Dear Friends of the Campaign of Conscience,
This is a jam-packed update, with observations from Iraq and news about peace efforts in the US. Enjoy!
Peace

IN THIS ISSUE

OPPOSE WAR ON IRAQ

The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) has initiated action in response to revelations about a pre-emptive strike doctrine and a February 2002 order from President George W. Bush giving the CIA permission to overthrow Saddam Hussein covertly. These actions represent a further narrowing of peaceful options for resolving conflict between the U.S. and Iraq.

For more about the plans for covert action against the Iraqi regime, see:

President Broadens Anti-Hussein Order CIA Gets More Tools to Oust Iraqi Leader, by Bob Woodward in the Washington Post

"This is not an argument about whether to get rid of Saddam Hussein. That debate is over. This is... how you do it," a senior administration official said in an interview with the [Philadelphia] Inquirer Washington Bureau.

THE PEACE PLEDGE HAS ANOTHER WEB HOME

A special thank to ^ÓVoices4change^Ô for publishing the Pledge on their Internet site. If you own a website, you too can either put the Pledge on your site or link your webpage to one of those already existing Pledge sites. For those of you without a website, adding a Peace Pledge tag-line at the end your outgoing emails is a great way to promote the Iraq work (you can set the Peace Pledge ad as your signature so that all emails automatically include the Peace Pledge promotion)

LOBBY DAY REPORT (June 17-18)

Last Monday and Tuesday, 62 activists met with congressional staff representing 124 House Representatives and 47 Senators. More than 100 people attended the weekend educational forum. Both were organized by the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC).

We had no current legislation elected officials could be asked to support, but agreed that three primary points would be made at every meetings. The emphasis was on educating the staff and calling for comprehensive hearings on the impact of sanctions.

- Our concerns over a pre-emptive strike doctrine - Our concern that UN Resolution 1409 only modifies the existing Oil-for-Food program and is inadequate. There is no cash component and it does not allow for badly needed foreign investment. - Our concern about the long-tern impact on civil society in Iraq from continued sanctions.

TURNING IN THE PEACE PLEDGE

A special thanks to the volunteers organized by EPIC who coordinated the delivery of the Peace Pledge signature sheets to all members of Congress. The Pledge represents more than 7,500 voices withdrawing their consent for an escalation of violence against Iraq. Counting participants from every US state and 65 countries, this community calls for ending the economic sanctions and opposing more war.

The congressional cover letter and the numbers of supporters per state are available on the campaign's website.

A VERY PROMISING MESSAGE FROM SENATOR PATTY MURRAY (D-WA)

This week, the Campaign of Conscience received a heartening message from Senator Patty Murray. In her response to our correspondence, she expressed her skepticism about the Administration's policy towards Iraq and voiced her opposition to the economic sanctions against the war-torn country:

"It seems that the Administration's next phase in the 'war against terror' may be an attack on Iraq. I believe that Iraq is a very complicated issue, and I am worried by reports that Saddam Hussein is continuing to seek and develop weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, it could not be clearer to me that a decade of sanctions has done little to address our concerns about Saddam Hussein and his ability to threaten his neighbors or his own people.

I believe that president Bush and his administration have a tremendous amount of work to do to justify to the Congress and the American people that military action in Iraq is in our national interest. I am, based on what I now know, very skeptical about the need to attack Iraq unilaterally and without the support of our allies and particular Iraq's neighbors in the Middle East. I also believe that continuing to punish the Iraqi people through sanctions only harm U.S. efforts to work with Islamic countries on difficult issues that require U.S. leadership including terrorism threats to the American people."

This is the first time that Senator Murray, a longtime supporter of Clinton's foreign policies in the Middle East, publicly questioned US policy towards Iraq.

PEACE ACTIVIST FINED FOR VIOLATING SANCTIONS

What does this mean for the Campaign of Conscience supporters? The Campaign of Conscience has not received a pre-penalty notice for the delivery and installation of four gas chlorinators in 2000. We sent the items without a license from the Treasury Department. The Department never rejected our application, but delayed any decision. For more, read the update from October 23, 2001.

OBSERVATIONS FROM BAGHDAD

The Quaker/AFSC delegation left for Iraq on May 30, a day after they learned that a peace activist had been fined $10,000 for violating the sanctions. They returned from Iraq on June 14 to learn of a new US 'pre-emptive strike doctrine' and reports that the CIA has had a green light for covert actions against the leadership in Baghdad since January. The cruelty of these policies stood in stark contrast to the impression of Iraq so fresh in the delegation^Òs mind.

The people have suffered enough.

Threats and ultimatums have served only to avoid the key issues: control of Iraq's natural resources and the broader questions of sovereignty. The international community must allow investment in Iraq; they must create achievable guidelines for the weapons inspections; the UK and US must stop bombing in the so-called "no fly" zones; and the US must negotiate, not demand a regime change.

Make your voice heard on this issue and please take the time to send your senators a letter about the covert and overt war threats. E-mail them now using Friends Committee on National Legislation's e-mail generator, or schedule a meeting with them; you can use the Peace Pledge summary as background.

The following is a brief report by Peter Lems from The American friends Service Committee who headed the delegation to Iraq:

Through the sanctions and oil-for-food we have greatly expanded a welfare state and increased the average Iraqis dependence on the government for basic needs. UNICEF reports that the value of the oil-for-food program "food basket" - provided to every Iraqi by the government - now accounts for more than 80 percent of the average teacher's income. This highlights the level of dependence the average Iraqi now has on the government and its food distribution system. The US-planned invasion of Iraq will undoubtedly disrupt this food distribution system, and UNICEF predicts that pockets of famine and widespread increase in malnutrition will result.

