This came in my email this afternoon. I just saw it and must rush out the door again, so I am posting it in it's "raw" state. Sorry! * * * * * * * * * * * *

> Dear MoveOn member, > > This is very exciting. In only 36 hours, over 85,000 of us have > called on President Bush to let the inspections work. This'll be > one of our most successful petitions ever, and it underscores the > wide support for this message. > > The other piece of great news is that, thanks to a tremendous and > speedy outpouring of contributions, we'll be able to run the New > York Times ad. (Many thanks to all of you who chipped in.) We'll > let you know how you can increase the ad's visibility when it runs, > which we hope will happen this coming Monday. > > There's one more piece we need your help with. We're going to > publish the number of signers on the petition in the ad. The more > signers, the more impact the ad will have. The number we're > shooting for is 100,000 -- if we can hit that number, our statement > will have a lot more punch. > > We need to get the final draft of the ad to the Times by the end > of the day TODAY. Let's tip it over the top. If you haven't > already signed the "Let the Inspections Work" petition, please take > a moment to do so right now at: > > http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/ > > If you've already signed, please take a moment to send the message > below on to your friends along with a short note about why this > is so important and urgent. > > Thanks for your help. > > --Eli > > __________________ > > Dear friend, > > Inspections in Iraq have started. Most of us breathed a sigh of > relief. Unfortunately, it's become clear that the ultra-hawks in > the Bush administration -- Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle -- will not > take yes for an answer. While the rest of the world thinks Iraq > has backed down, these men are beginning a massive public relations > blitz for war. > > With the possibility of a peaceful resolution to this crisis at hand, > we cannot allow a few men to push the world to war. Send a message > to President Bush to let the inspections work at: > > http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/ > > We'll compile your messages and present them to the Administration, > including Secretary of State Powell, and to U.N. Secretary General > Kofi Annan. > > The good news is that the ultra-hawks face some serious opposition. > Secretary of State Colin Powell and other members of the Bush > Administration are willing to give diplomacy a chance, and the State > Department's interpretation of the U.N. resolution is a lot more > reasonable than the White House's interpretation. > > But unless wiser heads prevail, this is what we should expect: > (1) starting December 8th, members of the Bush administration will > claim that Iraq is in material breach of the U.N. resolution, citing > supposed omissions in the coming multi-hundred page report, based on > undisclosed intelligence; (2) soon thereafter some "hot" incident, > like anti-aircraft fire on U.S. patrols in the no-fly zone, will be > used to solidify public support for war, and finally (3) the bombing > campaign will begin. > > This could all begin before Christmas -- another wonderful gift to > the world from the Bush administration. > > President Bush has agreed that war should be the very last resort. > Let's hold him and his administration to those words: > > http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/ > > Please sign on today. We must support policy makers who will oppose > these few extremists in the Bush White House who have been looking > for an excuse for war from the very beginning. > > Sincerely, > > --Eli Pariser > International Campaigns Director > MoveOn.org > December 4th, 2002 > > P.S. Here's the text of the message we will send with the list of > compiled individual comments: > > Dear Mr. President, > > On October 11, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution on Iraq > that authorizes you to use war as a last resort -- if and only if > diplomacy fails to accomplish the U.S.'s national goals. > > We are concerned that you found Iraq's response "not encouraging" > when the inspectors had only been at work for a week and so far > had not encountered Iraqi obstruction. > > In this context, we are also concerned by your Administration's > repeated attempts to frame Iraqi anti-aircraft fire within the > no-fly-zone as a material breach of the resolution. As U.N. Secretary > General Kofi Annan and other U.N. diplomats have pointed out, the > resolution clearly excludes such events from its jurisdiction. > > The United States has made a commitment to approaching the danger > that Saddam Hussein poses through the international community. The > resumption of the inspections regime is a triumph for the U.S., > international law and multilateralism. But the United States will > lose all credibility with its allies if it appears that it will go to > war regardless of the inspections' success. And by alienating and > infuriating allies through unilateral action, the U.S. could throw > the success of the campaign against terrorism into jeopardy. > > Mr. President, it appears that your administration is looking for an > excuse to go to war, when a peaceful and just solution may be at > hand. We ask that you live up to your word and give diplomacy a > chance. > > We can win without war. > > ________________

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2002

Answers

Cool, Joy,

I signed on two or three days ago. The power of the internet to get signatures, and, yes, even contributions, is awesome!

ˇVive la resistencia!

ˇJOJ!

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2002

We signed here, too, Joy. Thanks!

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2002

I did take time to "sign on" before I posted the this thing.

I was just at their site, looking to see if they had any info about how many signatures they had collected. Nope. It does say that you can still sign their petition. Maybe they'll post some more information after the weekend is over.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2002

I signed on last night and sent it to some family and friends. Guess I'm really on the government's "ca-ca" list now!! But ask me if I care :-)!!??

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2002

I signed on this morning. Marcia, if we're all on the government's ca- ca list we can all have one heck of a party in jail together! It will be a big ole' BTS reunion! :)

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2002

Yes, all the best people will be there!! I'm sure they are 'preparing a table before me' in the camps as we speak! ( I am pretty close to Canada though......if only I could talk Lotus into it, I'd be outa here).

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2002

Now if you really want to get on the government's good side, here's some info about organizing nonviolent civil disobedience. Peace Pledge

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2002

Sherri...too bad we wouldn't all be in the same jail :-)!!

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2002