Tell Senator Lieberman: No War on Iran!
CodePink, June 15, 2007
Senator Joe Lieberman is waving his sword again. He recently told CBS “I think we’ve got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq.”
Upon hearing these words, our own Leslie Angeline, a CodePink member who recently returned from a peace delegation to Iran, decided to go on a hunger strike until Senator Lieberman agreed to meet with us. “Seventy percent of the Iranian population is under the age of 30 — the age of my son. Iran is a country of warm, kind, and generous people and their children. We cannot start bombing these kids,” Angeline told us.
After first denying her request, -Lieberman agreed to meet with CodePink and numerous other activists in his -Washington, D.C. office on June 21. But just hours before the meeting, he abruptly canceled. Appalled, and unwavering in our determination to reach the senator, sixty of us showed up at his office. We were a beautiful group of peace-loving people, including representatives from the Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli and Jewish communities and anti-war organizations. But Lieberman was nowhere to be found.
Instead, his office called the police, who threatened to arrest us all. Finally, three people were allowed in to meet with Lieberman’s chief of staff. The rest of us organized a teach-in on Iran in the Senate Hart Building hallway.
Our peace delegation emerged from Lieberman’s office an hour and half later. Angeline told our group, “We gave them good arguments and brought the humanity of the Iranian people into Lieberman’s office today.”
Faced with the refusal of Lieberman to meet with activists and continued calls for war, Angeline began a hunger strike at his office, which continued for more than 20 days. In addition CodePink is joining others in mobilizing cities and towns to pass resolutions opposing war in Iran. Below is a sample resolution:
Call for Peace With Iran
WHEREAS, Unsubstantiated U.S. accusations about Iran’s nuclear program and its involvement in the violence in Iraq have led to threats from U.S. officials to attack Iran;
Whereas, The Bush Administration, following the same strategy that led to the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq, has engaged in a campaign to demonize Iran using biased sources, exaggerated threat assessments and cherry picking of information;
WHEREAS, A U.S. strike on Iran, especially with the nuclear “bunker-buster” bombs would be deadly for hundreds of thousands of Iranians, and would violate the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the UN Charter;
WHEREAS, Iran has not invaded or attacked any country for hundreds of years and has not threatened to attack the U.S.;
WHEREAS, Iran is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and Iran’s nuclear power program, including enriching uranium, is legal under the NPT;
WHEREAS, Comprehensive direct diplomatic talks between the US and Iran, with no pre-conditions, would likely result in improved relations between our nations;
Therefore, The City Of X Calls On Our Representatives In Congress To:
•Prohibit the use of funds to carry out any military action against Iran without explicit Congressional authorization,
•Ensure that our relations with Iran are consistent with international law;
•Encourage talks, without pre-conditions, between the US and Iran on nuclear issues and ending the violence in Iraq.
Senator Joe Lieberman is waving his sword again. He recently told CBS “I think we’ve got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq.”
Upon hearing these words, our own Leslie Angeline, a CodePink member who recently returned from a peace delegation to Iran, decided to go on a hunger strike until Senator Lieberman agreed to meet with us. “Seventy percent of the Iranian population is under the age of 30 — the age of my son. Iran is a country of warm, kind, and generous people and their children. We cannot start bombing these kids,” Angeline told us.
After first denying her request, -Lieberman agreed to meet with CodePink and numerous other activists in his -Washington, D.C. office on June 21. But just hours before the meeting, he abruptly canceled. Appalled, and unwavering in our determination to reach the senator, sixty of us showed up at his office. We were a beautiful group of peace-loving people, including representatives from the Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli and Jewish communities and anti-war organizations. But Lieberman was nowhere to be found.
Instead, his office called the police, who threatened to arrest us all. Finally, three people were allowed in to meet with Lieberman’s chief of staff. The rest of us organized a teach-in on Iran in the Senate Hart Building hallway.
Our peace delegation emerged from Lieberman’s office an hour and half later. Angeline told our group, “We gave them good arguments and brought the humanity of the Iranian people into Lieberman’s office today.”
Faced with the refusal of Lieberman to meet with activists and continued calls for war, Angeline began a hunger strike at his office, which continued for more than 20 days. In addition CodePink is joining others in mobilizing cities and towns to pass resolutions opposing war in Iran. Below is a sample resolution:
Call for Peace With Iran
WHEREAS, Unsubstantiated U.S. accusations about Iran’s nuclear program and its involvement in the violence in Iraq have led to threats from U.S. officials to attack Iran;
Whereas, The Bush Administration, following the same strategy that led to the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq, has engaged in a campaign to demonize Iran using biased sources, exaggerated threat assessments and cherry picking of information;
WHEREAS, A U.S. strike on Iran, especially with the nuclear “bunker-buster” bombs would be deadly for hundreds of thousands of Iranians, and would violate the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the UN Charter;
WHEREAS, Iran has not invaded or attacked any country for hundreds of years and has not threatened to attack the U.S.;
WHEREAS, Iran is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and Iran’s nuclear power program, including enriching uranium, is legal under the NPT;
WHEREAS, Comprehensive direct diplomatic talks between the US and Iran, with no pre-conditions, would likely result in improved relations between our nations;
Therefore, The City Of X Calls On Our Representatives In Congress To:
•Prohibit the use of funds to carry out any military action against Iran without explicit Congressional authorization,
•Ensure that our relations with Iran are consistent with international law;
•Encourage talks, without pre-conditions, between the US and Iran on nuclear issues and ending the violence in Iraq.
