Letter to the United States Ambassador to New Zealand

16 January 2003

To the United States Ambassador to New Zealand
c/o US Consulate General Auckland

Dear Sir,

The Aotearoa/New Zealand Section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is holding a Vigil at 4-30pm this afternoon outside the US Consular office, on the 12th anniversary of the start of the Gulf War, a war which has been waged against the people of Iraq, in the form of bombings and economic sanctions, ever since, and to oppose a major new attack.

There is widespread opposition to this war around the world, and in New Zealand we have a petition to our government, endorsed by many organisations, and so far signed by 3,376 individuals, asking the government not to support the 'war on terrorism'.

In the past 12 months your President and government have been threatening another major attack on Iraq, with an ever- increasing build-up of military forces in the region. We believe this is a very dangerous exercise in a very unstable region and could possibly lead to far-reaching major disasters such as the use of nuclear weapons. We find it hard to understand why Iraq is being singled out as enemy number one when there are many other countries that could be classified as equally dangerous.

We completely oppose the United States government's so called 'war on terrorism' which has already resulted in the deaths of, or injuries to, thousands of civilians in Afghanistan and has not led to any improvement in the living conditions of the majority of the people, or in much better government. Surely the money being spent on attacking Iraq would be better spent on doing a better job of helping the people of Afghanistan to recover from the 20 years of devastation they have suffered at the hands of invaders and warlords.

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is opposed to all wars, as we believe there are better and much less destructive ways of solving international conflicts. In this regard we would like to commend the present proposal by your President for proposing more practical and less violent ways of dealing with the present difficulties with North Korea.

Could you please convey this message to President Bush and your Government.

Yours sincerely,
Joan Macdonald,
President WILPF (Aotearoa/New Zealand)

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