Note:
The No War on Iran coalition, of which 8th Day
Center for Justice is
a founding
member, recently brought the former chief weapons
inspector Scott Ritter and
Ambassador Edward Peck to Chicago for a
forum. The following Bulletin summarizes
their remarks.
US
TO ATTACK IRAN UNLESS THE PEOPLE ACT
Bob Bossie, SCJ, Jan. 26,
2008
Two
windows of opportunity for the US to attack Iran are March to June and
the Fall
of 2008, said Scott Ritter, former chief weapons inspector in Iraq, in
an appearance in
Chicago last week. It will happen unless the people
of the US say a resounding NO! to
another war of [aggression] by the
Bush administration, he said.
Ritter
rejects the recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report that
Iran stopped
its secret nuclear weapons program in 2003. To support
the findings of the NIE, Ritter
said, is to agree with the premise:
Iran HAD a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
There is absolutely
no proof that Iran ever had a nuclear weapons program, he asserted,
just as there was never any proof that Iraq had such a program in
2003.
Ritter said that the NIE plays into Bush's hands and
practically assures that the US will
attack Iran. Bush has used the
NIE report as proof that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons
program
and continues to be such a threat. Israel agrees with Bush. Just last
week, the
Bush administration persuaded the UN Security Council to
support further sanctions against
Iran.
Ritter thanked
attendees at his talk for all that they had done in the past and for
coming to
his presentation. But given the urgency of the situation,
that is not enough, he urged. What
will you do when you leave here?
What will you do tomorrow? Next week and so forth?
How will your
children be effected? Bring up Bush's war plans in all the areas of
your
influence: your family, friends, place of worship, work, town,
city, country, he stressed.
Especially make sure it's part of all
conversations about the elections.
(See
below to read the entire article.)
ACTIONS: Four Things
You Can Do to Prevent a War on Iran
1. SHARE AND DISCUSS THIS
LEAFLET with family, friends, coworkers and your
faith community.
2. SUPPORT THE “STATEMENT OF CONSCIENCE.” Gather signatures
of
notable
persons (in the arts, education, religion, politics, legals
system, etc.) and help publish “No
Attack On Iran – A Statement
of Conscience "…In conscience, we hold ourselves
responsible
for this crime about to be committed in our name. We will not remain
silent.
We will resist this machinery of aggression and terror and
rally others to do everything
possible to stop any attack against
Iran." Contact Bob Bossie at 8th Day Center for Justice,
312-641-5151 or bob_bossie@claret.org
http://www.nowaroniran-chicago.org/statement.htm
3.
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE urging them to stand against a war on
Iran
under any circumstances, support the Webb bill restricting
Bush's ability to act without
congress, or support impeachment and
tie the hands of this administration before they
attack. More info at
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/
http://www.webb.senate.gov
http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com
4.
THE MILLION SIGNATURES CAMPAIGN FOR IRANIAN WOMEN. Iranian
women's
rights activists are initiating a wide campaign demanding an end to
discriminatory
and unequal laws against women in the Iranian law.
This is a follow-up effort to the
peaceful protest of the same aim,
which took place on June 12, 2006 in Haft-e Tir Square
in Tehran. The
campaign’s courageous activists seek the support of global civil
society —
not of foreign governments but of human rights and
women’s rights organizations, writers
and intellectuals, and people
of conscience across the globe. More info at
http://www.we-change.org/english
Bob
Bossie has represented the Priests of the Sacred Heart at the
Chicago-based 8th
Day Center for Justice
since 1980.
=====
US TO ATTACK IRAN
UNLESS THE
PEOPLE ACT
Bob
Bossie, SCJ, Jan. 26, 2008
Two
windows of opportunity for the US to attack Iran are March to June and
the Fall
of 2008, said Scott Ritter, former chief weapons inspector in Iraq, in
an appearance in
Chicago last week. It will happen unless the people
of the US say a resounding NO! to
another war of [aggression] by the
Bush administration, he said.
Ritter
rejects the recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report that
Iran stopped its
secret nuclear weapons program in 2003. To support
the findings of the NIE, Ritter said,
is to agree with the premise:
Iran HAD a clandestine nuclear weapons program. There is
absolutely
no proof that Iran ever had a nuclear weapons program, he asserted,
just as
there was never any proof that Iraq had such a program in
2003.