During these eleven years under sanctions, the country has experienced a dramatic "brain drain". Those with the skills and economic means to leave have done so. In the hospitals, we saw mostly older doctors and young interns. The UNICEF representative shared with us his analysis that the loss of an educated middle class has been a major factor in a noticeable shift toward conservative Islamist orientations and away from secular civic participation in the country. The educated middle class provided the foundation for a secular society and support for a government that was largely providing for their needs.

As part of its campaign to demonize the regime of Saddam Hussein and dehumanize Iraqi people, the US government has refused to participate in face-to-face talks with Iraqi officials since the end of the Gulf War more than 11 years ago. The former Iraqi ambassador to the UN, Sayeed Al-Masawi, reminded us that even during the Vietnam War, the US held open negotiations with the North Vietnamese in Paris. Without dialogue, how is it possible to resolve a conflict peacefully?

Instead, the US talks openly of "regime change" and "when" - rather than "if" - an invasion of Iraq will happen. Such policies violate and undermine the UN Charter. These policies also undermine any confidence the government of Iraq might have in the United Nations ending the sanctions following the return of weapons inspectors. The "no-fly zones" have been imposed and maintained without approval of the UN Security Council.

Policy advocacy should focus on at least these five themes:

- Opposing another war against Iraq

- Ending sanctions

- Promoting dialogue

- Creating a Middle East region free of weapons of mass destruction

- Encouraging U.S. cooperation with studies on the health effects of depleted uranium

SEATTLE PEACE PLEDGE STRATEGY ASSEMBLY(June 15)

In order to convert a list of 1,000 signers into a real network of activists the western Washington Fellowship of reconciliation invited people to a meeting for some collective planning. The turn out was very encouraging, 96 people registered at the assembly, and another 50 sent regrets but want to be involved in the campaign.

In the morning there were brief reports from a delegation from the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) that had just returned from Iraq, and an inspiring presentation by Ken Butigan, a national coordinator for the Pledge of Resistance in the 1980s. In the afternoon half of the group participated in nonviolence/civil disobedience training and the other half further developed strategy ideas.

This was an encouraging start for some good work! We hope other states will try their own versions of participatory planning. We need some effective work to avoid further bloodshed and misery. FOR will be happy to share its approach with others and the list of Peace Pledge signers from your state.

FELLOWSHIP OF RECONCILIATION'S NATIONAL CONFERENCE (June 15-19, 2002)

Last week, the US Fellowship of Reconciliation held its biannual conference in New York City. The title of this year's conference was "The Power of Nonviolence; Exploring Alternatives". This year, the conference coincided with International FOR's meeting. Some 500 attendees from the US and delegations from almost two dozen countries participated in the conference.

During the conference, the Campaign of Conscience held a strong presence. We had a morning workshop (facilitated by Father Simon Harak from Voices in the Wilderness and Hossein Alizadeh from FOR) and an evening documentary video (Paying the Price) followed by a discussion on Iraq. Two hundred copies of the Iraq packets (which included talking points, UN reports on the situation in Iraq and the Peace Pledge) were provided for attendees. We made many connections with FOR delegations from other countries, encouraging them to join the anti-sanctions movement.

NEWS UPDATES

According to Iraq's Charge d'Affaires ad Interim in Russia, Iraq is looking forward with optimism to the upcoming round of talks with the U.N. Secretary-General. The new round of negotiations will be held in Vienna from July 4-5. The Iraq government, the diplomat noted, is ready for talks with the United Nations on the complete lifting of the international sanctions. He did not rule out the possibility of an agreement to resume the monitoring of Iraqi military installations in order to "give the lie to American claims that Iraq possesses mass destruction weapons - chemical, biological and nuclear.". However, the Iraqi envoy added, Iraq "must have guarantees that the sanctions will be abolished after it adduces proofs that there are no mass destruction weapons on the territory of the country." U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to head the delegation of the United Nations to the Vienna meeting. It will also include Chairman of the U.N. Commission on Monitoring, Inspections and Control in Iraq Hans Blix, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammed el-Baradei, and a group of experts. Foreign Minister Naji Sabri will lead the Iraqi delegation. (Russian News Agency Itar-Tass, June 25, 2002)

Warplanes from a US-British coalition struck Iraqi air defense sites in northern Iraq following stepped-up attacks on coalition aircraft by Iraqi gunners, the US military said. The air strike was the latest in a series against Iraqi air defenses in both the northern and southern parts of Iraq. (Al-Bawaba News June 27, 2002)

Kurds in northern Iraq will refuse to cooperate with any US-inspired covert action to topple Saddam Hussein, a Kurdish leader said in response to reports that Washington is stepping up secret efforts to oust the Iraqi president. "The Iraqi issue won't be solved by military action or covert action," said Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic party, one of the two main Kurdish groups controlling the Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq. (The Guardian, June 19, 2002)

Russia said yesterday that the UN oil-for-food program for Iraq was on the verge of collapse and issued a fresh call to abolish a pricing scheme that it said was hampering Moscow's interests in the region. A foreign ministry statement denounced the practice of retroactive pricing for Iraqi crude, pricing the oil after customers have loaded it on tankers which it said had prompted an unprecedented drop in exports. (Business A.M. June 19, 2002)

Canada has voiced its opposition to reported US covert operations to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Instead Canada believes the way to deal with Iraq is through the United Nations. Canada's Foreign Minister Bill Graham said it is important to build strong legally based multilateral reactions to problems of the world. He urged the US to respect that and international legal norms. (CHANNELNEWSASIA June 18, 2002)