Background
On Friday, February 16th, the Bush Administration initiated a brief bombing campaign within
the no-fly-zones and outside of those zones, striking five “strategic” sites  north of the 33 parallel
– just outside Baghdad. While the U.S. has regularly bombed sites within the self-declared “no-
fly-zones,” this bombing expands the United States’ “free-strike” zone to include all of Iraq.

There is no UN provision for such bombardment.  Resolution 688, sometimes referred to as a
document legitimizing the no-fly zone bombardment makes no reference to a right to take over
Iraqi airspace, resulting in the tragic killing of civilians as detailed in 1999 UN security reports
and regular updates from Reuters, AP and AFP reports.

The Bush Administration may have been attempting to expand U.S. military efforts against Iraq ,
without any public fanfare.  However, press responses to this escalating campaign has
superceded planned coverage of the President’s first foreign trip in Mexico, and the White House
has responded by trying to downplay the significance of today’s actions in Iraq by calling it
routine.

Today’s bombing may be evidence of a widening split between Secretary of State Colin Powell,
and the more hawkish Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Defense Secretary
Rumsfeld. This bombing will likely inflame the public through-out the Middle East, making
Powell’s planned trip to the region on Feb. 23rd much more controversial and difficult.

Actions
1. CALL RIGHT NOW (see Talking Points below)
-White House comment line 202-456-1414
-State Department comment line 202-647-6575
-Your local media

2. ON TUES, CALL:
Your elected Representatives/Senators who will be in their district from February 16-24, the first
recess period of the 107th Congress.
These local numbers can be found in your phone book blue pages, or from their
official websites (check www.house.gov and www.senate.gov).

3. Write
president@whitehouse.gov
vice.president@whitehouse.gov
secretary@state.gov
AskPublicAffairs@state.gov

Talking Points
-Today’s bombing, while unusual in it’s choice of targets, is not new. The U.S. has been illegally
bombing Iraq on the average of 2-3 times a week for over two years.

-Today’s bombing was not by “coalition” forces. It was done by the U.S. with some U.K.
participation. The United Nations does not recognize the “no-fly-zones,”  and under international
law, these self-declared zones are illegal.

- Over 300 civilians have been killed by “routine” U.S. bombings over the last two years,
including at least 3 in today’s bombing.

- Rather than undermine Saddam Hussein, this bombing will likely inflame the Iraqi and Arab
peoples against the U.S., and strengthen Saddam’s political rehabilitation in the region by pitting
him as David against the American Goliath.

- The U.S. war against Iraq isn’t limited to bombings, our on-going blockade, the “sanctions,”
have resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, perhaps well over 1,000,000 people in
all – most of them children. According to UNICEF, over 500,000 children under the age of 5
have died due to our blockade.

- Former Chief Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter, and former weapons inspector Dr. Raymond
Zilinskas, have both stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed of any Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMD) capability by 1998 and does not pose a WMD-based threat to the region
today.

- Secretary Powell stated on Face the Nation on Sunday, Feb. 11th, “[Saddam’s] much weaker.
That million-man army of 10 years ago is gone. He is sitting on a very much smaller army of
perhaps 350,000 that does not have the capacity to invade its neighbors any longer. … I'm sure
he can hold on to his power. … What he can't do is invade his neighbors anymore…”