With a possible war against Iraq looming in the near future, the Boston University Green Party feels it is essential that we publicly express our opinion as to the conduct of our country and that we offer our view of current events in hope that this will lead to a much needed dialogue. The BU Green Party understands the threat that Saddam Hussein poses both to our country and to our allies across the globe, and we support the United Nations in its quest to rid this country of potentially harmful weapons of mass destruction. However, we do not support any unilateral military action on the part of the United States until all inspections have been completed. We have only reached this position after an extensive evaluation of all the following issues:

‘ Under international law, the United States has no right to invade Iraq. Articles 39 and 51 of the U.N. Charter decree that no nation can use military force except in self-defense. President Bush and Secretary of State Powell have not proven to our satisfaction that attacking Iraq without provocation would be considered self-defense. The Charter also says that it is the Security Council’s job to authorize the use of force and to maintain and restore international peace and security (articles 24 and 39). Given this information, we believe that it is the job of the Security Council and not the United States to investigate and resolve this issue.

‘ President Bush has continuously said that we must attack Iraq in order to curb domestic terrorism. However, we believe that beginning a war with Iraq will only increase anti-American sentiment among the Muslim community abroad and will lead to more domestic terrorism, similar to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. If we are truly worried about these types of attacks, we need to watch our steps in Iraq.

‘ Estimates for the cost of a war against Iraq range from $1 billion to $1 trillion. This is money that could otherwise be used for important domestic needs such as education, student loans and scholarships, social security and health care. With important programs being cut throughout the country due to the current economic recession, it is much more important that they get the money rather than it being spent on this war. This sentiment is shared by the 124 cities, counties and states that have passed resolutions in opposition to a unilateral war without U.N. approval. These include Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland, Seattle and Austin!

‘ Since Sept. 11, racist actions against Muslim-American citizens have been at an all-time high. We hope that everyone could agree that these actions are deplorable in a country that boasts of its freedom and equality. We believe a war against Iraq will lead to more shameful behavior against these innocent American citizens. The United States has a history of shameful and racist actions during times of war, such as the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II and the anti-immigrant actions of World War I. For the sake of American unity and harmony, we must oppose this unilateral war.

‘ Americans are divided in our sentiment regarding this war. A Los Angeles Times poll on Feb. 4 found that nearly two-thirds of Americans agreed that the United States ‘should take military action against Iraq only [with] the support of the United Nations Security Council’ while only 30 percent supported a U.S. action without U.N. support. In addition, hundreds of thousands protested against this war on Feb. 15. The fact that the war has not even begun and there is already such a large divide in American sentiment leads us to believe that going to war at this time would not be a good idea.

‘ This issue is of particular importance to students and young people. Bush will not be on the front lines giving his life. People between the ages of 18 and 25 will constitute the majority of U.S. troops. We all have friends and acquaintances who have already received word that they will be leaving for the Middle East in the next few weeks. This war needs to be important to us because we are the ones who will be fighting it. Should there be a draft, we might all be called to service. We support our troops and their right not to die for an unjust cause.

It is for these reasons and many more that the BU Green Party takes an official stand against any U.S. military action in Iraq until the weapons inspections have been completed. We ask for patience on the parts of all Americans so that this conflict can be solved diplomatically without any loss of life.

Tammy Owens, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Karlo Silbiger, a sophomore in the School of Education and the College of Fine Arts, are co-presidents of the BU Green Party.