America’s Warning to Obama: Iraq Tragedy Must Not be Repeated

A group of American professors and political intellectuals, such as Noam Chomsky, in a letter to Barak Obama, the Democratic candidate in the U.S. presidential election, asked him to prevent the tragic mistake of Iraq, and not to start a war on Iran.

As Irna reports, this letter that was published on Friday, United States local time:
"We the undersigned may have different views on U.S. foreign policy with respect to Iran. We all, however, are deeply concerned about the stories in the press in the past few weeks suggesting that the Bush administration might be considering a military strike on Iran, that it might give a green light to such an attack by Israel, or that it might engage in other acts of war, such as imposing a blockade against Iran.

"We welcomed your stand against the war on Iraq in 2002. And we were encouraged by your early campaign statements emphasizing diplomacy over military action against Iran. Today, you have an opportunity to forestall a repeat of the tragic Iraq war. We hope you will use that opportunity."

The letter continues:
"We agree with the conclusion of Muhammed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, that 'A military strike . . . would be worse than anything possible. It would turn the region into a fireball...' A military attack, he said, 'will mean that Iran, if it is not already making nuclear weapons, will launch a crash course to build nuclear weapons with the blessing of all Iranians, even those in the West.'

"We don't know, of course, whether an attack on Iran is in fact being considered, or if there are serious plans to initiate other acts of war, such as a blockade of the country. But we call on you to issue a public statement warning of the grave dangers that any of these actions would entail, and pointing out how inappropriate and undemocratic it would be for the Bush administration to undertake them, or encourage Israel to do so, in its closing months in office."

The American professors and political intellectuals further added:
"An attack on Iran would violate the UN Charter's prohibition against the use or threat of force and the Congress's authority to declare war... We were heartened by your earlier comments suggesting that an Obama administration would act on the understanding that genuine security requires a willingness to talk without preconditions (something Iran has offered several times to no avail), and that threats and military action are counterproductive.

We hope you will follow through on these commitments once in office, but also that you will speak out now against any acts of war by the Bush administration."

Among those who signed the letter were: Michael Albert from “Znet”; Cathy Albisa the National Economic & Social Rights Initiative Executive Director; John Amidon, US Veterans for Peace; Stanley Aronowitz, Professor of Sociology, Graduate Center, CUNY; Rosalyn Baxandall, Distinguished Teaching Professor of SUNY Old Westbury; Noam Chomsky, a retired Institute Professor of MIT; Ray Close, a retired CIA Middle East specialist; Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.