Don´t attack Iran

10 Reasons: why we

should say no to an

attack on Iran

NO THREAT
Iran has not attacked any country in more than 200 years. Its military
spending per capita is among the lowest in the region. The regime
has allowed inspections and agreed to negotiate with the West on
all issues. Current Western rhetoric recalls the Iraq war, when a
threat was fabricated to justify an attack.
DOUBLE STANDARDS
Many of the West's allies, including Israel,  have nuclear weapons.
There is no evidence that Iran is developing them, as last year's
IAEA report made clear. Iran, unlike Israel and Pakistan, is a
signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, under which
it has the right to develop civilian nuclear power.
SANCTIONS LEAD TO WAR
As the recent military standoff has shown, sanctions are increasing
tension and distrust. They will strengthen the hawks in Iran. In Iraq,
sanctions resulted in a genocidal level of civilian casualties and
brought nothing but death and suffering to the Iraqi people.
Sanctions were not a stepping stone to peace, but to war.
CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES
Any attack on Iran will lead to thousands of casualties and provoke
retaliation with devastating effects across the region. Sanctions
and war will drive up the cost of oil, creating further havoc to a
world economy already in crisis.
LESSONS FROM THE PAST
If the attacks on Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya teach anything, it is that
military intervention brings death, division and misery. 30,000 died in
Libya, tens of thousands in Afghanistan, and a million in Iraq.
Violence continues in all three countries.
WAR = CUTS IN WELFARE
Barack Obama recently committed to military expenditure above the
levels of George W. Bush's administration. Britain spent hundreds of
millions bombing Libya and is spending £6 billion a year on the war
in Afghanistan. An attack on Iran could have far greater financial
implications, leading the government to threaten yet more cuts in
welfare and public services.
DEMOCRACY
Recent wars have been deeply unpopular at home and have
created a democratic deficit. Plans have been laid in Washington
and Whitehall for an attack on Iran, with neither elected politicians
in parliament nor the electorate, being consulted.
SECURITY
The War on Terror has made the world a more volatile and
dangerous place. An attack on Iran can only increase bitterness
against the Western powers.
CIVIL LIBERTIES
The campaign against Iran will lead to further demonisation of
Britain’s Muslim community and more curbs on our freedom,
dressed up as 'anti terror measures'.
WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The main restraining factor on the war makers is mobilised public
opinion. Even George W. Bush opposed Israel attacking Iran while
in office, because he felt Americans were against it. The voice of the
anti-war majority in Britain must be turned into a mass movement
that forces our political leaders to end their policy of endless war


Stop the War Coalition
1b, Waterlow Road, London N19
www.stopwar.org.uk  07956 718 958  office@stopwar.org.uk