November 19th, 2002

A Resolution of the Oberlin College Student Senate

Opposing United States Military Action against Iraq

WHEREAS the American public is overwhelmingly divided over the issue of going tow war with Iraq; and

WHEREAS U.S. policy presents a grave and imminent danger to foreign citizens as economic sanctions on Iraq have resulted in the death of millions of Iraqi citizens; and

WHEREAS millions more can be expected to unjustly lose their lives as indicated by the thousands of Afghani civilians already killed as a result of collateral damage in the U.S. War on Terrorism; and

WHEREAS President Bushšs $48 billion hike in military spending, bringing it to $383 billion, would be far better spent addressing educational and economic crisis conditions (which are themselves a serious threat to our national security) in Oberlin, Northeast Ohio, and around the nation; and

WHEREAS it is todayšs generation of students and young people who will give their lives in the battlefields of Iraq as well as have to deal with the long term consequences of war, including a prolonged commitment to ensuring a stable post-Hussein government and rebuilding the decimated Iraqi infrastructure; and

WHEREAS student activism has historically been the backbone of such social movements in the U.S. as the struggle for civil rights, and especially the opposition to the Vietnam War; and

WHEREAS Oberlin College has historically been an institution opposed to unjust policies of the United States government, publicly denouncing the Vietnam War and U.S. relations with apartheid-era South Africa.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Oberlin College Student Senate opposes economic sanctions and any military action against Iraq by the United States.

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