The US-led war on Iraq has nothing to do with eliminating weapons of mass destruction, fighting terrorism or ending human rights abuses by Iraq's President Saddam Hussein. These are cover for Washington to achieve its long-term goal of the military and political domination of the Middle East and central Asia. US imperialism's aim is to gain untrammeled control the world's key sources of oil and gas.

Like all Americans, we were hurt by the terrorist attacks perpetrated on September 11, 2001. We grieve with the families hurt by the deaths of loved ones on that horrible day. But our judgements will not be clouded by our grief and we will not let our grief be used as an excuse for an illegal, immoral, and inappropriate war against an imagined enemy. We need to capture the people responsible for attacking us. And that enemy is Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, not Iraq.

We need to oppose those aspects of US policy that directly contradict American professions of respect for democratic values. The blind policy of supporting the inherent legitimacy of Israel is not only indefensible in democratic terms, but hands Osama bin Laden an issue. We need to elaborate the critique of globalization to address the oppression its present form has created in much of the world. We need to draw a parallel between religious fanaticism in the United States and elsewhere, making the point that the religious right here is no better than Islamic terrorists.

Educate Yourself

Anti-War Activism
• South Valley Peace Center: The South Valley Peace Center is a focal point for organization and communication among groups and individuals working for peace and justice issues in the southern San Joaquin Valley in Central California.
• Peace Fresno
• An Absurd Response to an Absurd War
• Coffee House Teach-Ins at Venice, CA
• EndtheWar.Org
• Why War?
• What Really Happened?
• War Protests around the World, February 15, 2003
• Call to Conscience to Active Duty Troops and Reservists
• The Axis of Peace (AoP) campaign is a direct action that expands antiwar activism. Fifty percent of every tax dollar goes toward war, and this amount is increasing as the war on terror and Homeland Security expand. The AoP campaign is recruiting people to redirect tax dollars to antiwar work and to directly aid victims of war. We envision the campaign growing from the initial two-city focus to a national campaign with ever increasing potency to change our government's current pursuit of unlimited war.
• Seattle Not In Our Name
• AntiWar.Com
• Iraq Crisis Antiwar Homepage
• Not in Our Name
• MoveOn.Org
• No Attack on Iraq
• Veterans for Common Sense
• Poets Against the War
• United for Peace & Justice

War and Oil
• Axis of Oil by Maria Elena Martinez and Joshua Karliner, Published on Wednesday, November 13, 2002 by the San Francisco Chronicle
• The United States of Oil by by Damien Caveli, Salon.com, 19 November 2001
• USA: Unocal Advisor Named Representative to Afghanistan By Patrick Martin, World Socialist Web Site, January 3, 2002
• Oiling the War Machine: The unholy union of the war on terrorism and our insatiable thirst for petroleum By Michael T. Klare, The Progressive

The United States and International Relations
• Analysis: Pipeline Politics Taint U.S. War by Salim Muwakkil, OutlookIndia.com - OPINION Web | Mar 21, 2002
• Dossier on America: An accounting of American violations of international norms, common morality, and human decency.
• Dossier on America - Addendum - a Brief History
• Annan Says Iraqi No-Fly Zone Firing No Violation
• The Loyal Opposition: Lessons From Afghanistan by David Corn, TomPaine.Com
• Rooting Out Evil: expanding the search for weapons of mass destruction
• Belgrade: Iraq Through A Balkan Lens. Past U.S. Efforts Shed Doubt On Post-War Rebuilding Of Iraq by Russ Baker
• The Push for War: Anatol Lieven considers what the US Administration hopes to gain

The Bush Administration's Obsession with War against Iraq at Any Cost
• U.N. Resolutions? Who Cares, says Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: The Bush Administration is Looking for Reasons to Attack Iraq, with or without the support of the rest of the world.
• Top-secret Iraq Report Reveals U.S. Corporations, Gov't Agencies and Nuclear Labs Helped Illegally Arm Iraq at democracynow.org
• Have we been DUP'd to think Depleted Uranium Penetrators (DUPs) are acceptable weapons of war?

Bush's War on Democracy
• SECRECY NEWS, from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy, Volume 2002, Issue No. 118, November 27, 2002
• Gulf War Illnesses

The U.S. Congress did not represent me when it voted to authorize George W. Bush to carry out an illegal war against Iraq.

Thousands will die needlessly unless the people stop this war drive. I join with millions of people who believe that the $200 billion planned for war against Iraq should be spent instead to fund jobs, education, housing, health care, child care, assistance to the elderly and to meet people's needs.