Letters

An open letter to President Bush from fellows of the National Humanities Center

Editor's note: The letter was submitted prior to the start of the war; the Record agreed to run it at the request of the writers.

We write to you as a group of concerned scholars and teachers of the humanities. We work in a variety of disciplines dedicated to understanding the history of human thought and achievement and its lessons for the present day. We are united in our belief that your administration's plans for a war against Iraq are misguided, dangerous and morally wrong.

Our nation stands on the brink of a calamity of our own making. A war against Iraq will devastate the lives of tens of thousands. It will turn much of the rest of the world against the United States, further alienating our friends and inciting our enemies to strike back with ever more violence and fury. It will set a dangerous precedent for any state wishing to launch a preemptive strike against its own foes. And it will undermine the fragile structures of international cooperation and collective security that have been painstakingly assembled since World War II.

Americans stand united in revulsion at the vicious attacks of 9/11. But increasing numbers are united as well against the prospect of lashing out with violence against a nation that has not been convincingly implicated in those attacks. Iraq, however aggressive and despotic its ruler, poses no imminent military threat to the United States or its allies under rigorous U.N. inspections.

History judges harshly leaders who pursue political ends through the unprovoked use of violence; art and literature remind us that war unleashes hell's fury upon the earth. There is no justification for war while other means remain available. Step back from the brink, Mr. President, for the sake of humanity and those enduring values for which our nation stands.

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