Dear MoveOn member,

We've launched an emergency petition from citizens around the
world to the U.N. Security Council.  We'll be delivering the
list of signers and your comments to the 15 member states of
the Security Council on THURSDAY, MARCH 6.

If hundreds of thousands of us sign, it could be an enormously
important and powerful message -- people from all over the
world joining in a single call for a peaceful solution.  But
we really need your help, and soon.  Please sign and ask your
friends and colleagues to sign TODAY at:

http://www.moveon.org/emergency/

In the next week, the U.N. Security Council will likely meet
to decide on authorizing a war against Iraq.  If the Council
votes to accept a second resolution, it'll be very difficult
to avert a war.  But if the resolution doesn't get enough
votes, it'll be a major setback for the Bush Administration's
plans to invade and occupy Iraq.

In the United States and around the world, millions of us
oppose a war against Iraq.  We believe that tough inspections
can disarm Saddam Hussein without the loss of a single life.
This week may represent our last chance to win without war.

The stakes couldn't really be much higher.   A war with Iraq
could kill tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and inflame
the Middle East.  According to current plans, it would require
an American occupation of the country for years to come.  And
it could escalate in ways that are horrifying to imagine.

We can stop this tragedy from unfolding.  But we need to speak
together, and we need to do so now.  Let's show the Security
Council what world citizens think.  You can add your voice at:

http://www.moveon.org/emergency/

Then please ask your friends, family, colleagues,
acquaintances -- anyone you know who shares this concern -- to
sign on today.  As the New York Times put it, "there may still
be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world
public opinion."   The Bush Administration's been flexing its
muscles.  Now let's flex ours.

Sincerely,
--Eli Pariser
  International Campaigns Director
  MoveOn.org
  March 3rd, 2003

P.S. Here's the letter we'll be delivering to the Security
Council members along with the petition:

Dear Member of the U.N. Security Council,

We are citizens from countries all over the world.  We are
speaking together because we will all be affected by a
decision in which your country has a major part -- the
decision of how to disarm Iraq.

The first reason for its existence listed in the Preamble to
the Charter of the United Nations is "to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our
lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind."  If your
country supports a Security Council resolution that would
authorize a war on Iraq, you will directly contradict that
charter.  You will be supporting an unnecessary war -- a
war which immediately, and in its unknown consequences,
could bring "untold sorrow to mankind" once again.

The U.N. was created to enable peaceful alternatives to
conflict.  The weapons inspections under way are a perfect
example of just such an alternative, and their growing
success is a testament to the potential power the U.N. holds.
By supporting tough inspections instead of war, you can show
the world a real way to resolve conflict without bloodshed.
But if you back a war, it will undermine the very premise
upon which the U.N. was built.

President Bush argues that only by endorsing a war on Iraq
can the United Nations prove its relevance.  We argue the
opposite.  If the Security Council allows itself to be
completely swayed by one member nation, in the face of viable
alternatives, common sense and world public opinion, then it
will be diminished in its role, effectiveness, and in the
opinion of humankind.

We do not support this war.  For billions of citizens in
hundreds of countries, and for the future generations whose
lives will be shaped by the choice you make, we ask that you
stand firm against the pressuring of the Bush Administration,
and support tough inspections for Iraq.  The eyes of the
world are on you.

Sincerely,
[Number] citizens of the world.

________________

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