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OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT SADDAM HUSSAIN and the IRAQI PEOPLE
From: Americans for International Law and an End to Sanctions on Iraq

We Americans are opposed to our country's militarism and jingoism as is apparent in the steady build up of U.S. military forces around Iraq. We feel that such a military adventure will not solve the problems of the middle east.

We are appalled at the interventionist calls for the abdication of President Saddam Hussain. Such calls are in open violation of international law and undermine the sovereignty and integrity of Iraq. Under the aegis of a superpower, maximum power is being exerted to destroy Iraq as a nation. We see the shakers and movers behind these calls as supporters of the Jewish Zionist entity known as Israel. In fact, just about every Zionist, from professor to politician, has been demanding regime change in Iraq.

If international morality and decency is to have any meaning, the daily violation of the rights of the Palestinian people by Israel must be stopped. The crimes of the Israeli entity are seen by all of humanity as the acts of a pariah state which is holding on to the land belonging to Palestine. When these voices for deposition of the popular Iraqi president do not direct their venom at Israel, one can be sure that these are the voices instigated by Israeli settler colonialism.

The United States has tremendous influence on Arab rulers who have imposed themselves on their people by force. Among them are Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdullah of Jordan and the autocratic rulers of Saudi Arabia. If the U.S. is interested in democracy, it should begin with these regimes with whom it has decisive power and influence.

The results of U.S./U.K bombing of Iraq followed by the embargo and the sanctions are well known. More than a million Iraqi children have died as a result of these actions which violated international law. An international tribunal should be set up to try those responsible for this horrendous suffering of Iraqi children.

We oppose the ongoing U.S./UK aggression against Iraq instituted under the label of "no-fly zones." Even the United Nations (a reliable tool of the U.S.) has not sanctioned these zones and the daily bombing raids carried out under their auspices are nothing other than naked aggression.

We note that our government is playing with the lives of the Kurds and the Shi'ites, urging the dissidents among them to rise up with weapons. Such instigation is a clear violation of international law. The Kurds and Shi'ites are part of the Iraqi nation and attempts to use them to destroy Iraq can only cause bloodshed and civil war.

Finally, the inspectors have not found any weapons of mass destructions in Iraq. It is time to withdraw the inspectors who are being used to humiliate Iraq and the entire Arab and Muslim world.

In conclusion, we oppose the war planned against Iraq and we call on all Americans to join us in showing Iraq that we are not party to this aggression.
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Initiated by:
Imam Badi Ali, Greensboro, North Carolina
Dr. Kaukab Siddique, Baltimore, Maryland
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We urge all readers to support this OPEN LETTER. Send us your name. We will add it to the two names given above and finally send it to President Saddam Hussain.
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2003-01-12 Sun 06:46ct