Historians Against the War Welcomes

Your Participation…

Who We Are: Historians Against the War (HAW) is a national network, founded at the 2003 annual meeting of the American Historical Association to express opposition to the impending war on Iraq and the Bush Administration’s assault on civil liberties. Since the United States invasion of Iraq, our concerns about U.S. foreign and domestic policy have increased.

In September 2003, we issued a follow-up statement expressing our opposition to the occupation of Iraq, the expansion of United States empire, the doctrine of preemptive war, and the continued encroachment on civil liberties. More than 1300 historians have signed this statement:

As historians, teachers, and scholars, we oppose the expansion of United States empire and the doctrine of pre-emptive war that have led to the occupation of Iraq. We deplore the secrecy, deception, and distortion of history involved in the administration's conduct of a war that violates international law, intensifies attacks on civil liberties, and reaches toward domination of the Middle East and its resources. Believing that both the Iraqi people and the American people have the right to determine their own political and economic futures (with appropriate outside assistance), we call for the restoration of cherished freedoms in the United States and for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Program of Action: We have organized a wide range of activities reflecting these priorities:

· Contingents at major antiwar demonstrations, including the march in New York on February 15, 2003 and the August 29, 2004 the rally at the Republican National Convention.

· Dozens of teach-ins, debates and forums, first in March 2003 leading up to the war, and again in March 2004, examining the occupation.

· Successful resolutions in support of academic freedom at the January 2004 American Historical Association meeting and the March 2004 Organization of American Historians meeting. OAH President James Horton appointed HAW Steering Committee member David Montgomery to head a committee investigating violations of historians’ academic freedom.

· A growing publication series, including Let History Judge, examining the historical record of the Bush Administration, A Brief Bibliography of English Language Sources and Studies on the Middle East and Muslim South Asia (edited by Marvin Gettleman and Stuart A. Schaar), and WE WON’T GO: Narratives of Resistance to World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the 1990–91 US–Iraq War, and the 2003– US–Iraq War (edited by Staughton Lynd), all available to be downloaded from our website or in bulk orders of 20 or more.

We welcome your ideas and energy. Help us to plan future activities. To join HAW, go to www.historiansagainstwar.org, and sign our Statement. You will immediately be added to our information-only listserv, and will receive regular updates and a monthly electronic newsletter.