Email of 25 January 2003 to 25 Iraqi opposition leaders

Dear friends,

you probably have this already but just in case...

I will email to all of you soon the latest about the proposal of immediately establishing via a broad-based and open constitutional convention a Transitional Democratic Government for Iraq (Preemptive Democracy for short)

the organizers of the Davos sessions know about our proposal and hopefully, it will be put on the agenda for discussion.

If Iraqis get behind this, it is not too late to start a process to oust Saddam without a preemptive war.

Present U.S. plans unfortunately carry maximal risk of all kinds and thus count as a textbook example of the failure of rationally minimizing risks.

The establishment of a Transitional Democratic Government for Iraq right now is the best solution and the option which minimizes global geo-political risk, terrorism risk, financial market risks, economic risks and of course human risks to the Iraqi people.

It also is the best option for Iraqis now out of Iraq to do the right thing in the eyes of their compatriots, and to have a serious chance of participating in a future Iraqi government, instead of bowing to the American Diktat, a fact which the Iraqis will not forget.

The Iraqi opposition should stop putting all its eggs in the same basket and should publicly ask for help and support from France, Germany, Japan, the EU and several Arab countries, arguing that they should help you establish a Transitional Democratic Government right now, to be independent from the U.S. This should be popular with the public opinions of each country.

Also, to counter accusations of being American stooges, the Iraqi opposition should send an official permanent invitation all these governments to send representatives to all its future meetings, including the one planned in Salahuddin. It is incredible counter-productive to the Iraqi cause that only Americans (or Brits) attend, and gives a propaganda weapon to Saddam on a silver platter.

best,

troy
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Troy Davis, troydavis@post.harvard.edu
President/CEO, World Citizen Foundation/Fondation des Citoyens du Monde
http://www.worldcitizen.org