Musicians unite to win without war
Musicians United to Win without War is a loose coalition of contemporary musicians who feel that in the rush to war by the Bush administration the voices of reason and debate have been trampled and ignored. We feel that war is not inevitable, though to be honest the US media and government have made us feel that it has become a forgone conclusion.
We have no love for Saddam Hussein, but believe that tough UN inspections have not yet shown enough evidence in justification of invasion, and that continued UN inspections over the years have managed to remove many of his arms and weapons and can continue to do so.
We believe in discussion without jargon - that weapons of mass destruction, regime change and other administration catch phrases are doublespeak, in the words of George Orwell. We believe that this planned invasion might be playing right into the hands of Al Qaeda and others, who will use it as an excuse to rally anti-American and anti-Western sentiment despite no great love for Saddam on their parts.
Most of us have never met one another - so it is difficult to presume that all of us agree on and believe in the same things - I'm sure our individual feelings are wide ranging on this subject and a host of others, but remarkably it seems that we all realise that we at least agree on this one basic tenet, that a war right now is premature and unnecessary.
It is amazing and remarkable that such a disparate group of musicians can be united so quickly (this was organised only a few weeks ago) and simply that is a testament to our apprehensions, our faith and the strengths of our belief.
This is a group who might argue and disagree over many things, the imaginary possibility of some of us working together is a source of constant laughter, yet here we are, united at least for a moment on this one issue.
Let our friends and children know that we wanted our voices to be heard, that we spoke out against something we felt was wrong, absurd and dangerous to all of our futures.
Signed
Musicians United to Win Without War
Laurie Anderson, Autechre, Eric Benet, Jonathan Brooke, Jackson Browne, T. Bone Burnett , Kandi Burriss, Busta Rhymes, David Byrne, Blu Cantrell, Capone & Noreaga, Cornershop, Rosanne Cash, Dave Chavarri, George Clinton, Sheryl Crow, Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle, Missy Elliott, Brian Eno, Fat Joe, Floetry, Free & AJ, Fugazi, Peter Gabriel, Peter Garrett, Philip Glass, Emmylou Harris, Joe Henry, Natalie Imbruglia, Jagged Edge, Jay Z, Daniel Johns, Donnell Jones, K-Ci & Jo Jo, Angeliique Kidjo, Kronos Quartet, L'il Mo, John Leventhal, Christian Machado, Massive Attack, Dave Matthews, Natalie Merchant, Mobb Deep, Mogwai Nas, Ann Nesby, Outkast, Pharoahe Monch, Musiq, Lou Reed, REM, Raphael Saadiq, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Russell Simmons, Bubba Sparxx, Seven, Sonic Youth, David Sylvian, Tweet, Suzanne Vega, Caetano Veloso, Wilco, Lucinda Williams, Bryce Wilson, Youngbloods, Zap Mama
Founded by former Talking Heads leader David Byrne and rap impresario Russell Simmons, the coalition of musicians was announced in New York on 27 February 2003. This article is reproduced from the website of MoveOn, a nationwide US network of more than 600,000 online activists that was started in 1998 to bring ordinary people back into politics by building electronic advocacy groups.