Attack on Iraq will Increase Threat to Civilians

As the debate around a US attack on Iraq continues, national and international attention in recent weeks has concentrated on the Bush administration, the members of the UN Security Council, and Saddam Hussein. Often left out of the equation are the innocent civilians, Iraqi and American, that will undoubtedly be effected by an attack on Iraq. A study just released by the Nobel Prize winning group International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) provides a stunning analysis of the potential Iraqi casualties that will result from a US attack.

According to the IPPNW report Collateral Damage: The Health and Environmental Costs of War on Iraq, the estimates of Iraqi casualties from collateral damage range from 50,000 to 250,000 for the first three months of a conventional conflict. A spokesperson for the group noted that most of the casualties reflected in the staggering figures would be Iraqi civilians killed by US bombing. The group also looked into the impact of war on the Iraqi public health system, agriculture, water, and energy. The report describes the consequences of such a large-scale invasion as a "humanitarian catastrophe" in which "Iraq's infrastructure, already seriously damaged by the earlier war, will suffer enormous damages in initial air attacks and subsequent urban conflict."

Iraqi civilians are not the only ones threatened by a US attack. A US war on Iraq will increase anti-Americanism - already rampant in the Middle East and other areas. According to an article in the Washington Post ("Officials Question FBI Terror Readiness," 11/12/02), it is probable that the fallout from an invasion on Iraq will manifest itself here on our own soil.

The Post article indicates that a US attack on Iraq is likely to provoke retaliation from Islamic extremists and other militant groups. During the 1991 Gulf War terrorist attacks tripled: 160 attacks were launched during Operation Desert Storm, according to the State Department. Intelligence experts believe that the threat to American citizens and property, both at home and abroad, will rise exponentially in the case of a new US attack.

According to an unclassified version of a recent National Intelligence Estimate, "[Saddam Hussein] might decide that the extreme step of assisting Islamic terrorists in conducting a weapons-of-mass-destruction attack against the United States would be his last chance to exact vengeance by taking a large number of victims with him."

Terrorism experts also point out that the US war on terrorism has produced "small bands of entrepreneurial terrorists" who may act independently against the US, in the case of an attack against Iraq.

The Post article characterizes the FBI as ill prepared to head off potential terrorist attacks. This leaves the average American in an extremely vulnerable position.

Despite the fact that the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction is not immediate, the Bush administration is spoiling for war. It is sad irony that the Bush administration's actions may provoke the very perils that the administration is using to justify invading Iraq. The US cannot afford another conflict where the symbolism of a superpower conquering a third-world nation inspires a new generation of terrorists-no matter how ruthless the dictator running the country slated for invasion.

Instead, we should run a realistic and thorough inspection regime that is more than a pretext for war. At the same time we should bring Iraq into the world community by lifting the crippling economic sanctions that a have starved the very people most capable of bringing about a change in Iraq's form of government. Nation's join the world community through participation, not force.

Join the Pledge of Resistance

Sponsored by a growing coalition of national and local groups including Peace Action, the Iraq Pledge of Resistance is a way for you to publicly register your opposition to war on Iraq and add your name to a national list of citizens opposed to war that will be delivered to Congressional offices.

The Iraq Pledge of Resistance is also a campaign of nationally coordinated nonviolent civil disobedience to oppose war in Iraq. The Iraq Pledge of Resistance is currently being organized in 26 cities and 17 states (as well as in England and Scotland), and currently has over 5000 individuals who have volunteered for nonviolent civil disobedience from all 50 states.

This campaign, along with many other organizations is calling for a national day of action on International Human Rights Day, Tuesday December 10, 2002. In the coming weeks Peace Action will post more information about this day of action on our website at www.peace-action.org

Sign the Pledge at: www.peacepledge.org

Nonviolence Guidelines for the Iraq Pledge of Resistance

• Our attitude will be one of openness and respect toward all we encounter in our actions.
• We will use no violence, verbal or physical, toward any person.
  
• We will not destroy or damage any property.
• We will carry no weapons.
• We will not bring any drugs or alcohol, other than for medicinal purposes.
• We will not run or resist arrest; we will remain accountable for our actions as a means of furthering our witness to the injustice of this war.

Sponsoring Organizations: (list in formation) Education for Peace in Iraq Center, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Global Exchange, Interfaith Network of Concern for the People in Iraq, Lutheran Peace Fellowship, National Network to End the War Against Iraq, Not in Our Name, Pax Christi USA, Peace Action, Resource Center for Nonviolence, Veterans for Peace, Voices in the Wilderness, War Resisters League, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

Peace Action: Practical, Positive Alternatives for Peace
www.peace-action.org

To reprint or repost this information, please call Carrie Benzschawel at (202) 862-9740 ext. 3041.