ns in 32 countries, on February 15th the European movement has called for people throughout the U.S. to answer their call for mass actions that day.

Feb. 15/16, 2003- - The World Rises Up Against War This weekend will be an historic and unprecedented event. In over 480 cities around the world people will show their united world wide opposition to a war against Iraq, and demonstrate forcefully the true "coalition of the willing" -- all of us who demand justice and peace and who have the power to make it happen. VoteNoWar members are organizing protests across the United States, including in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and many other cities. (To find events in your area, visit http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/f15/f15transp.html . If your community has not called an event, it is not to late to do so - to post an event, visit: http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/f15/index.html#feb15event )

Besieged by the war cries from the Bush Administration and terror alerts, most of us are thinking, it doesn't have to be like this, and it can't go on like this. As Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Powell plow ahead with their plans for war and escalation of worldwide violence, we, the people of the world, are the only ones who can stop it.

As the Bush administration races to unleash limitless violence on the people of Iraq, a country of 23 million, the administration and its corporate media cheerleaders are shamelessly painting its critics as either "anti-American" or pro-Saddam Hussein or both. But the truth is that THE WORLD IS OPPOSED TO WAR and it is the tiny few in the Bush Administration and the Pentagon who are rushing to plunge the Middle East into bloodshed.

That "the truth is the first casualty of war" has become an almost meaningless cliche not because it lacks validity but because of its repetitive accuracy. What we are witnessing however, is the wanton and complete campaign against truth in the prewar propaganda efforts of the Bush administration.

The administration is struggling to manufacture a sufficient pretext for war, and to force the U.N. security council members and the inspection team into obedience. Iraq seems to infuriate the Bush administration when it agrees to additional United Nations demands -- including the most intrusive -- and thereby momentarily invalidates Bush's pretext for war.

In recent days Iraq has agreed to U.S.-piloted surveillance flights over its territory. Iraq scientists have been giving private interviews to weapons inspectors. And, as requested, Iraq is passing legislation outlawing the use of weapons of mass destruction. The Bush administration promptly announced that it was refusing to take yes for an answer and went out of its way at a press conference to state that Iraq's additional concessions did "nothing to change" its current drive towards war.

On Wednesday, National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice flew to New York to meet privately with Hans Blix the chief weapons inspector to demand that he find Iraq in violation of the U.N. resolution. Why the bullying of Blix? Because, as of Tuesday February 11, Blix's report did "not contain a declaration that Iraq is in clear violation of its obligations, which the United States has sought." (Washington Post, February 12, 2003)

We have all learned important facts about the dramatic presentation of General Colin Powell before the U.N. Security Council on February 5. According to Powell, his speech was based on "an excellent" intelligence report provided by the British Government. Within days it was revealed that this "intelligence" was, in fact, a plagiarized copy of a student paper that had been circulating on the Internet for years. Powell's report lifted sections of this paper wholesale, typographical errors and all.

With the words "Iraq: Failing to Disarm, Denial and Deception" appearing on a giant video screen behind him, General Powell worked to scare the American people by making a connection of "decades" of contact between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa'ida. Journalist Robert Fisk, writing for the Independent (UK) newspaper exposed the falseness of this presentation: "And when General Powell started blathering on about "decades'' of contact between Saddam and al-Qa'ida, things went wrong for the Secretary of State. Al-Qa'ida only came into existence" in recent years and "Bin Laden 'decades' ago was working against the Russians for the CIA, whose present day director was sitting grave-faced behind General Powell." (February 6, 2003)

As one pretext is exposed as a fraud, they move on to the next purported rationale for their planned aggression. Smarting from the expose of the plagiarized paper, Powell was quick to jump on the taped message reported to be from Bin Laden to tell Congress that the tape proved that Iraq and Bin Laden were working together. This was repeated ad nauseam on all the television news networks. But the administration's own rendition of the tape indicates that the speaker actually denounces the Iraqi government as "infidels."

When Powell testified before Congress about the supposed Iraq-al-Qa'ida connection, he did not know the tapes were being broadcast to the U.S. public, apparently believing that he could provide this deception unchecked. The real purpose, of course, is simply to scare the living daylights out of people. It is the height of cynicism on the part of the Bush administration to raise the specter of renewed terrorism as a method to win support for its war of aggression against Iraq. It is precisely the war itself, and even the threat of war, that will lead to an escalation in the cycle of violence further endangering people all over the world, including right here at home.

The Bush administration's ongoing demands for war only prove that, as we've noted before, this war is not really about disarmament, or to thwart a purported grave and imminent danger posed by Iraq. Rather it is a war for Big Oil and for empire that benefits the corporate clients of the administration including the oil industry and arms manufacturers. It is a war that steals from the American public much needed funds for healthcare, education and jobs. It is a war that violates U.S. law and international law, and it is a war that will have catastrophic consequences for the people of the region and thousands of U.S. GIs.

It is only the mobilization of massive numbers of people here and around the world that will constitute an effective deterrent to war. We want to thank all of the people involved in this movement for their continuing action and support. This weekend, many members are making and taking out onto the streets, signs that say "VoteNoWar.org -- Only the People Can Stop the War," others are taking copies of the People's Anti-War Referendum and collecting signatures. Visit http://www.votenowar.org to download a pdf of the referendum. If you can volunteer your time to the peace movement, visit http://www.votenowar.org/donate.html . We hope to see all of you on February 15 and 16.

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http://www.bsec.org/news/peace030215.html

Major Peace March! United Nations to Central Park Saturday February 15th at Noon. Join us at BSEC at 11am. 2/6 UPDATE: CITY DENIES PERMIT FOR MARCH, ALLOWING FOR ONLY "STATIONARY EVENT". PUBLIC HEARINGS SET FOR 2/7. MORE LATER.

On Saturday, February 15th, many BSEC members and friends are joining a diverse group of religious, community, and progressive organizations to oppose the war against Iraq. Together with BCAN (Brooklyn Community Action Network), Brooklyn Parents for Peace, and dozens of other groups, we plan to march from the United Nations to Central Park South at Noon. [City of New York denied the permit to march.]

We plan to gather at the BSEC Meeting House at 11am on February 15th, then walk to the Grand Army Plaza subway station, where we will take the train to the East Side and United Nations Plaza.

Because war seems imminent, up to a million people are expected. Similar events are planned in dozens of cities across the world. A new, non-violent, non-sectarian, democratic, national peace group, United for Peace and Justice, is spearheading organizing efforts in nearly every city in the United States.

On moral and ethical grounds, virtually all mainstream religious groups support the march, which is expected to be the largest in our city in decades. Many Republicans and conservative leaders are moving against the war also. Reverend Peter Gomes, a Harvard Professor of Morals and ardent Republican, said recently: "I demand a better excuse than revenge or oil for the prosecution of a war that is likely to do more harm than good, that will destabilize, not only the region, but also the world for years to come, and that will confirm our country's reputation as an irrational and undisciplined bully."

Opponents of the war also argue that it will not make us safer, but further undermine our civil liberties and divert funds for essential domestic needs.

For more information contact Ethical Action Chair Charles Horwitz.

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