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Leading Americans Ask U.S. Military
to Refuse Orders to Attack Iran
Plus:
Sy Hersh Talks With Keith
Olbermann about Bush's Plans to
Attack Iran
More
YouTube Video
with Sy
Hersh at the bottom of this email.
Contact: Marcy Winograd: 310-795-2322
Tim Carpenter: 413-320-2015
David Swanson: 202-329-7847 -
david@davidswanson.org
Leading Americans Ask U.S. Military
to Refuse Orders to Attack Iran
Country music legend Willie Nelson,
literary icon Gore Vidal, Gold Star
Mother Cindy Sheehan, Pentagon
Papers whistleblower Daniel
Ellsberg, retired U.S. Army Colonel
Ann Wright, former Congresswoman
Cynthia McKinney, former federal
prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega,
author and radio host Thom Hartmann,
Rabbi Michael Lerner, Rabbi Steven
Jacobs, and dozens of other
prominent Americans have signed a
letter asking the Joint Chiefs of
Staff and all U.S. military
personnel to refuse orders to launch
an aggressive war on Iran.
The letter has been posted
as a petition for others to sign at:
http://www.dontattackiran.org
The text of the letter follows:
ATTENTION: Joint Chiefs of Staff and
all U.S. Military Personnel:
Do not attack Iran.
Any preemptive U.S. attack on Iran
would be illegal.
Any preemptive U.S. attack on Iran
would be criminal.
We, the citizens of the United
States, respectfully urge you,
courageous men and women of our
military, to refuse any order to
preemptively attack Iran, a nation
that represents no serious or
immediate threat to the United
States. To attack Iran, a sovereign
nation of 70-million people, would
be a crime of the highest magnitude.
Legal basis for our Request
– Do not attack Iran:
The Nuremberg Principles, which are
part of US law, provide that all
military personnel have the
obligation not to obey illegal
orders. The Army Field Manual 27-10,
sec. 609 and UCMJ, art. 92,
incorporate this principle. Article
92 says: "A general order or
regulation is lawful unless it is
contrary to the Constitution, the
law of the United States …"
Any provision of an international
treaty ratified by the United States
becomes the law of the United
States. The United States is a party
and signatory to the United Nations
Charter, of which Article II,
Section 4 states, "All members shall
refrain in their international
relations from the threat or use of
force against the territorial
integrity or political independence
of any state…" As Iran has not
attacked the United States, and as
the U.S. is a party and signatory to
the Charter, any attack on Iran by
the U.S. would be illegal under not
only international law but under the
U.S. Constitution which recognizes
our treaties as the Supreme Law of
the Land. When you joined the
military, you took an oath to defend
our Constitution.
Following the orders of your
government or superior does not
relieve you from responsibility
under international law. Under the
Principles of International Law
recognized in the Charter of the
Nuremberg Tribunal, complicity in
the commission of war crime is a
crime under international law.
Background:
The Bush Administration's charges
against Iran have not been proven.
Neither the development of nuclear
weapons, nor providing assistance to
Iraq would, if proven, constitute
justification for an illegal war.
An attack on Iran might prompt the
formidable Iranian military to
attack U.S. troops stationed in
Iraq. Thousands of our soldiers
might be killed or captured as
prisoners of war. A U.S. attack
against Iranian nuclear facilities
could also mean the deaths, from
radiation poisoning, of tens of
thousands of innocent Iranian
civilians. The people of Iran have
little control over their
government, yet would suffer
tremendously should the U.S. attack.
Bombing raids would amount to
collective punishment, a violation
of the Geneva Convention, and would
surely sow the seeds of hatred for
generations to come. Children make
up a quarter of Iran's population.
Above all, we ask you to look at the
record of our actions in Iraq, which
U.S. intelligence admits is “a cause
celebre for jihadists” – a situation
that did not exist before we
attacked. We must face the fact that
our rash use of military solutions
has created more enemies, and made
American families less safe.
Diplomacy, not war, is the answer.
Know the Risks Involved in Refusing
an Illegal Order or Signing This
Statement:
We knowingly and willingly make this
plea, aware of the risk that, in
violation of our First Amendment
rights, we could be charged under
remaining sections of the
unconstitutional Espionage Act or
other unconstitutional statute, and
that we could be fined, imprisoned,
or barred from government
employment.
We make this plea, also aware that
you have no easy options. If you
obey an illegal order to participate
in an aggressive attack on Iran, you
could potentially be charged with
war crimes. If you heed our call and
disobey an illegal order you could
be falsely charged with crimes
including treason. You could be
falsely court martialed. You could
be imprisoned. (To talk to a lawyer
or to learn more about possible
consequences, contact
The Central Committee for
Conscientious Objectors,
Courage to Resist,
Center on Conscience and War,
Military Law Task Force of
the National Lawyers Guild
415-566-3732, or the GI Rights
Hotline at 877-447-4487.) **
Final request:
Our leaders often say that military
force should be a last resort. We
beg you to make that policy a
reality, and refuse illegal orders
to attack Iran. We promise to
support you for protecting the
American public and innocent
civilians abroad.
