[A-List] Innoculation strategy

["bon moun" <sherrynstan@xxxxxxx>]

Apologize in advance for cross-posting.
Distribute widely and act promptly.

Action item.

Below are talking points for public debate on the war drive, from War
Times.  An additional suggestion is that we (esp those  in the US) use
these and other points in a letter to the editor campaign (and any other
public venue).

The key goal of the campaign is EXPOSURE and INNOCULATION.  Here's what we
mean.

If a war is to be launched (and that is not a foregone conclusion yet),
then it will be launched on some PRETEXT... some fake evidence or some
covertly crafted incident.  We have to begin innoculating the public
against the pretext in order to pre-emptively destroy its efficacy.

Write your letters showing:

(1)  The reasons there is no justification for attacking Iraq
(2)  The real reasons for the attack
(3)  Tell readers to expect a "pretext" soon... another "Kuwaiti babies in
the incubator story" of some kind.

If this innoculation emerges in the public debate, it will go far to
undermine the junta's ability to press forward.  Their Achilles heel is
their lack of legitimacy.

Thanks all.


*************
This is the crunch time! We have a short 6 weeks in which to stave off a
massive US attack on Iraq.

Here are some talking points prepared for United for Peace and Justice by
Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies. War Times hopes you
find them useful in talking with friends, family, co-workers, media and
your elected officials.

As always, War Times depends on your support to keep publishing. Please
visit us at www.war-times.org to find out how you can sustain our work.


United For Peace & Justice TALKING POINTS 13 January 2003


· The inspectors have found no evidence of any weapons of mass destruction
(WMDs) in Iraq. Not only is there no "smoking gun," there's no gun at all.
Even with some of Washington's intelligence, supposedly proving the
presence of WMD programs, provided to the UN inspectors, they have not
found any evidence. The U.S. refuses to turn over all the intelligence
information it claims it has to the UN.

· The Bush administration's favorite claim that aluminum tubes imported by
Iraq "prove" evidence of a nuclear weapons program turns out to be false.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report said that the tubes
are much more consistent with a conventional rocket program than with
nuclear weapons.

· International support for war is lower than ever. Both Britain and France
have asserted that the inspection process is proceeding and is not close to
being finished. Turkey has pulled back from its earlier hints that it would
allow U.S. troops full access to its territory and bases.

· Getting support from the UN is more difficult than ever. Security Council
members are still angry over the U.S. seizure of the Iraqi arms
declaration, resulting in only a heavily edited version being made
available to the 10 elected members, and the exclusion of all references to
U.S. and allied corporations involved in supporting Iraq's WMD programs in
the past.

· It is possible that the U.S. will be unable to get the necessary 9
positive Security Council votes supporting a war.  There could be as many
as seven abstentions (possibly including France, Russia, China, Angola,
Chile, Germany, Pakistan), which would preclude passing a resolution for
war.

· The North Korea nuclear crisis is one more piece of evidence that this
war against Iraq is not about weapons of mass destruction; if it was, North
Korea (which is much further along with nuclear weapons, is making direct
threats against the U.S., and has thrown out the UN inspectors) would be a
much more immediate target than Iraq (which has NO nuclear weapons or
capacity, is not threatening the U.S. and is welcoming in the UN
inspectors).

· U.S. military leaders, who went public with their cautions during the
spring and summer but were largely silent since the fall of 2002, have
reemerged publicly with their hesitations. The commanders of the Army and
the Marine Corps have recently stated that war with Iraq will not be an
easy victory, and that the U.S. military will pay a bloody price.

· UN humanitarian agencies recently said that 500,000 Iraqis would be
injured in the early stage of a U.S. war, that up to 9.5 million Iraqis
would immediately become dependent on aid agencies for basic food. UN
planning anticipates providing emergency food only to about half of those
in need - up to 4.5 million people; of those in need of food, the UN
estimates that about 3 million will face "dire malnutrition."  Less than
half the population would retain access to clean water. The UN describes a
U.S. war in Iraq resulting in a crippled nation with shattered
infrastructure, an electricity grid badly damaged, and facing major damage
to the oil industry, with overall civilian damage anticipated at levels far
beyond that of the 1991 Gulf War.

· Even if evidence of a WMD program is found, there is no basis for war. We
cannot accept the legitimacy of killing potentially hundreds of thousands
of Iraqis to prevent an unknown speculative future threat. We reject going
to war on spec.