The statement below was released on March 27, 2003. Already more than 82,318
people have signed on, including Ezequiel Adamovsky, Vittorio Agnoletto, Michael
Albert, Tariq Ali, Patrick Bond, Leslie Cagan, Noam Chomsky, Bill Fletcher,
Eduardo Galeano, Susan George, Marta Harnecker, Boris Kagarlitsky, George Monbiot,
Suren Moodlar, Hector Mondragon, Tanya Reinhart, Carola Reintjes, Arundhati
Roy, Lydia Sargent and Howard Zinn. See www.zmag.org for a complete list of
writers and signers of this statement.
If, after reading it, you like what it has to say, take a few seconds to visit
www.zmag.org/wspj and add your name to the list
of endorsers.
I stand for democracy and autonomy. I don’t think the US or any other
country should ignore the popular will and violate and weaken international
law, seeking to bully and bribe votes in the Security Council.
I stand for internationalism. I oppose any nation spreading an ever expanding
network of military bases around the world and producing an arsenal unparalleled
in the world.
I stand for equity. I don’t think the US or any other country should seek
empire. I don’t think the US ought to control Middle Eastern oil on behalf
of US corporations and as a wedge to gain political control over other countries.
I stand for freedom. I oppose brutal regimes in Iraq and elsewhere but I also
oppose the new doctrine of “preventive war,” which guarantees permanent
and very dangerous conflict, and is the reason why the US is now regarded as
the major threat to peace in much of the world. I stand for a democratic foreign
policy that supports popular opposition to imperialism, dictatorship, and political
fundamentalism in all its forms.
I stand for solidarity. I stand for and with all the poor and the excluded.
Despite massive disinformation millions oppose unjust, illegal, immoral war,
and I want to add my voice to theirs. I stand with moral leaders all over the
world, with world labor, and with the huge majority of the populations of countries
throughout the world.
I stand for diversity. I stand for an end to racism directed against immigrants
and people of color. I stand for an end to repression at home and abroad.
I stand for peace. I stand against this war and against the conditions, mentalities,
and institutions that breed and nurture war and injustice.
I stand for sustainability. I stand against the destruction of forests, soil,
water, environmental resources, and biodiversity on which all life depends.
I stand for justice. I stand against economic, political, and cultural institutions
that promote a rat race mentality, huge economic and power inequalities, corporate
domination even unto sweatshop and slave labor, racism, and gender and sexual
hierarchies.
I stand for a policy that redirects the money used for war and military spending
to provide healthcare, education, housing, and jobs.
I stand for a world whose political, economic, and social institutions foster
solidarity, promote equity, maximize participation, celebrate diversity, and
encourage full democracy.
I stand for peace and justice and, more, I pledge to work for peace and justice.