The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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Dear all To clarify why I sent this: I did so in the same vein that many of us report things and views we disagree with to the list: so that we know what we are up against. Eric On Wed, 12 Mar 2003 20:32:28 -0500 " Tom Nagy, Ph.D." <nagy@gwu.edu> wrote: > Dear Colleagues, > > Thanks to Gabriel and Voices for contributing a stream of humane, reasoned > and evidence-based judgments. . > > . While I don't question the right of Eric and his pal to make strong > claims or counter-claims, I do not understand how their strong claims, e.g., > their trashing Scott Ritter or Charlie (Angelo) Liteky or anyone else, > contribute rather than detract from reasoned discourse absent evidence or > replies to competing claims. In light of their passion, would it not be > reasonable, for example, if they responded to critiques at least after a couple > of years? > > I do respect much of Eric's work, but providing this list with strong, > but unproved, instantaneous rebuttals from his friend do little to advance my > understanding of and efforts to help avoid the killing of even more civilians > than in the 1991 slaughter. Yes, that Desert Storm killed "only "3,000 > civilians directly, but by destroying the electrical system of Iraq, led to > the indirect though eminently predictable and even inevitable short term > deaths of 100,000 civilians and a doubling of the infant mortality rate due to > the resulting contamination of the water system of Iraq. See the U.S. Air > Force's "Contributor's Corner" in their journal "Air & Space Power Chronicles, > May, 2001. > > Finally, I feel based upon the evidence provided in sources such as M. > Nagler's > "Is there no other way" that the best way to preserve the lives of civilians > such as Kathy Kelly and Charlie Litkey and 22 million Iraq's is to use what > remains of our constitution rights to advocate on their behalf and remind the > U.S. Government and the Air Force of Article Six of the Constitution which > states that International Law to which the U.S. is bound trumps state law, > federal law and even the Constitution itself. And that it is the near unanimous > consensus of international lawyers that the US is bound under customer law to > obey Protocol 1, Article 54, Par. 2 which assert that it is forbidden under any > circumstance to attack, destroy or render useless infrastructure indispensable > to the survival of civilians including water systems. This provision applies > even to the U.S. which never has signed and ratified it, because 150 states > have. > > . > > Sincerely, > Tom > > Voices UK wrote: > > > Dear Eric and other List Members, > > > > Yes it's the same guy - as a moments search on the internet would have > > ascertained (see eg. http://www.mishalov.com/Liteky.html, which contains an > > interesting piece from the SF Chronicle about how Charles returned his Medal > > of Honour to protest the United States' dirty wars in Central America during > > the 80's) - he's out in Iraq with Voices US. > > > > Of course, the claim that he is a 'pro-Saddam appeaser' is garbage. I > > appreciate that these are not your comments but those of your 'source' > > (whose name and telephone number appear at the bottom of your e-mail by the > > way) but it seems a shame that this sort of mud-slinging should appear on > > the list when Charles is - not for the first time - risking his life for > > others. Warrior or no, Charles' actions' seem a hell of lot more heroic than > > dropping bombs on people from a great height. > > > > Best wishes, > > > > Gabriel > > voices uk > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. > To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss > To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk > All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk > ---------------------- Dr. Eric Herring Department of Politics University of Bristol 10 Priory Road Bristol BS8 1TU England, UK Office tel. +44-(0)117-928-8582 Mobile tel. +44-(0)7771-966608 Fax +44-(0)117-973-2133 eric.herring@bristol.ac.uk http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Politics/ http://www.ericherring.com/ Network of Activist Scholars of Politics and International Relations http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naspir/ _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk