[casi] Children's pictures postal action

["Glenn Bassett" <glenn@DELETETHISkcnl.globalnet.co.uk>]

Hello letter-writers.

We are suggesting this time that people send a picture of their children, or
of a child they know, to their MP, perhaps with something like the following
letter attached. (Please note that there are parts in [square] brackets that
will need changing depending on your action.)


You can find your MP's details at www.locata.co.uk/commons/   : email, phone
and address are generally given, or simply write old fashioned style to your
MP at House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.

Alternatively you can fax your MP via www.faxyourmp.com , perhaps sending a
scanned photo.

Of course, you could send photos directly to Blair or Straw, but it is often
more effective to go throught the channels of contacting your MP. Ministers
are obliged to answer questions from MPs.

With war looming it is easy to get disheartened. But we have already made a
big difference in getting this war delayed, and may well have made a
difference in how it is fought and what happens in the aftermath. There is
still plenty of important work for us to do! Continuing pressure may be
measured in saved Iraqi lives.

Cheers

Glenn.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear [your MP]

I am one of the majority of the British public who have been left wholly
unconvinced by our government's arguments over Iraq.

I am enclosing with this letter a picture of my own child [children, or
children I care about]. It is children
exactly like mine [/these] who will inevitably die in Iraq very soon if this
war goes
ahead. If they do not die under the bombs, they will likely die in the
devastation that follows, as they have done since 1991.

I urge you to look at this picture, consider the people who will suffer, and
forward my concerns to the Prime Minister.

Recently the World Food Programme, the Red Cross, Save the Children and
Amnesty International amongst others have all warned of possibly dire
humanitarian consequences of war for a population already vulnerable and
suffering under 12 years of harsh economic sanctions.The most vulnerable of
these will inevitably be the children.

After the last Gulf War, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that
after the intense bombing "more than 46,900 children died between January
and August 1991. (Excess deaths)". This did not reach our TV screens. It has
also been missing from the speeches of Tony Blair and Jack Straw, or for
that matter George Bush or Colin Powell. In a similar fashion, the
experience of the people of Afghanistan since they were bombed last year has
been a string of broken promises of aid and reconstruction and the return of
Warlord rule.

Mr Blair belatedly draws attention to the political repression in Iraq.
However, by far the greatest threat to Iraqi people's lives has been, and
continues to be, the policies of the US and UK governments. According to
Unicef, UN sanctions have contributed to some half a million child deaths in
Iraq since 1991, and continue to kill thousands every month.

If a single British child dies unnecessarily it is a cause for national
grief. We can try in vain to imagine what the death of half a million
British children would be like. I would be disgusted if the policy that
caused those deaths were to be defended and supported by anyone. But
somehow, we have allowed ourselves to believe that such a tidal wave of
child deaths is, in Madeleine Albright's infamous phrase, "worth it". If we
saw these children, I don't believe any of us would honestly share that
belief.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,
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