[1928] in peace2
Open Letter against US Invasion of Iraq
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jed Ela)
Tue Sep 24 20:48:45 2002
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Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 20:44:35 -0400
To: peace-announce@MIT.EDU
From: Jed Ela <jed@shitbegone.com>
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I read this petition and decided to sign it, not sure what else to do. Though I think tagging up gas stations with the word "IRAQ" might be a good idea too. Just so nobody loses sight of what this is all about in the end.
Maybe even put it on people's gas caps -- using removable labels of course.
I passed on the petition to a few friends with my own personal letter starting below, pass it on if you feel like, minus the thing above about the graffiti if you or your addressees might still be more scared-and-confused than ready-to-roll...
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Open Letter against US Invasion of Iraq
There is a lot of fear in the air right now, I myself split my time between New York and Boston, and thanks to the media hype I have been treating myself to near-daily mental images of nuclear holocausts of those two cities. However when I think about things realistically I am more convinced than ever that the majority of the current fear (in the US and abroad) is being generated by people within our own government, and not by any foreign enemy or terrorist group.
I am scared, but I am more scared of being misrepresented by my own country-- with deadly force, and for selfish ends -- than I am of any external enemy. Our enemies got in a good shot last year, but in reality they are still few and weak. If we strike out blindly and hypocritically, claiming self-defense in a transparent bid to protect long-term (yet ultimately unrenewable) energy interests, we will only drive away allies and inflame those who (as yet peacefully) oppose us.
The "open letter" linked below is an adequate representation of my views, and so I have signed it. I have also written personally to all of my Senators and I will take whatever other action I can to stop a misguided, unilateral US invasion of Iraq. I hope you will consider doing the same.
Sincerely,
Jed Ela
> I am writing to request that you consider signing a new web-based
>Open Letter from the Academic Community Opposing a US Invasion of Iraq.
>
>Open Letter from the Academic Community Opposing a US Invasion of Iraq.
>This letter started at the University of Minnesota, where it quickly
>collected several hundred signatures, and then came to the attention of
>some MIT faculty. I have decided to take this letter to the web, and to
>span universities, as well as to include students, faculty, postdocs,
>alumni and staff as well as faculty. A copy of the letter is pasted
>below. If you would like to read and sign this web-based letter, go to:
>http://www.noiraqattack.org.
--
Jed Ela
ShitBegone Paper
http://shitbegone.com
