lies, the
illusions, the endless casualty lists, the busted budgets, and the domestic
political hatreds it generated. Forget even the mess we still have in
Afghanistan and the vows never to abandon that country to the anarchy that
brought us the Taliban. We're going to war.

Forget that our biggest problems in the Middle East have been the result of
violent attempts to solve other problems. In the 1980s we paid Muslims to
throw the Soviets out of Afghanistan and ended up with the Taliban.

In the 1950s we overthrew a nationalist government in Iran that raised the
price of oil. We reinstalled the shah and ended up with Khomeini. In the
1980s we armed and aided Saddam to beat Khomeini and ended up with the Gulf
War. In 1991, we fought the Gulf War and ended up with slaughtered Kurds,
slaughtered Shia, Osama, and 9/11. Maybe this time will be different, but
there is no reason to think so. In 2003, we're sowing the wind in Iraq. We
must expect to reap the whirlwind.
The other night I watched a man looking as Paul must have looked on the
road to Damascus. I watched a man talking as if in a trance, as if the
Svengalis of the New American Century -- the dreamers of "global American
hegemony," a "heroic" foreign policy, and permanent conservative control of
the White House -- had transformed him into George on the road to Baghdad.

A man exposed to that kind of light does not care that his war is so weakly
justified that he must defy the world, endanger the United Nations, rip
NATO to pieces, quote fabricated documents, and bar the public he
supposedly serves from information about the costs of fighting.
That is what I think. This is how I feel. I feel grief. I feel anger. And I
feel hope. But the hope is scariest of all. I grieve for the thousands of
Americans and Iraqis who will die in the war, and for the thousands more
who will die as a result of the internal turmoil likely to follow our
military "victory." I grieve for them, for their families, and for my
country -- a country being transformed from a beacon into a brute.
I am used to brutes. Saddam is one of the worst and deserves the cruelest
of fates. But the world has never seen a brute with as much destructive
power as the government of the United States now possesses. I am angry that
this power is being deployed to fulfill the extravagant fantasies and
narrow political interests of a clique whose sons and daughters will get no
closer to bloodshed than the evening news. And I am angry that the real
threat to American lives -- al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden -- will be
enormously strengthened by their snake-oil war.

But worst of all is what I am reduced to hoping. Because no matter how bad
a policy seems it can always turn out worse. In the midst of this military
encounter, we may witness significant terrorism on our shores or an Iraqi
attack on our troops with chemical or biological weapons. My hope is that
the fury and fear the war unleashes in this country will not lead to an
escalation to the nuclear level or its equivalent. I also hope our soldiers
and their commanders heed the warning issued to Iraqi soldiers by the
President: "War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished,
and it will be no defense to say, 'I was just following orders.' "

(*) Ian S. Lustick, professor of political science at the University of
Pennsylvania, is author of "Unsettled States, Disputed Lands."
 

_____________________________________
C.
from Michael Albert:

And here is an Iraq War Quiz for edification and as an organizing tool...

Iraq War Quiz
by Stephen R. Shalom

1. The anti-war movement supports our troops by urging that they be
brought home immediately so they neither kill nor get killed in a unjust
war. How has the Bush administration shown its support for our troops?
a. The Republican-controlled House Budget Committee voted to cut
$25 billion in veterans benefits over the next 10 years.
b. The Bush administration proposed cutting $172 million from
impact aid programs which provide school funding for children of
military personnel.
c. The administration ordered the Dept. of Veterans Affairs to stop
publicizing health benefits available to veterans.
d. All of the above.
 

2. The anti-war movement believes that patriotism means urging our
country to do what is right. How do Bush administration officials define
patriotism?
a. Patriotism means emulating Dick Cheney, who serves as
Vice-President while receiving $100,000-$1,000,000 a year from
Halliburton, the multi-billion dollar company which is already lining up
for major contracts in post-war Iraq.
b. Patriotism means emulating Richard Perle, the warhawk who serves
as head of the Defense Intelligence Board while at the same time meeting
with Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi on behalf of Trireme, a company
of which he is a managing partner, involved in security and military
technologies, and while agreeing to work as a paid lobbyist for Global
Crossing, a telecommunications giant seeking a major Pentagon contract.
c. Patriotism means emulating George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul
Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, John Bolton, Tom DeLay, John Ashcroft, Lewis
Libby, and others who enthusiastically supported the Vietnam War while
avoiding serving in it and who now are sending others to kill and be
killed in Iraq.
d. All of the above.
 

