Speculation about a US major attack on Iraq ranges anywhere from May to the Fall 2002. We need to make use of the time we have to mobilize opposition to such a tragedy. We need your help with an all-out effort in the next month to increase the number of supporters for a NATIONWIDE PEACE PLEDGE TURN-IN on March 25, 2002. The turn-in will include having the pledge and the names read into the Congressional Record and visits to DC congressional offices. It will also include visits to Senator's offices in states where we can contact activists willing to work on the project in the next month.

The increased volume of threats and ultimatums against Iraq, including the label of 'Axis of Evil' and public pronouncements of a regime change, narrow the options for all sides and prolong catastrophe for the Iraqi people. The language sidesteps the key issue of the conflict: the absolute control of Iraq's resources by the Sanctions Committee of the United Nations.

The outlines of the Bush Administration's strategy to oust Saddam are beginning to emerge. According to a New York Times report, between now and May, Mr. Bush's team plans to create what amounts to an inspection crisis; demanding that Iraq admit inspectors into the country. Mr. Bush's aides fully expect that Mr. Hussein will refuse outright or feign cooperation in the hope of dragging out the process. Mr. Bush's plan is to use either action as evidence that Iraq is hiding active weapons programs, and use its resistance to justify more forceful action. (The New York Times, February 13, 2002) Senior administration officials said the president is not interested in mere "behavior modification", suggesting that even if Hussein were to agree to allow UN inspectors into his country, it might not be enough to satisfy the administration (Chicago Tribune, February 14, 2002).

Following the State of the Union Address, the US resumed its extensive support for the Iraqi opposition group, the London-based Iraq National Congress. This despite the fact that INC lost credibility among major Iraqi opposition forces (Kurds in the North and Shiites in the South) after orchestrating an ill-fated uprising in northern Iraq in 1995 (which was abandoned by the CIA on US government order), and despite INC head's financially scandalous past (conviction in a Jordanian court 10 years ago for embezzling money from depositors as well as being faulted by the State Department last December for failing to account for half of a $4 million disbursement in US funding to his group) (The Guardian, February 22, 2002).

The former Iraqi army chief of staff General Nizar Khazraji has been picked by the United States to run Iraq after the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein. The prestigious London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat quoted Iraqi opposition sources in Damascus that Khazraji, who lives in exile in Denmark, "is the favored candidate" among 62 ex-officers earmarked by Washington as potential leaders. (French News Agency, February 11, 2002) Khazraji was in charge of Iraq's bloody campaign against the Kurds in the North of Iraq between 1987 and 1988, which resulted in thousands of deaths. In 1993, the organization Human Rights Watch presented a report to the US congress says that General Khazraji was directly responsible for the massacre (The Swiss paper "24 hours", February 13, 2002). Also, Iranian sources report that the general was not only involved in gassing the Kurds, but also ordered the live burial of many Iranian POWs. (Jamejam Newspaper, Tehran, February 16, 2002)

Iraq's main Kurdish parties, key local allies in any US attempt to unseat President Saddam Hussein, have voiced misgivings about taking part in a military action against the Baghdad government. Saddam bombed Kurdish villages with poison gas in 1988, but Kurdish leaders fear that an American military campaign could fail, and Saddam could take revenge on the Kurds. Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party, said: "We will not be ordered by American or any others. We will not be a bargaining chip or tool of pressure to be used against Iraq" (Daily Telegraph, London, February 15, 2002).

The Kuwaiti Defense Minister, whose country was the target of the 1990 invasion by Iraq, stated: "We will not allow any military operation against any state from our country without international cover." (Washington Post, February 24, 2002)

In an interview with The Christian Science Monitor, Ayatollah Mohammad Bakr Al-Hakkim, the leader of the Iran-based Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) said, "he does not want Washington's help." Hakkim, the commander of the 10,000-strong Badr Brigade militia which has been fighting with the Iraqi regime for 22 years, told the newspaper that, "The 'Afghan model' of backing proxy forces, as the US did against the Taliban, does not apply to Iraq -- such plans are very far-fetched and a bad idea." (Arabicnews.com, February 19, 2002)

Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham stated: "Nobody is supporting Saddam Hussein, but everyone recognizes in international politics you have a process where before invading a sovereign country, there has to be a reason for it, or we are going to have international chaos." (AP, February 15, 2002)

The Italian government and Vatican both oppose an attack on Iraq. (Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, February 19, 2002)

The Chinese President Jiang Zemin gave a veiled but firm warning to George Bush about Washington's belligerent policy against Iraq: negotiate and stop bullying. Later on, he made a reference to Washington's current belligerent stance against Iraq, stating, "even if China becomes more developed in the future, it will not go for bullying or threatening other countries." (PRAVDA. Russia, 2002-02-23)

According to UN sources, UN Secretary-General Annan will meet Iraq's foreign minister in New York for a new "dialogue" on March 7 that will include returning weapon's inspectors to Iraq. Iraq and Annan have held previous talks, the last ones in February 2001. (Reuters, February 25, 2002)

FOR Iraq Web Sites

Our Peace Pledge and Campaign of Conscience partner American Friends Service Committee's site has a new look and offers more resources for you. Here are a few of the new features: