-
The Times Columnist Simon Jenkins
 “For 10 years the containment of Saddam was enough but now, all of a sudden, it isn't. We are being led to believe that there is no other way anymore, than total all-out war with Iraq,” Jenkins said to the
Guardian.
-
Oscar
Winner Jessica Lange
 "Americans
are a moral people and that requires that we do not let our
government lie to us about the righteousness of our cause.”
-
Prominent Poet Sam Hamill
 “Never before in history have so many distinguished poets gathered to speak about a single subject.”
-
German
President Johannes Rau
 "India
and Germany share the hope and have not yet given up hope that
activities of inspectors will help fulfill the goal of complete
disarmament of Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.....India
and Germany share the view that everything must be tried to
fully implement the relevant Security Council resolutions using
peaceful, political means.”
-
Fashion
designer Katharine Hamnett
 “No
matter how repugnant the Iraqi regime may be, the international
community has no right to attempt to topple it. That is for the
Iraqis to do.
“There
are many repugnant regimes in the world, none of which attract
the threat of invasion like Iraq. What steps were taken to
overthrow Stalin, or Mao? Why do we not urge the invasion of
Zimbabwe or any of the other despotic regimes in countries in
the world?
“How
many dead Iraqis are going to thank us for
"liberating" their country?,” Hamnett said to the
Guardian.
-
Secretary
General of Amnesty International Irene Khan
 “Is
the Security Council scared to face up to the human toll of
conflict in Iraq?”
"As
in 1991, there might be a million refugees again and a
humanitarian nightmare if Iran and Turkey keep their borders
closed, as they have vowed they will."
"In
case of an American attack against Iraq, we think there will be
mostly people displaced within the country and that few refugees
will head towards our borders."
"Military
action could easily precipitate a huge disaster."
-
Author
of Angels in America and Homebody/Kabul Tony Kushner
 “Rumsfeld
has promised hundreds of aerial bombings on the first day of the
war. Many, many thousands of Iraqi civilians will be killed,
along with Iraqi soldiers and (in far smaller numbers) American
soldiers. In the current, intensely fraught, intensely dangerous
geopolitical climate, a rapid expansion of Bush's war and the
eventual use of nuclear weapons (which no one including the Bush
administration is ruling out) are also real, albeit less likely,
possibilities. We have neither an ethical nor a legal right to
attack Iraq, which has not attacked us and which poses no
verifiable immediate threat to the United States. Powell's
evidence is simply inadequate, certainly for the purpose of
condemning thousands of people to death,” Kushner said to Slate.
-
Former
Chief Speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore and a Co-Producer
of The West Wing Eli Attie
 “We
can all agree that Saddam Hussein's a bad guy. But last time I
checked the U.N. charter, invasion of sovereign nations wasn't a
popularity contest. There's a dangerous precedent here, and an
even more dangerous distraction: Osama Bin Laden's still at
large. The Taliban's back in Afghanistan. North Korea's openly
threatening total war. Is Iraq really the biggest threat we
face? Is it really worth enraging our allies, committing
billions of dollars and thousands of lives? Saddam's villainy
isn't enough. If there's a broader case to be made, this
administration has yet to make it,” said Eli Attie to Slate
-
French
President Jacques Chirac
 “The
consequences of war would be considerable in human terms. In
political terms, it would destabilize the entire region. It's very
difficult to explain that one is going to spend colossal sums of
money to wage war when there may be another solution yet.”
-
Convener
of the Stop the War Coalition Lindsey German
 "We
are demonstrating to show the opposition to war in this country.
The overwhelming majority of people are against it. We want to
make it absolutely clear to (Prime Minister) Tony Blair that he
is not acting in the name of the majority of people if he
continues to go to war."
-
Head
of the U.N.'s Nuclear Watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei
 "We
have to date found no evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear or
nuclear related activities in Iraq."
-
German
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer
 "I
don't understand why this process should be ended now, just when
it is beginning to show concrete results... and that one is
reaching for the measure of last resort."
-
French
Foreign Minister Dominique De Villepin
 "It
is clear today that the American military timetable is not in
step with the timetable of the international community."
"It
would be paradoxical for a resolution to open the doors to war
at a time when inspections are producing results."
 “The
absence of evidence is no evidence of absence.”
 “The absence of evidence Mr. Rumsfeld indeed is an evidence of
absence.”
"I can't understand how an intelligent man like Tony Blair can listen to a moron like George Bush."
"The Mirror's role in this bid for peace is very important. People look to Britain for a lead in these matters. We have to stop this madness."
"It's lethal to try to mix a fight against terrorism with a fight against a regime that you don't like.”
"I don't believe Iraq is a danger to anyone. In military terms, it will be a cakewalk; but for the US to mobilize 250,000 soldiers is a waste of money.
"There's no provision in international law for pre-emptive strikes. But what we see now in the build-up in the Middle East is the road to breaking international law. It's the road to a further marginalization of the UN itself. But most of all it's another step towards more devastation for the Iraqi people.
"Anyone like myself who has seen Iraq, lived there and understands the reality of the country must speak out.”
 "It's tragic for Britain to undermine the UN and show its lack of respect by sending troops in line with the US.
"Washington has informed us that the very security of America requires ever-increasing quantities of oil and the source of that oil can only be the Middle East…the relationship between Washington and Saudi Arabia has become fragile, therefore making that massive flow of cheap oil insecure."
“Iraq constitutes one very large reserve tank -- a tank of some 120 billion barrels -- and control of that tank has become paramount for the very survival of American economic superiority.”
 “Their
friend Israel has got weapons of mass destruction but because it's
their ally they won't ask the United Nations to get rid of
them.”
“They
just want the oil. We must expose this as much as possible.”
 "We
challenge them to present one piece of evidence, a single piece of
evidence for these accusations."
 "We
believe that it (a U.S. war on Iraq) would open the gates of hell in
the Middle East."
 "The
question is the morning after. What sort of Iraq do we wake up to
after the bombing? What happens in the region? What impact could it
have? These are questions leaders I have spoken to have posed."
 “Is
the Christian Church going to sleep through another Holocaust?”
 "For
more than a decade, an inhuman campaign of sanctions—the most
complete ever in recorded history—-has destroyed Iraq as a modern
state, decimated its people, and ruined the agriculture, its
educational and health care systems, as well as its entire
infrastructure.”
“This
is a depressingly parlous moment for the Arab and Islamic world.
With the United States readying itself for a war against Iraq, and
Israel set to launch further attacks against the Palestinian people
lives, resources, and land will be lost with scarcely a note of
complaint from regional governments who have abandoned their people
along with their basic sovereign responsibilities.”
“Israel
and the US are basically committed to re-drawing the map of the
Middle East in the guise of such fraudulent labels as
“nation-building,” bringing “democracy” and
“decentralized” rule to our area. These are ideological covers
for oil and strategic domination.”
 "After
twelve years of genocidal sanctions and bombings, during which one
million and half people died, we are about to hit them again, what
will happen to the conscience of the world if we allow this to
continue."
“They
want to dominate the region and exploit it.”
"The
United States spends more on arms annually, 275 billion dollars
presently, than the rest of the Security Council combined. U.S. arms
expenditures are approximately 25 times the gross national product
of Iraq. The U.S. has in its stockpiles more nuclear bombs, chemical
and biological weapons, more aircraft, rockets and delivery systems
in number and sophistication than the rest of the world combined.
Included are twenty commissioned Trident II nuclear submarines any
one of which could destroy Europe."
 “The
U.S. has to keep fighting because the American military giant is
economically weak.”
 "An attack would be unjust because we said for years we wanted the weapons inspectors back in. Now they're back, even in Saddam's palaces, and we are still heading for war."
"There are millions of Iraqis who hate their president but many millions more still love their country and would hate a foreign invasion and occupation.”
"They will fight, house to house if necessary, and there will be a bloodbath in Iraq, both sides will suffer."
"War would create an earthquake in the Middle East and the outcome cannot be predicted."
"Iraqi doctors tell me children are living in a state of terror from the bombing raids.”
"Along with the sanctions, let alone the prospect of 250,000 soldiers invading their country, this is terrorism."
 “Don't
attack Saddam. An attack on Iraq at this time would seriously
jeopardize, if not destroy, the global counter terrorist campaign we
have undertaken… There is little evidence to indicate that the
United States itself is an object of [Saddam’s] aggression.”
 “President
Bush and some members of Congress are now pushing for a
congressional vote granting legal authority for a regime change
through a pre-emptive strike against Iraq. But the President needs
more than legal authority, he needs moral authority, and moral
authority can only come by building an international team to
confront Saddam Hussein.”
 “That's
the kind of war we're faced with in Iraq. It's going to be long,
it's going to be horrific, and consequently we're going to be
opening up a Pandora's Box that goes well beyond Iraq and could
definitely spread into the region at large.”
"The
best way to bring about democratic change in Iraq is to lift
economic sanctions and enable the Iraqis to reconstitute a
devastated economy."
“When
you ask the question ‘does Iraq possess militarily viable
[nuclear], biological or chemical weapons?’ the answer is a
resounding ‘NO’… Iraq has been disarmed.”
“From
a qualitative standpoint, Iraq has in fact been disarmed... The
chemical, biological, nuclear and long-range ballistic missile
programs that were a real threat in 1991 had, by 1998, been
destroyed or rendered harmless."
|
US Army Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
Executive
Director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch
“…..this
war is about what most wars are about: hegemony, money, power
and oil.”
“Access has been provided to all sites we have requested to inspect.” 