3. The Bush administration has accused Saddam Hussein of lying
regarding his weapons of mass destruction. Which of the following might
be considered less than truthful?
a. Constant claims by the Bush administration that there was
documentary evidence linking Iraq to attempted uranium purchases in
Niger, despite the fact that the documents were forgeries and CIA
analysts doubted their authenticity.
b. A British intelligence report on Iraq's security services that
was in fact plagiarized, with selected modifications, from a student
article.
c. The frequent citation of the incriminating testimony of Iraqi
defector Hussein Kamel, while suppressing that part of the testimony in
which Kamel stated that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had been
destroyed following the 1991 Gulf War.
d. All of the above.

4. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher stormed out of a press
conference when the assembled reporters broke into laughter after he
declared that the U.S. would never try to bribe members of the UN. What
should Fleisher have said to defend himself?
a. It wasn't just bribery; we also ordered the bugging of the home
and office phones and emails of the UN ambassadors of Security Council
member states that were undecided on war.
b. Oh, come on! We've been doing this for years. In 1990 when Yemen
voted against authorizing war with Iraq, the U.S. ambassador declared
"That will be the most expensive 'no' vote you ever cast."
c. Why do you think the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act makes one
of the conditions for an African country to receive preferential access
to U.S. markets that it "not engage in activities that undermine United
States national security or foreign policy interests"?
d. All of the above.
 

5. George Bush has declared that "we have no fight with the Iraqi
people." What could he have cited as supporting evidence?
a. U.S. maintenance of 12 years of crippling sanctions that
strengthened Saddam Hussein while contributing to the death of hundreds
of thousands of Iraqi civilians.
b. The fact that "coalition" forces have indicated that they will
use cluster bombs in Iraq, despite warnings from human rights groups
that "The use of cluster munitions in Iraq will endanger civilians for
years to come."
c. By pointing to the analogy of Afghanistan, which the U.S.
pledged not to forget about when the war was over, and for which the
current Bush administration foreign aid budget request included not one
cent in aid.
d. All of the above.
 

6. The Bush administration has touted the many nations that are
part of the "coalition of the willing." Which of the following
statements about this coalition is true?
a. In most of the coalition countries polls show that a majority,
often an overwhelming majority, of the people oppose the war.
b. More than ten of the members of the coalition of the willing are
actually a coalition of the unwilling - unwilling to reveal their names.
c. Coalition members - most of whose contributions to the war are
negligible or even zero - constitute less than a quarter of the
countries in the UN and contain less than 20% of the world's population.
d. All of the above.
 

7. The war on Iraq is said to be part of the "war on terrorism."
Which of the following is true?
a. A senior American counterintelligence official said: "An
American invasion of Iraq is already being used as a recruitment tool by
Al Qaeda and other groups....And it is a very effective tool."
b. An American official, based in Europe, said Iraq had become "a
battle cry, in a way," for Al Qaeda recruiters.
c. France's leading counter-terrorism judge said: "Bin Laden's
strategy has always been to demonstrate to the Islamic community that
the West, and especially the U.S., is starting a global war against
Muslims. An attack on Iraq might confirm this vision for many Muslims. I
am very worried about the next wave of recruits."
d. All of the above.
 

8. The Bush administration says it is waging war to stop the spread
of weapons of mass destruction. Which of the following is true?
a. The United States has refused to ratify the Comprehensive Test
Ban Treaty, viewed worldwide as the litmus test for seriousness about
nuclear disarmament.
b. The United States has insisted on a reservation to the Chemical
Weapons Convention allowing the U.S. President the right to refuse an
inspection of U.S. facilities on national security grounds, and blocked
efforts to improve compliance with the Biological and Toxin Weapons
Convention.
c. Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby, Director of the Defense
Intelligence Agency, testified on Feb. 11, 2003, "The long-term trends
with respect to WMD and missile proliferation are bleak. States seek
these capabilities for regional purposes, or to provide a hedge to deter
or offset U.S. military superiority."
d. All of the above.
 

