Dear MoveOn supporter, It now appears that a war may be very close.  The Bush administration has abandoned the diplomatic process at the United Nations. The United Nations has begun pulling its inspectors out of Iraq.  President Bush has given Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq or face war.  This is a very sad day. We must remember in this dark moment that we have come a long way.  By working for peace around the globe, millions of people have successfully challenged the justness of this war on a world stage.  We have persuaded governments to heed their peoples' call to peace, and helped the United Nations maintain its integrity.  We all have been part of a historic mobilization of the citizens of the globe.  It will change everything.  And in the end, we will win. We will continue waging peace, even if war comes.  We have joined together to articulate a vision of how the world should be -- of how nations should treat each other, of how we can collectively deal with threats to our security. One simple way to show your continued commitment to this vision is to put a light in your window.  It could be a Christmas string or candle, a light bulb, or a lantern.  It's an easy way to keep the light of reason and hope burning, to let others know that they are not alone, and to show the way home to the young men and women who are on their way to Iraq. We'd like to keep a list of the places and people who are joining in this simple act.  Please sign up now at: http://www.moveon.org/windowlight/ On Sunday, people came together in thousands of towns and villages around the world -- a truly global vigil for peace. The vigils came in all shapes and sizes.  There were vigils with ten people and vigils with thousands.  There were vigils in homes, in churches, and in open fields.  People joined together to share their commitment to making a better world. For some amazing pictures of the vigils around the world, go to: http://www.moveon.org/vigil/ The Global Vigil was made possible by the efforts of thousands of volunteers. Some worked tirelessly to make modest but important vigils happen in small towns and villages. Others merely chose a location for a vigil on our Web site and handed out extra candles as hundreds of strangers showed up. Several dedicated volunteers staffing the MoveOn help desk worked countless hours answering questions and solving problems. All of us give our most heartfelt thanks to these fantastic volunteers for their good spirits during such an intense project. Here are a few of the thousands of reports we've seen from vigil coordinators.  They give a real sense of the scale and power of this event. "We are planning to take the fire of one of the candle and [keep it burning], as a symbol of the light of the conscience of humanity." --Fabian Freire, Barcelona, Spain, over 100 attended "The calm, moon-lit night provided an incredibly beautiful setting where persons could visualize the devastation a shock and awe attack would bring to their beloved city." --Chester L Guinn, Des Moines, United States, over 1,000 attended. "Tonight, at 7, I was alone with my candle on the place of the village, when an old lady, Misses Wery arrived walking with her stick. So old, limping and desiring strongly to say "No war". We ended up with more than 20 people." --Jacqueline Beraud, France (no village name) "It is so important for the world to realise that most Americans are, like the rest of the world's people, peace-loving, fair-minded and good-hearted people." --Al Harris, Cairns, Australia, more than 200 people "People were lining the edge of the fountain, holding candles and signs well before 7pm, and many stayed until 9pm even 10pm, for live coverage on local news channels. Drivers of cars, even metro busses, were honking wildly with fingers in peace signs out their windows." --Kayte (last name not given), Houston, United States, over 1,000 people "We had 40 participants attend, all ages. People spoke about peace; one participant with her native drum led us in a chant, 'Peace in our minds, peace in our homes, peace in the world,' we sang. All in all it was a great success. We plan to have a vigil next Sunday as well, same time, same place." --Joyce Lachance, Musquodoboit Harbour, Canada No one has ever said that waging peace is easy.  It may take days, or months, or years.  But moving forward together, we will make history. Thank you for all you do, Sincerely, --Carrie, Eli, Joan, Peter, Wes, and Zack   The MoveOn Team   March 17th, 2003