No War with Iran!

Today, Trump and Israel initiated an illegal war on Iran. He claims it is the only way to ensure Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. He hopes that it will result in the overthrow of the Iranian government and Israel, at least, has targeted the leaders of Iran. Trump is lying to us.

In 2003, in contravention of the UN charter, we illegally invaded Iraq. The Bush administration used similar claims of Iraq building weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion. As today, overthrow of the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein was also an objective of the Bush administration. That invasion was opposed by billions world-wide and millions protested against it in the United States. The invasion and occupation resulted in the deaths of between 200,000 and a million Iraqis, at least 4,431 Americans and 318 more coalition deaths. The cost to the United States of just the war in Iraq was trillions of dollars in direct and future costs. We are still dealing with the consequences of the Iraq invasion and will for decades to come.

In the recent talks the US had with Iran, Iran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium only to the levels needed for powering civilian nuclear power plants and allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to monitor their nuclear program. The talks could have gotten us back to the Obama-negotiated Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which Trump withdrew us from in 2018 and which the Biden administration did not restore. Trump now insists that Iran end their efforts to enrich uranium completely and illegally initiated this war.

As Pirates, we believe in individual autonomy and that principle applies to nations. Attacking another country or people that poses no direct threat cannot be allowed, whether it is Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, blowing up fishing boats in the Caribbean or Pacific ocean, seizing the leader of Venezuela or bombing Iran. We are not the world’s self-appointed police man nor do we have a right to overthrow governments, regardless of how undemocratic and authoritarian they are.

This war was the choice of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Diplomacy was possible and they chose to throw it away. Long after they are gone from office, we will have to deal with the consequences of their choice.

It is up to us to stop this war through protest, civil disobedience and even pressuring Congress to defund this war. Here are some resources to start our journey on this struggle as well as the many other struggles for justice and human rights we face:

• Civil Disobedience Toolkit: A guide to civil disobedience by Amnesty International;
• ActUp Civil Disobedience Training;
• Greenpeace Introduction to Civil Disobedience On-line Trainings;
• A Guide to Effective Nonviolent Struggle (also here);
• Nonviolent Struggle: 50 Crucial Points (also here);
• Campaign Strategy Workbook (Other Training for Change tools).

Please add a comment below with suggestions for other resources or email us at info@masspirates.org so we can update our list.