Our future, the future of our
children and their children, rests
in your hands.
You know the horrors of war. You can
stop the next one.
Sincerely,
James Abourezk, former U.S. Senator,
(D) South Dakota
Stacy Bannerman, Author, "When the
War Came Home", Military Families
Speak Out Charter Board member
John Bonifaz, constitutional
attorney and author of
"Warrior-King: The Case for
Impeaching George W. Bush."
Amy Branham, Gold Star Mother of
Sgt. Jeremy R. Smith, US Army
Reserves, Nov. 1981-Feb. 2004
Blase Bonpane, Ph.d, Director OFFICE
OF THE AMERICAS
David Clennon, Actor/activist
Tim Carpenter, Executive Director,
Progressive Democrats of America
Daniel Ellsberg, author of "Secrets:
A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon
Papers."
David Cobb, 2004 Green Party
Presidential Candidate
Jeff Cohen, author/media critic
Elizabeth de la Vega, former federal
prosecutor and author of U.S. v.
George W. Bush
Karen Dolan, Director, Cities for
Progress/Cities for Peace
Frank Dorrel, Publisher of
ADDICTED To WAR
Anne Feeney,
activist/folksinger or Local 1000,
AFM
Mike Ferner, Navy corpsman;
Secretary, Veterans for Peace
Bob Fertik, President Democrats.com
Laura Flanders, Radio Host on Air
America
Bruce K. Gagnon, Coordinator Global
Network Against Weapons & Nuclear
Power in Space
Lila Garrett, KPFK Host of “Connect
the Dots”
Liberty Godshall, writer, Defenders
of Wildlife, Natural Resources
Defense Council
Hon. Jackie Goldberg, California
Assembly Member (AD 45), retired.
Kevin Alexander Gray, writer, and
organizer with the Harriet Tubman
Freedom House Project
Representative Betty Hall,
Hillsborough District 5, New
Hampshire General Court
David L. Harris, MD
Tom Hayden
Thom Hartmann, author and Air
America radio host
Valerie Heinonen, o.s.u., Ursulines
of Tildonk for Justice and Peace
Jenny Heinz , member of CodePink,
member of Granny Peace Brigade Rabbi
Steven Jacobs, Los Angeles
Michael Jay, Steering Committee,
Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles
Charles Jenks, co-founder and editor
of traprockpeace.org
Justice Through Music
Antonia Juhasz, author, The Bush
Agenda: Invading the World, One
Economy at a Time
Jerry Kass, playwright and professor
at Columbia University
Dr, Nazir Khaja ,Chairman, Islamic
Information Service, Los Angeles,
CA.
Mimi Kennedy, National Chair,
Progressive Democrats of America
Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor, Tikkun
and Chair, the Network of Spiritual
Progressives
Summer Lipford, Gold Star Mother,NC
28677
David Lindorff, Author, The Case for
Impeachment
Alice Lynn, Delegate, California
Democratic Party (41st AD)
Ben Manski, Executive Director,
Liberty Tree
Ray McGovern, Army
infantry/intelligence officer,
1962-64; CIA analyst 1964-90.
Cynthia Mckinney, former
Congresswoman
Barbara Mills-Bria, Be The
Change-USA
Bill Moyer, Executive Director,
Backbone Campaign
Willie Nelson, Entertainer, Peace
Activist Annie Nelson, Sustainable
Biodiesel/Peace Activist
Honorable Eric Oemig – Washington
State Senator
Geov Parrish, Executive Director
Peace Action of Washington
Jacob Park, Founder, A28.
Brad Parker, Officer of the
Progressive Caucus of the California
Democratic Party
Bill Perry, Director, Delaware
Valley Veterans For America
Gareth Porter, investigative
journalist and historian
Marcus Raskin, member of National
Security Council Staff under
President Kennedy
Dorothy Reik, President, Progressive
Democrats of the Santa Monica
Mountains
Coleen Rowley, retired FBI Agent and
former Chief Division Counsel of
Minneapolis Division of the FBI
Bill Scheurer, Editor, PeaceMajority
Report
Randi Scheurer, IL-Dist. 8,
Congressional Candidate
Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star Families
for Peace
Alice Slater, Abolition 2000 New
York
Norman Solomon, Author and
syndicated columnist
David Swanson,
Afterdowningstreet.org
John Stauber, Co-author, "Weapons of
Mass Deception: The Uses of
Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq"
Jonathan Tasini, PDA NY
Ethel Tobach, Ph. D., member of
Psychologists for Social
Responsibility
Tina Richards CEO Grassroots
Americaredith, Gold Star Mother,
Proud Mom of Lt Ken Ballard- KIA
5.30.04
Gore Vidal, Author
Marcy Winograd, President,
Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles
Ann Wright, US Army Colonel
(Retired) & US
diplomat who resigned in March, 2003
in opposition to the Iraq war.
Kevin Zeese on behalf of Voters for
Peace and Democracy Rising
Velvet Revolution
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