Subj: A Call for Action Date: 11/8/98 8:38:33 PM Eastern Standard Time From: kkelly@igc.apc.org (Kathy Kelly) Dear Friends, We welcome this evening's news that, following a weekend meeting at Camp David, President Clinton indicated he will not order an immediate military strike against Iraq. However, we remain dismayed by the ongoing failure by the US government and media to recognize that Iraqi civilians endure lethal use of force every day as a result of US/UN economic warfare against Iraq. Eight years of crippling economic sanctions continue to target Iraq's most vulnerable people by denying them the ability to trade their valuable resources, particularly oil, for desperately needed food, medicine, and equipment. We urge you to act soon while all options remain open for the Clinton administration to authorize bombardment on top of starvation and disease as a means to punish Iraqi people. Help people realize that the sanctions constitute relentless lethal force and that innocent Iraqi people, caught between opposing forces, are subjected to cruel and unjust punishment. May we suggest the following actions: 1) Contact the White House to urge that the US public be educated about the effects of sanctions on the civilian population of Iraq and to further state you believe it is wrongful to starve a nation's people for eight years and then bomb them. 2) Many of you already have 11 x 17 enlarged pictures taken in Iraq by our previous delegations. These can be copied onto adhesive paper and then affixed to the windows and walls of your local federal building. We think it's appropriate to rely on civil disobedience actions, locally, as a means commensurate to the misery wrought by an eight-year state of siege. 3) Our thanks to all who responded to our last letter by sending a contribution. Additional funds will help us continue sending teams to Iraq where on-the-ground reporting will help bring attention to realities experienced by Iraqi people. Thank you for your continued support. Sincerely, Voices in the Wilderness Voices in the Wilderness A Campaign to End the US/UN Economic Sanctions Against the People of Iraq 1460 West Carmen Ave. Chicago, IL 60640 ph:773-784-8065; fax: 773-784-8837 email: kkelly@igc.apc.org website: http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw