This is the text of a petition which is situated on the University of
Chicago website.
If you agree with the opinions expressed, visit the website and sign.
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The Petition
What follows is a petition that will be forwarded to President Bush,
and other world leaders, urging them to avoid war as a response to
the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
this week. Please read it, sign below, and forward the link to as many
people as possible, as quickly as possible. We must circulate this
quickly if it is to have any effect at all, as the Congress of The United
States has already passed a resolution supporting any military action
President Bush deems appropriate.
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We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of the United States of
America and of countries around the world, appeal to the President
of The United States, George W. Bush; to the NATO Secretary General,
Lord Robertson; to the President of the European Union, Romano Prodi;
and to all leaders internationally to use moderation and restraint in
responding to the recent terrorist attacks against the United States.
We implore the powers that be to use, wherever possible, international
judicial institutions and international human rights law to bring to justice
those responsible for the attacks, rather than the instruments of war,
violence or destruction.
Furthermore, we assert that the government of a nation must be
presumed separate and distinct from any terrorist group that may
operate within its borders, and therefore cannot be held unduly
accountable for the latter's crimes. It follows that the government
of a particular nation should not be condemned for the recent
attack without compelling evidence of its co-operation and complicity
with those individuals who actually committed the crimes in question.
Innocent civilians living within any nation that may be found responsible,
in part or in full, for the crimes recently perpetrated against the United
States, must not bear any responsibility for the actions of their
government, and must therefore be guaranteed safety and immunity
from any military or judicial action taken against the state in which
they reside.
Lastly and most emphatically, we demand that there be no recourse to
nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, or any weapons of indiscriminate
destruction, and feel that it is our inalienable human right to live in a world
free of such arms.
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Your name and email address will not be shared with anyone except those
to whom the petition is addressed, nor will it be used for mass mailings or
commercial purposes of any kind. Click here for more information.
http://home.uchicago.edu/~dhpicker/petition
Andrew Jameson MA MIL
Chair, Russian Committee, ALL
Reviews Editor, Rusistika
Listowner, allnet, cont-ed-lang, russian-teaching
1 Brook Street, Lancaster LA1 1SL, UK
In UK: 01524 32371
Outside UK: (+44) 1524 32371
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