A war on Iraq is not in the U.S. national interest.

War on Iraq is a distraction and drain from the effort to end terror strikes from Al Qaeda. Full-scale mobilization of military reserves and National Guard has also weakened many fire, police, and emergency response departments at home, at the same time as the risk of further attacks increases.

A U.S. invasion of Iraq will inflame the population in countries whose cooperation we need in the campaign to stop terror.

The cost will be huge. Even if an inital war is short, occupation and aftermath will be massively expensive. The economy is already weak, and even the massive deficits now projected by the Administraton do not fully reflect the impact of a war on Iraq.

There is a great risk of an invasion spreading into a sprawling regional war in the Middle East.

A first-strike war sets the stage for a world of endless war. If the U.S. abandons international law by overthrowing the government of a country that has not attacked us, there will be no way of preventing other countries from launching preemptive attacks when they see possible threats.

Disarmament of Iraq can be achieved through inspections. Senior U.S. military officers, including Gen. Anthony Zinni and Gen. Wesley Clark, assess that Saddam Hussein can be contained without an invasion.

No other threat to the U.S. from Iraq has been proven. There is no Iraqi link with the Sept. 11 attacks by Al Qaeda. Recent allegations about Al Qaeda operatives in Iraq are not persuasive.

Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator, but it is the job of the U.S. military to defend this country, not to overthrow dictatorships around the world.

To join local efforts to prevent a U.S. invasion of Iraq: