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A Letter From Concerned Americans

February 18, five U.S. church leaders met with Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss alternatives to war on Iraq. The plan in the following letter was developed from that discussion and subsequent conversations in the U.S.

Prime Minister Blair,

The world needs you to find a "third way" between war and inaction. It is two minutes before midnight, and the world’s people are desperate for an alternative to war.

Yes, we must disarm Saddam Hussein.

Yes, we must remove him from power.

But, we need a better solution than war to accomplish our goals. The people of Iraq have already suffered greatly, and we must not inflict even more suffering upon them.

As Americans, we have a special relationship with the British people. We need you to be a true friend of America in this critical hour. We need you to help our government not make a terrible mistake.

American church leaders are offering an eleventh-hour initiative that proposes an effective response to the threat of Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction, but avoids the terrible dangers and suffering of war.

Mr. Prime Minister, we appeal to you as a man of moral and religious convictions to persuade our President not to take our countries into a war that could have terrible, bitter, and divisive consequences. Let us instead:

1. Indict Saddam Hussein for his crimes against humanity and send a clear signal that he has no future in Iraq, setting into motion the internal and external forces that could remove him from power and bring him to trial at the International Court in The Hague. History has shown, as with Slobodan Milosevic, that this can help bring down a criminal regime.

2. Pursue coercive disarmament with greatly intensified inspections backed by a U.N. mandated multinational force.

3. Foster a democratic Iraq through a temporary post-Hussein U.N. administration, rather than a U.S. military occupation.

4. Organize a massive humanitarian effort through the U.N. and nongovernmental relief agencies for the people of Iraq now, rather than only after a war.

5. Commit to implement the "roadmap" to peace in the Middle East, with a clear timetable toward a two-state solution that guarantees a Palestinian state and a secure Israel by 2005.

6. Re-invigorate and sustain international cooperation in the campaign against terrorism, rather than having it disrupted by a divisive war against Iraq that intelligence officials believe will likely lead to further attacks.

Such a morally rooted and pragmatic initiative could help achieve an historic breakthrough and set a precedent for decisive and effective international action instead of war.

We urge you to provide the principled leadership and real friendship that could resolve this international crisis without war.

We are grateful for the recent meeting we had with you. You have our hopes and prayers.

Sincerely,
Jim Wallis, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief of Sojourners;
John Bryson Chane, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C.;
Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church USA;
Melvin Talbert, Ecumenical Officer of the United Methodist Council of Bishops;
Daniel Weiss, Immediate Past General Secretary of the American Baptist Churches in the USA;
and millions of concerned Americans.

Read the complete 6-Point Plan at www.sojo.net/action or call Sojourners at 011-202-328-8842 for more information.

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