WHEREAS the County Council for the Green Party of Humboldt is responsible for representing, promoting, and furthering, the values and principles of the Green Party of California, and Green Party voters in Humboldt County;

WHEREAS the County Council members for the Green Party of Humboldt, both publicly elected, and appointed by consensus, represent a diverse, gender balanced, body of active community members from all areas of our County dedicated to the "10 Key Values" of the Green Party of California, with the expressed desire to have those values promoted in our local communities, the nation, and the world;

WHEREAS the possibility of an unlawful war between the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq is of great concern to the Green Party of Humboldt as it represents a grave threat to global peace and security;

WHEREAS the security of the United States, and the world's people, is dependent upon creating a condition of life for all nations, working through a cooperative endeavor, that will eliminate poverty, social injustices and inequalities, environmental degradation, Third World exploitation, and all other factors that invariably contribute to the conditions that breed violence and terrorism;

WHEREAS the United States' investment of billions of dollars in the "war-promotion industry", thereby diverting much needed funds from both domestic and international social and humanitarian programs, represents a grave threat to the health, the quality of life, and the well being, of American citizens and the world's peoples, while undermining the work of billions of the world's citizens to foster an environment of local, national, and global, peace and cooperation;

WHEREAS any further military action against the nation of Iraq would only inflict greater injury upon innocent civilians, already suffering from the unrelenting bombing and sanctions imposed over the last 12 years, and would serve only to further cripple an already decimated national infrastructure that has resulted in the death of more than 500,000 children under the age of five due to the lack of adequate water, food, and medicine, according to UNICEF and other international relief organizations;

WHEREAS the Green Party is opposed to an unlawful war that would result in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of our brave American service women and men;

WHEREAS the Green Party, as one of its "10 Key Values", adheres to a principle of non-violence as the only real and effective means at conflict resolution;

WHEREAS the Green Party is engaged in promoting the "rule of law" over the "rule of war" and a foreign policy of "might makes right";

WHEREAS the Bush resolutions recently passed by both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate are in direct violation of the Charter of the United Nations, a treaty of the United States and as such forms part of the "supreme law of the land" under the Constitution, Article VI, Clause 2;

WHEREAS the Bush administration has yet to make the case that the U.S. is faced with an actual imminent armed attack by the nation-state of Iraq, and in the absence of a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force to maintain or restore peace and security, any and all use of force against Iraq is unlawful and will only serve to undermine legal, and humanitarian principles, our nation should be working to preserve;

WHEREAS a pre-emptive attack on Iraq is a declaration of war, a power that is reserved solely for the people's representatives in Congress by our Constitution, a power that should not, in the interest of preserving our democracy, be deferred by our representatives to the executive for any reason;

WHEREAS the United States of America is the world's largest producer of "weapons of mass destruction", at present with over 2,500 nuclear weapons on "hair-trigger alert" targeting both nuclear and non-nuclear nations;

WHEREAS the Green Party believes that the very existence of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, is an affront to humanity, and is nothing more than an expression of humanity's lowest form, and so justly calls for the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction on a global scale, not just in Iraq, but here at home, as well;

WHEREAS even when faced with a majority of U.S. citizens opposed to the Bush resolutions, many Democratic representatives in both the House and the Senate did not provide their constituents with adequate and effective representation on this issue, resulting in the passage of the Bush administration's resolutions with a solid majority;

WHEREAS in communities and in City Councils around the state and the nation, there is a present and growing voice of opposition to the foreign policies of the Bush administration advocating unilateralism, and war, as recently witnessed in the passage of the City of Arcata's "Proclamation In Opposition to Military Action Against Iraq";

WHEREAS in the interest of promoting a grassroots democratic struggle against a "tyranny of a minority", the Green Party of Humboldt stands in solidarity with those local governments, and their citizens, who stand in opposition to a federal government that has become "imperial" in its foreign policy;

WHEREAS the Green Party would like to graciously commend two of our U.S. elected officials-Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative Mike Thompson- for courageously speaking out against a war on Iraq;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the County Council for the Green Party of Humboldt:

HEREBY expresses its opposition to any and all military action against the nation of Iraq; and

HEREBY urges the Bush Administration and our federal representatives to actively engage, and support, the United Nations' diplomatic efforts in bringing a peaceful resolution to this and future international conflicts, while working to encourage democracy and respect for human rights in Iraq; and

BE IT FURTHER PROCLAIMED that the Green Party of Humboldt County urges all elected officials to pursue domestic policies with a "future focus on sustainability" that will promote the uses of energy that will free our nation from its dependence on resources that often require the "need" for war.