The Internal Revenue Service
C/o Andover Mass. Service Center
05501-0102
Copies to: Sen. Hillary R. Clinton
Sen.Charles Schumer
Rep. Maurice Hinchey
April 11, 2003
Dear relevant representatives of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service,
Please be advised that we are paying our federal and New York State income taxes under extreme protest.
We believe that any taxes used to support the present military engagement in Iraq, and all the follow-up costs incurred, are based on an immoral and illegal “war of aggression” by our national leaders, who broke the U.S. Constitution (Article 6, see below) and several articles of the UN Charter. This decision placed every citizen of the United States in a crisis of conscience, since we each pledge regularly to uphold the constitution. The principles of that document were trampled on the world stage by this invasion of a sovereign nation.
Furthermore, we resent that such a large proportion of our nation’s resources are budgeted for defense and so few resources are dedicated for furthering diplomatic relations, mediating disputes, and setting up peace institutes. Ensuring national security will not come about through force, but through respecting all nations and peoples.
In summary, we are incensed by this commencing of a world order based on the rule of force over the rule of law, and pledge to reverse this new direction by voting for representatives who will take a strong stand against this war in the November 2004 elections. We remain hopeful that we can return to a true democracy that abides by the principles set forth in the founding of our nation and in international treaties to which our nation is signatory.
Respectfully,
Michael and Carrie Koplinka-Loehr
Constitution of the United States: Article VI
Section 2: This constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.
Section 3: The senators and representatives before-mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this constitution.
Additionally, the United States was the first nation to ratify the Charter of the United Nations on August 8, 1945.
Article 51 of the UN Charter acknowledges the right to self-defense “if … Any resolution authorizing a preemptive war of aggression is ultra vires, or null and and void as beyond the authority of the Council to enact.…”
Article 1 of the U.N. Charter establishes: “The purposes of the United Nations are… To maintain international peace and sovereignty, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removals of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.…”
Article 2 states that all member states “shall act in accordance with the following Principles: …All members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.…All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.…”
