Letter to John Howard from the Green Party Co-leaders

Go to Greens send Howard a message press release.

The Hon John Howard
Prime Minister
Parliament House
Canberra


Dear Mr Howard

As you may be aware, we had called for a postponement of your trip to New Zealand, on the basis that your government has committed troops to an invasion force that is threatening Iraq in violation of international law.

We believe your presence in this country at such a critical time could be seen effectively as an endorsement of your actions by our government.

Given that our request for a postponement of your trip has been refused, and that you are now in the country, we would like to take this opportunity to present a plea for a peaceful resolution to the Iraq crisis.

The Green Party is the only parliamentary representation for the considerable body of opinion in New Zealand that holds that any use of force against Iraq is unnecessary and wrong at this time, with or without UN endorsement.

We wish to convey our disappointment that you were unable to meet with us and engage in an exchange of views about the developing situation in Iraq. The purpose of a meeting — and this letter — is to help balance the views you receive regarding public opinion in New Zealand.

We do not believe the use of military force against Iraq at this time is either legally or morally justified.

Neither Resolution 1441 nor the Draft Resolution put forward by the US and UK on 23rd February authorise the use of force against Iraq. The fact that Prime Minister Blair and President Bush have gone to such lengths to argue that there is enough ambiguity in Resolution 1441 to justify military action is in itself a case against such use of force.

Ambiguity cannot be used as an excuse to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children.

The Greens support the statements of UN chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix that Iraq is cooperating with inspectors and that the process needed more time, and International Atomic Energy Agency head, Mohamed El Baradei that he had found no evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear or nuclear related activities in Iraq.

We are particularly concerned that even Iraq's fiercest critics have produced no irrefutable, verifiable evidence that Iraq is currently in possession of weapons of mass destruction or that it poses any clear and present threat to its neighbours.
Given that the arms inspectors agree that Iraq is cooperating, that real progress has been made and that more time is needed to complete their mission, the use of force at such a time is unacceptable.

A recourse to unilateral action would fatally undermine the relevance of the UN in international diplomacy and make the UN Charter subservient to the doctrine of pre-emptive first strike.

The risks inherent in a military invasion of Iraq are too severe to justify it. First and foremost is the risk to the civilian population of Iraq who have already suffered terribly as a result of Saddam's dictatorial rule and the 12-year economic embargo.

If the American, British and Australian forces are unleashed on Iraq they will be preceded by an 800-missile bombardment of Baghdad that will destroy water, sewerage, electricity and food distribution as well as hundreds of thousands of civilians, most of whom will be children.

An invasion also brings with it the risk of environmental catastrophe. The region is still recovering from the terrible impact of the Gulf War, which inflicted great damage to the environment in the form of oil fires, massive marine oil pollution, depleted uranium shells and destruction of dams, bridges, power plants and other infrastructure. We note with particular concern that the US has reserved the right to use nuclear weapons. Your own advisors must have informed you of the implications of that course of action.

The third, and potentially greatest, risk from an invasion is the very real possibility that it will either spark a regional war or cause global instability. In either case, we believe it inevitable that the ramifications — in terms of increased tension, terrorism and economic turmoil — will impact around the globe.

We, too, suffered in the Bali bombing and understand and share Australia's pain and anger at the atrocity. It is inevitable, however, that such despicable acts will be repeated on an even greater scale if the US leads such an unnecessary, illegal and unpopular attack on Iraq.

Since the Second World War, the international community has worked very hard to develop frameworks and processes to eliminate the use of force between nations. The Green Party believes these processes have not been fully exhausted and calls on the Australian government to commit to a peaceful and just resolution of the Iraq situation, rather than to war in which there can be no winners, only victims.

Yours sincerely

Co-Leaders
Green Party Aotearoa