U.S. Hands Off North Korea! Join the Online Campaign

October 13, 2006

Join the campaign to say, "Hands Off North Korea!" http://www.iacenter.org/koreacampaign.shtml

Donate http://www.iacenter.org/iacdonate.shtml to help with organizing expenses

U.S. HANDS OFF NORTH KOREA!

Please join our campaign to demand U.S. Hands Off North Korea, by http://www.iacenter.org/koreacampaign.shtml to the Bush Administration, members of Congress, the UN Secretary General, and the media. Help us build a national grass roots movement to stop another bipartisan drive to war.

Complete the following easy steps:

Step 1: http://www.iacenter.org/koreacampaign.shtml and enter your contact/signature information

Step 2: Edit/tailor our sample letter to send

Step 3: Preview the mail that will be sent and approve the recipients, and

Step 4: Send the message! _ Petition - U.S. Hands Off North Korea!_

President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Rice, Secretary-General Annan, and Congressional Leaders,

I am writing this letter to oppose the current international campaign of threats and vilification against North Korea being carried out by the U.S. government, and to demand that it end immediately!

With the recent routine testing of a nuclear weapon by the DPRK, the Bush Administration is working overtime to gather international support for sanctions and other hostile actions towards North Korea.

It is clear that the current crisis arises, not from North Korea, but from the hostility of the U.S. government towards the people of the DPRK (North Korea).

The DPRK has been trying to normalize relations with the U.S. for more than 50 years, but Washington refuses to sign a peace treaty that would formally end the Korean War. During that war, which concluded with a 1953 cease fire, the U.S. killed 4 million Koreans.

The DPRK has made every effort to work for peace in the region. It has repeatedly proposed the denuclearization of the region. It has called for a non-aggression pact. It has offered to abandon the quest for nuclear weapons in return for recognition of its sovereignty, guarantees against attack and normalization of relations with the U.S. government. It has done everything possible to avoid the conditions that make nuclear weapons necessary for defense and to protect its national survival. The Bush response has been to label the DPRK as part of the "Axis of Evil," and has targeted it for "regime change." As the whole world witnesses the torture, death and wholesale destruction that "regime change" has brought to the people of Iraq, the DPRK has every reason to be concerned and has every right to take necessary steps to defend itself.

Currently, the DPRK is encircled by U.S. warships, bomber and fighter squadrons, nuclear weapons and 30,000 U.S. troops in South Korea.

It is important to put the launch of the missiles in perspective to see which country is the real threat to peace in the region. The DPRK tested one small nuclear weapon. The U.S. nuclear stockpile contains almost 10,000 nuclear warheads. This includes 5,735 active or operational warheads: 5,235 strategic and 500 nonstrategic warheads. The U.S. also has approximately 4,225 additional warheads held in the reserve or inactive stockpiles. Many of these weapons are in the region of the Korean peninsula, on planes, missiles and submarines and are a direct threat.

The U.S. is also the only country to ever use nuclear weapons against civilian targets. In the Nuclear Posture Review of 2002, the Bush Administration declared its right to use nuclear weapons against the DPRK in its global crusade of regime change.

The real threat to peace and security in the region comes from Washington. The Bush Administration has created the present crisis. I demand that Washington end the crisis by taking the following measures::

No U.S./UN sanctions against North Korea

Stop U.S. threats, aggression, and war

Bilateral Talks with North Korea to normalize relations

Sign the peace treaty - No war!

U.S. Troops out of Korea.

How you can help:

Sign this statement online http://www.iacenter.org/koreacampaign.shtml and send it to Pres. Bush, members of Congress, and the media.

Donate http://www.iacenter.org/iacdonate.shtml to help with organizing expenses

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