9. The Bush administration says it wants to bring democracy to Iraq
and the Middle East. Which of the following is true?
a. If there were democracy in Saudi Arabia today, backing for the
U.S. war effort would be the first thing to go, given the country's
"increasingly anti-American population deeply opposed to the war."
b. The United States subverted some of the few democratic
governments in the Middle East (Syria in 1949, Iran in 1953), and has
backed undemocratic regimes in the region ever since.
c. The United States supported the crushing of anti-Saddam Hussein
revolts in Iraq in 1991.
d. All of the above.
 

10. Colin Powell cited as evidence of an Iraq-Al Qaeda link an
audiotape from bin Laden in which he called Saddam Hussein and his Baath
Party regime "infidels." Which of the following is more compelling
evidence?
a. An FBI official told the New York Times: "We've been looking at
this hard for more than a year and you know what, we just don't think
it's there."
b. According to a classified British intelligence report seen by
BBC News, "There are no current links between the Iraqi regime and the
al-Qaeda network."
c. According to Rohan Gunaratna, author of Inside Al Qaeda: Global
Network of Terror, "Since U.S. intervention in Afghanistan in October
2001, I have examined several tens of thousands of documents recovered
from Al Qaeda and Taliban sources. In addition to listening to 240 tapes
taken from Al Qaeda's central registry, I debriefed several Al Qaeda
and Taliban detainees. I could find no evidence of links between Iraq
and Al Qaeda."
d. All of the above.
 

Answers and Sources:
1. d (a) Cong. Lane Evans, "Veterans Programs Slashed by House
Republicans," Press Release, 3/13/03,
http://www.veterans.house.gov/democratic/press/108th/3-13-03budget.htm.
(b) Brian Faler, "Educators Angry Over Proposed Cut in Aid; Many
Children in Military Families Would Feel Impact," Washington Post,
3/19/03, p. A29. (c) See Veterans' for Common Sense, letter to George W.
Bush, 3/20/03 http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/print.asp?id=563;
Melissa B. Robinson, "Hospitals Face Budget Crunch," Associated Press,
7/31/02; Jason Tait, "Veterans angered by marketing ban," Eagle-Tribune
(Lawrence, MA), 8/2/02,
http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20020802/FP_003.htm

2. d (a) Warren Vieth and Elizabeth Douglass, " Ousting Hussein
could open the door for U.S. and British firms. French, Russian and
Chinese rivals would lose their edge," Los Angeles Times, 3/12/03, p.
I:1; Robert Bryce and Julian Borger, "Halliburton: Cheney is still paid
by Pentagon contractor, Bush deputy gets Dollars 1m from firm with Iraq
oil deal," Guardian (London), 3/12/03, p. 5 (which notes that
Halliburton "would not say how much the payments are; the obligatory
disclosure statement filled by all top government officials says only
that they are in the range of" $100,000 and $1 million. (b) Seymour M.
Hersh, "Lunch with the Chairman," New Yorker, 3/16/03; Stephen Labaton,
"Pentagon Adviser Is Also Advising Global Crossing," NYT, 3/21/03, p.
C1. Perle is to be paid $725,000 for his lobbying effort, including
$600,000 if his lobbying is successful. (c) New Hampshire Gazette, "The
Chickenhawks," http://nhgazette.com/chickenhawks.html.

3. d (a) See the evidence collected in Cong. Henry Waxman's letter
to George W. Bush, 3/17/03,
http://www.house.gov/waxman/text/admin_iraq_march_17_let.htm. (b) See
Glen Rangwala's report, http://traprockpeace.org/britishdossier.html.
(c) See Glen Rangwala's report, http://traprockpeace.org/kamel.html.

4. d (a) Martin Bright, Ed Vulliamy, and Peter Beaumont, The
Observer (London), 3/2/03. (b) Quoted in Phyllis Bennis, Calling the
Shots: How Washington Dominates Today's UN, New York: Olive Branch,
1996, p. 33. (c) Sarah Anderson, Phyllis Bennis, and John Cavanagh,
Coalition of the Willing or Coalition of the Coerced?: How The Bush
Administration Influences Allies in Its War on Iraq, Washington, DC:
Institute for Policy Studies, 2/26/03, p. 4.

5. d (a) For background, see Anthony Arnove, ed., Iraq Under Siege:
The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War, Cambridge: South End Press,
updated ed. 2003. (b) Paul Waugh, "Labour MPs Attack Hoon After He
Reveals That British Forces Will Use Cluster Bombs," Independent,
3/21/03, p. 4; Human Rights Watch, Press Release, 3/18/03: "Persian
Gulf: U.S. Cluster Bomb Duds A Threat; Warning Against Use of Cluster
Bombs in Iraq." (c) Zvi Bar'el, "Flaws in the Afghan Model," Ha'aretz,
3/14/03,
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?ite
mNo=272884.

6. d (a) See, for example, the revealing comment of Secretary of
State Powell: "We need to knock down this idea that nobody is on our
side. So many nations recognize this danger [of Iraq's weapons]. And
they do it in the face of public opposition." Quoted in Steven R.
Weisman With Felicity Barringer, "Urgent Diplomacy Fails To Gain U.S. 9
Votes In The U.N." NYT, 3/10/03, p. A1) (b) U.S. Dept. of State, Daily
Press Briefing, Richard Boucher, Washington, DC, 3/18/03. (c) Country
list: White House, Statement of Support from Coalition, 3/25/03,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/print/20030325-8.html;
population calculated from Statistical Abstract of the United States,
2001, Washington, DC: 2001, table 1327. Total includes USA. The White
House list includes countries whose leaders have done no more than state
their support for the United States, and the listing changes from day to
day, with some countries being added and some removed.

7. d (a) Don Van Natta Jr. and Desmond Butler, "Anger On Iraq Seen
As New Qaeda Recruiting Tool," NYT, 3/16/03, p. I:1. (b) Van Natta and
Butler, NYT, 3/16/03. (c) Van Natta and Butler, NYT, 3/16/03.
8. d (a) Colum Lynch, "U.S. Boycotts Nuclear Test Ban Meeting; Some
Delegates at U.N. Session Upset at Latest Snub of Pact Bush Won't Back,"
Washington Post, 11/12/02, p. A6. (b) Amy E. Smithson, "U.S.
Implementation of the CWC," in Jonathan B. Tucker, The Chemical Weapons
Convention: Implementation Challenges and Solutions, Monterey Institute,
April 2001, pp. 23-29, http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/tuckcwc.htm;
Jonathan Tucker, "The Fifth Review Conference of the Biological and
Toxin Weapons Convention," Feb. 2002,
http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_7b.html. (c) Testimony before the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, excerpted at
http://traprockpeace.org/usefulquotesoniraq.html.

9. d (a) Craig S. Smith, "Saudi Arabia Seems Calm But, Many Say, Is
Seething," NYT, 3/24/03, p. B13. In fact, "Though the Saudi government
officially denies it, the bombing campaign is being directed from Saudi
Arabia - something that few Saudis realize." (b) On Syria, see Douglas
Little, ACold War and Covert Action: The United States and Syria, 1945
1958,@ Middle East Journal, vol. 44, no. 1, Winter 1990, pp. 55 57. On
Iran, see Mark J. Gasiorowski, "The 1953 Coup D'Etat in Iran,"
International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 19, Aug. 1987, pp.
261-86. (c) Andrew Cockburn and Patrick Cockburn, Out of the Ashes: The
Resurrection of Saddam Hussein, New York: HarperPerennial. 1999, chap. 1.

10. d (re audiotape, see David Johnston, "Top U.S. Officials Press
Case Linking Iraq To Al Qaeda," NYT, 2/12/03, p. A1; Mohamad Bazzi,
"U.S. says bin Laden tape urging Iraqis to attack appears real,"
Newsday, 2/12/03, p. A5. (a) James Risen and David Johnston, "Split at
C.I.A. and F.B.I. On Iraqi Ties to Al Qaeda," NYT, 2/2/03, p. I:13. (b)
"Leaked Report Rejects Iraqi al-Qaeda Link," BBC News, 2/5/03. (c) Rohan
Gunaratna, "Iraq and Al Qaeda: No Evidence of Alliance," International
Herald Tribune, 2/19/03.

Interpreting Your Score:
9-10 Correct: Excellent. Contact United for Peace and Justice,
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/, and work to fight the war and the system
that produced it.

6-8 Correct: Fair. You've been watching a few too many former generals
and government officials who provide the "expert" commentary for the
mainstream media. Read the alternative media!

3-5 Correct: Poor. Don't feel bad. George W. Bush only got a C- in
International Relations at College.

0-2 Correct: Failing. You have a bright future as an "embedded"
journalist.