Reply #17: If anyone thinks they can use this, feel free to [View All]

[Tom Rinaldo]

An Iranian Peace Tree

In trying to find new ways to spread the message of StopIranWar.com, I came upon this one; An Iranian Peace Tree. I think having this available makes it easier for some people we might know individually, who might not be as familiar with this issue as we are, to pass on the StopIranWar.com appeal to others who they know, in addition to signing the petition themselves. Feel free to use "An Iranian Peace Tree" if you find it helpful. Here is the basic text:


An Iranian Peace Tree.

We are growing an Iranian Peace Tree. Please become one of the branches.

Far too many Americans think of Iran as a dangerous enemy of America, with little or no understanding of how the world looks to those sitting inside Iran. More dangerous than that though is this; the public is constantly being told that Iran is run by fanatics who can’t be trusted, or even talked to. The subliminal message is powerful and alarming: since you can’t reason with crazy violent people who are out to get you; you can only protect yourself against them, and to do that takes force.

Iran today is described in the same terms used against Iraq in 2002; a gathering threat that must be decisively dealt with. That road led to war, and this one appears no different. We can’t afford to stay this course. We need to speak up now before public opinions harden further, and military conflict becomes more certain.

There still is time for a diplomatic alternative to war that averts further violence and lays the groundwork for peace between Iran and the United States, while simultaneously advancing solutions to the interlocking problems that bedevil the Middle East today. Truly, all we are asking is give peace a chance, but tens of thousands of voices must be joined in the asking before Washington will hear us. And so we grow this Iranian Peace Tree. It will flourish with your help.

A national petition campaign is currently underway at www.stopiranwar.com and it needs our support. Tens of thousands of signatures have been gathered already, but many more are needed, and they are needed soon. StopIranWar.com is hosted by some of America’s most distinguished recent war veterans, who care about America’s security in the world but know that war is not the answer with Iran. Their message cuts across political lines and speaks in the language of common sense, one too seldom heard in Washington.

I am asking you to please sign the petitions found at StopIranWar.com and then pass on this message to three others who you know, urging them each to do the same. By doing so you become a branch on the Iranian Peace Tree, a branch from which more branches will grow. The math is powerful; consider how your own effort can flourish. If you sign today, and pass on the Iranian Peace Tree to three others who you personally know, and if every three days each of them did the same, here is what would happen:

In three days your total leaves (yourself included) will be four, in six days that grows to 13 (nine new leaves plus four prior signers), in 9 days the total hits 40, in 12 days 121, and in 15 days 364. From there the Peace Tree grows rapidly as compounding continues. By the 21st it reaches 3,380, and by the 27th 29,524. If all who receive it sign and send this Iranian Peace Tree on to three others within 3 days, in thirty days (a mere month) your branch will have spawned 88,573 signers!

Will everyone who receives your Iranian Peace Tree email follow through completely? Perhaps not, but with your encouragement quite likely yes. Three is a very modest goal, and you and those who you send this on to are welcome to set 5 as a higher goal. Anyone succeeding in reaching that number helps offset others who fall short of three. Please sign the petition at www.stopiranwar.com now, while you are thinking about it, and then send this message on to three others who you know. Feel free to attach your own personal message along with this Peace Tree text, and then watch our numbers grow as the tallies get updated. Together we can advance peace, and quite possibly save tens of thousands of lives, including perhaps that of someone near to your own heart. War is not the answer.