Ritter's
position is in agreement with that of chief UN atomic watchdog
Mohamed ElBaradei
who, on October 28, 2007, said he had no evidence
Iran was building nuclear weapons
and accused US leaders of adding
“fuel to the fire” with recent aggressive rhetoric.
Ritter
said that the NIE plays into Bush's hands and practically assures that
the US will
attack Iran. Bush has used the NIE report as proof that
Iran had a secret nuclear weapons
program and continues to be such a
threat. Israel agrees with Bush. Based on this rationale,
last week the Bush
administration persuaded the UN Security Council to support further
sanctions against Iran.
Now,
Ritter said, the Bush strategy for gaining support to attack Iran
will be the same as it
was with Iraq: Iran must PROVE it does not
have a secret nuclear weapons program. Any
failure to do so is proof
that one continues to exist. [Forgotten in this rationale, is that
it's
impossible to prove a negative point.]
Ritter
notes that the US is currently building hangars on the island of
Diego Garcia so that they
can accommodate B1 bombers equipped with
bunker busting weapons. He points to the 2006
National Security
Strategy (NSS) -- in which Iran is mentioned 14 times as the #1
threat to the
US -- as more evidence that the Bush administration is
intent on going to war with Iran. "When
the consequences of an
attack with WMD are potentially so devastating, we cannot afford to
stand idly by as grave dangers materialize," Bush's NSS says.
Contrary
to popular opinion, US forces are not stretched too thin because of
the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan. According to Ritter, US air
and naval forces are fully able and ready to attack
Iran. In fact, he
said that the US Air Force is chaffing at the bit to show its stuff
because US
ground forces are getting all the publicity and funding as
a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The
US administration contemplates a “quick” 5-7 day air strike on
Iran, but Ritter predicts that
Iran
will respond with missile attacks on Israel, Kuwait, and other Middle
Eastern countries. After
this attack against US allies, the US will
send in ground troops, who will find themselves in an
unwinnable war.
This will necessitate
the use of nuclear weapons by the US.
A grim,
disastrous scenario. We must do everything in our power to
prevent it. Time is short, Ritter urged.
Ritter
led the UN inspection team in Iraq from 1991-1998, when he resigned
over US
interference. The US ignored the team's assessment
that Iraq was essentially disarmed and
invaded Iraq in order to
reassert control over oil resources which are vital, especially, to
China
and India. By controlling oil resources, the US can prevent the
growth of China and India as
threats to US interests. To justify his
point, Ritter again noted that US National Security Strategy
reports
since the fall of the USSR say that the US will not allow any other
nation or group of
nations to challenge US domination in the world as did the USSR.
The
US is manipulating public opinion to gain support for a strike
against Iran for the very
same purpose, Ritter said.
Ritter
reminded over 350 persons at his presentation that prior to the
invasion of Iraq, he
predicted that the US invasion and occupation of
Iraq would last 16 years. While many
scoffed at his prediction,
Ritter pointed out that March 20th is the fifth
anniversary of the
invasion and the Bush administration acknowledged
that it will be there for another ten years.
The
No War on Iran Coalition, of which 8th Day Center is part,
brought Ritter to Chicago
along with Ambassador Edward Peck. Peck
said that anyone who believes that
people
have a problem with the US because they don't like our freedom
has a screw loose. Rather,
people have a problem with US policy, he
said.
In
particular, Peck pointed to the statement of then US Ambassador to
the UN, Madeleine
Albright, who was asked in 1996 on the 60 Minutes
news program if the death of over
500,000 children in Iraq due to
US-led economic sanctions against Iraq was worth it. Albright
responded: “I think
that is a very hard choice, but the price, we think, the price is
worth it.”
Peck noted that this was played once in the US but it
was played hundreds of times in the
Middle East.
The
No War on Iran Coalition was formed in the Fall of 2007. It is
currently working to
pass a resolution in the Chicago City Council
against attacking Iran, seeking signers for its
Statement of
Conscience against attacking Iran and other activities.
Ritter
thanked attendees at his talk for all that they had done in the past
and for coming to
his presentation. But given the urgency of the
situation, that is not enough, he urged. What
will you do when you
leave here? What will you do tomorrow? Next week and so forth?
How
will your children be effected? Bring up Bush's war plans in all the
areas of your
influence: your family, friends, place of worship,
work, town, city, country, he stressed.
Especially make sure it's
part of all conversations about the elections.
Bob
Bossie has represented the Priests of the Sacred Heart at the
Chicago-based
8th
Day Center for Justice since 1980.