Is Iran Next? What Can the Average Person Do
to Stop a New War with Iran? 
by Jenny Anderson
www.dissidentvoice.org
March 28, 2007



 

Petitions, calls, and faxes to congress are important channels for political action, but what could possibly stop a new war with Iran?  One has to wonder, are our congressional leaders even reading their faxes? A notable website called www.isirannext.org recently published over 80 names and organizations of people whom directly influence policy and the president. Maybe through side channels, average Americans can get their message through. 

Investigative calls to US senators' Washington D.C. offices is revealing. Every single office reported that their was no organized way that they were tracking or noting constituent calls. Faxes leave a paper trail but are they delivered? In the case of a new war with Iran, the new $100 billion “emergency” war-funding bill was signed by the house, therefore congressional solicitation might not matter. The Democrats gave Bush a blank check on the decision to go to war Iran, just like they did for Iraq. 
 
“In one more retreat before the Bush administration, the Democratic Party leadership in the US House of Representatives agreed to strike a provision it had attached to the supplementary funding bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan requiring congressional approval before a new war could be launched against Iran.” (Associated Press March 14, 2007) 
 
Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector has been saying it for years, “the US war with Iran has already begun” .  So what can the average American citizen do at this late hour? Get in touch with people behind the scenes. The people on the website contact list include many of neoconservatives that architected the current “war on terrorism.” Names like Richard Perle, Douglas J. Feith  and George P. Shultz will be found alongside lesser known power elites. Some of the people on the list have been in cabinet positions in the executive branch for decades. Organizations on the list include think tanks, lobby organizations, weapons companies and powerful organizations: The American Enterprise Institute, MEMRI, Brookings Institute, Bilderberg Group, Carlyle Group, Bechtel and even Blackwater USA (mercenary soldiers) are also on the list. 
 
The “Is Iran Next? Think Again” group also seems to think that personal messages such as homemade postcards will make the most impact. Reminiscent of the site http://postsecret.blogspot.com/, people have started to solicit these decision makers with the words “Think Again” cut out of newspapers and painted with watercolors. Fax numbers and e-mails and even ready-to-print cards are also provided for visitors with artistic reservations. The site is tracking the activity in real time which makes the project’s growing success visible to onlookers. It is encouraging that the internet is enabling the peace movement to add a powerful twist to their growing power and numbers. This effort just might get heard by the two ears that matter. 
 
Jenny Anderson runs the isirannext website. If you'd like more information about this topic please e-mail: jenny@isirannext.org. 

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