Dear Friends,
With only days left before the Weapons Inspection Team departs for Washington, D.C., tremendous excitement resonates throughout our small office. The roster of inspectors has been confirmed. The flights and hotels have been booked. The Defense Department has been notified of our impending visit. A public forum has been scheduled in Washington, with the help of Global Exchange, Code Pink, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and International ANSWER. We are counting down the hours and finalizing details, anxious to finally witness the end result of months of planning.
On February 22, 2003, the night before the inspection, you are invited to a public forum in Washington, D.C. The forum, which we are coordinating with the American partner groups mentioned above, will be held at 7:30pm at the First Congregational Church, 945 G Street NW. The event will be an opportunity for the inspectors to speak publicly about why they are participating in this important mission to the United States, and for you to discuss the issues with them. If you would like more information about this meeting, please call 202-546-6727.
On the morning of February 23, a delegation from Rooting Out Evil will attempt to inspect the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland. We have sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld notifying him of our intentions, and are awaiting a reply. You can read the letter on http://www.rootingoutevil.org. Whether we receive a response or not, we are planning a visit to Edgewood on Sunday with international media in tow.
If you'd like to help draw attention to the inspection, we encourage you to call the foreign desk of your local newspaper or broadcast affiliate and ask them if they'll be covering this important event. You can direct them to the media relations section of our website, which features our press releases, our letter to Donald Rumsfeld, and our contact information:
http://www.rootingoutevil.org/index.php3/Media