"I support peace for Iraq. I grant permission to use my name and city publicly as an opponent of the ongoing economic and bombing war on Iraq, and of any escalation of that war."

Some individuals are also signing the Iraq Pledge of Resistance. This is a separate pledge that indicates an individual’s willingness to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to oppose a war against the people of Iraq.

U.S. citizens have a long history of nonviolent resistance to injustice and war. This strategy was used effectively by the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement, the Central American solidarity movement, and the anti-Vietnam war movement. Nationally coordinated nonviolent resistance is an expression of our highest moral, spiritual and civic principles - an effective way to bring the issue dramatically before the public and to pressure the U.S. government to stop the war.

The names of individuals signing this pledge will not be made public or shared with any outside organization. It will only be used for local organizing.

By signing the pledge of resistance, you are stating your agreement to the following:

"If the United States sends combat troops, invades by proxy, bombs or otherwise significantly escalates its intervention in Iraq, I pledge to join with others to engage in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience at U.S. Federal facilities, Congressional offices, military installations and other appropriate places. I pledge to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience in order to prevent or halt the death and destruction such U.S. military action causes the people of Iraq.

"I agree to the following guidelines in opposing war on Iraq:

"1) Our attitude will be one of openness and respect toward all we encounter in our actions.

"2) We will use no violence, verbal or physical, toward any person.

"3) We will not destroy or damage any property.

"4) We will carry no weapons.

"5) We will not bring any drugs or alcohol, other than for medicinal purposes.

"6) We will not run or resist arrest; we will remain accountable for our actions as a means of furthering our witness to the injustice of this war."

Talking Points on Iraq:

* The U.S. has not been provoked into conflict by Iraq. This is a test of Bush’s new "preemptive defense" doctrine that is opposed by almost all nations of the world and is a clear violation of international law.

* There is more to Iraq than Saddam Hussein.

* Despite the rhetoric about "weapons of mass destruction" (remember that the U.S. is the only nation to have ever dropped a nuclear bomb) Saddam Hussein’s capacity to build such weapons is very slim, according to former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter. "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," according to Ritter.

* There is no credible evidence whatsoever that Saddam Hussein had any connection with the attacks of September 11, 2001.

* UN Security Council Resolution 687 calls for regional disarmament throughout the Middle East, not just in Iraq. We can call on our government to stop ignoring the fact that Iraq’s disarmament was intended to be part of a broader dismantling of arms in the whole Middle East region. The US can begin good-faith negotiations with the Iraqi government to return weapons inspectors to Iraq in the context of this regional call for disarmament.

* Civilians will be the ones to continue to suffer under an attack on Iraq, not Saddam Hussein. Unfortunately, the war against the Iraqi people did not end with the cessation of military attacks in 1991, but continues to this day with a suffocating blockade that has already claimed over one million civilian lives, the vast majority of whom are children and the elderly. More than 500,000 toddlers and infants have died due to the consequences of the sanctions.