September 24, 2002
To: President-Select George W. Bush
Senator Maria Cantwell
Representative Jennifer Dunn
Senator Patty Murray
I am writing this letter to those elected official who are supposedly my representatives. In particular, this letter is addressed to the President of the United States of America, who has seemingly wrested all power and authority from our elected representatives, but whose decision will decide the fate of nations, including our own.
As a citizen of the United States of America, as a citizen of the State of Washington, as a union member, and simply as a human being, I demand that the government of the United States of America desist all actions against the peoples of Iraq. This includes any sanctions and military actions, whose goal has been to "punish" the Iraqi government and people. In other words, lift the sanctions and no war!
The government of the United States of America should, in fact, make reparations to the people of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine in order to fully rectify the destruction that has been caused to the infrastructures, economies, and lives of said peoples. This is the only just and humane course of action.
Whereas George Bush, Jr. has made it clear that he is incapable of pursuing any other course of action, I beseech my state representatives to make a stand on, at least, this issue, to vehemently speak out and criticize the President's opinions and actions. Speak the truth to the people of the United States!
Regardless, I will remain vigilant in defying all attempts to wage war against not just the Iraqi people, but also against the peoples of Afghanistan, Palestine, and Columbia by taking to the streets, organizing, and defying non-democratic authority.
To this regard, I repeat the charges I made in my last letter to President Bush, dated January 14, 2002. Whereas the actions of the government of the United States of America are an anathema to the very ideas it claims heritage to: freedom, democracy, justice and equality, I am compelled under duress to rescind all rights and obligations connected with my citizenship, for I will not be a citizen of THAT country. In their stead I, hereby, take upon myself the rights and obligations connected with opposing all forms of oppression, whether the be political, economic, or social, and dedicate myself to the pursuit of a just, open, humane, and sane world.
Agitator and Propagandist for a new world,
Curtis Vaughan
