Dear Friends,
We usually try to restrict the Sierra Club listserves to
news and issues that directly impact the environment. In a
recent meeting of the Leopold group executive committee
there was a general consensus that the current talk about
an attack on Iraq deserves some strong opposition from our
group because such an attack would very likely have a
devastating effect on the world environment. This is true
for several reasons: 1)military operations are notorious
for pollution; 2) during the last attack on Iraq, Saddam
Hussien had his military set oil fields on fire creating
havoc in the region's environment 3)if in fact he has
weapons of mass destruction(which is the Bush
administration's stated reason for an attack) the Iraqi
leader is likely to use them: with dire human and
environmental consequences. If NUCLEAR weapons get used,
not only will millions of people in the region die, but the
destruction of the protective ozone layer will result in
devastating effects on the entire planet. No one will be
able to go outside without serious risk to health for an
extended period of time, months or longer; 4) a war with
Iraq is likley to be a long process, possibly extending for
years. I this happens, we can expect environmental
protection to sink even further down the list of priorities
than it is now.
So sign on to the letter below and /or call your
Congressman and Senators offices and tell how you feel. Ask
the staff person who answers the phone what the elected
representativre thinks about the situation and give them a
piece of your mind. When I called I didn't happen to
mention environmental concerns but that is certainly a
valid option.

Best Wishes to All For Peace On the Planet,
Jim Fleming
P.S. The following letter was sent to me by a friend.

> Subject: Help prevent a war on Iraq
> Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 13:20:07 -0500
>
> The Bush White House is aggressively promoting war on
> Iraq, against
> the advice of its diplomats, and without strong
support
> from Congress,
> the American public, or our allies.
>
> Please join me in signing an online petition to oppose
a
> war that would
> likely undermine both national and world security.
Let’s
> show our
> representatives that they have strong public support
to
> stop this war.
>
> If you join me in signing today, your comments will be
> hand-delivered
> to your Senators as part of a national day of action
on
> August 28th.
> Constituent meetings are being organized with Senate
> offices everywhere.
>
> Sign the petition at:
>
>   http://www.moveon.org/nowar/
>
> It's important that we speak out against a war in
which
> many of our
> young people, and likely many more innocent Iraqis,
would
> die.
>
> Even top Republican leaders are publicly questioning a
> war:
>
> Brent Scowcroft, the former National Security Advisor,
> says a U.S.
> invasion of Iraq "could turn the whole region into
a
> cauldron and,
> thus, destroy the war on terrorism."  He also says
"there
> is scant
> evidence to tie Saddam to terrorist organizations, and
> even less to
> the Sept. 11 attacks."
>
> Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) says the CIA has
"absolutely
> no evidence"
> that Iraq possesses or will soon possess nuclear
weapons.
>
> Henry Kissinger says, "The notion of justified
pre-
> emption runs
> counter to modern international law, which sanctions
the
> use of force
> in self-defense only against actual -- not potential
--
> threats."
> Kissinger also says, "American military
intervention in
> Iraq would be
> supported only grudgingly, if at all, by most European
> allies."
>
> Dick Armey, the House Majority Leader (R-TX-26), says,
"I
> don't believe
> that America will justifiably make an unprovoked
attack
> on another
> nation.  It would not be consistent with what we have
> been as a nation
> or what we should be as a nation."
>
> We've got to speak out too.  Please join me and do
your
> part, at:
>
>   http://www.moveon.org/nowar/
>
> Thank you.
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes
http://finance.yahoo.com

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT
to [log in to unmask]