FCNL: Mark the Iraq War Anniversary by Campaigning to Pressure the Senate

[Guest guest]

Legislative Action Message

 

 

FCNL: Mark the Iraq War Anniversary by Campaigning to Pressure the Senate

 

 

This weekend is a time when people across the country will be holding vigils,

teach-ins, and other events to commemorate the U.S. invasion of Iraq and

reaffirm that war is not the answer. But in Washington, most members of Congress

are unwilling to publicly support a declaration that the U.S. intends to

withdraw at some point. The Iraq anniversary events provide an opportunity to

build support for the campaign to pressure the Senate. You can help by

distributing the FCNL action alert flier

(http://www.fcnl.org/pdfs/iraq/iraq_flyer.pdf) (*PDF) urging the Senate to

declare the U.S. has no imperial interests in Iraq.

 

Two years after the invasion, the U.S. government has yet to make clear what its

long-term intentions for Iraq are. While some officials say the military will

eventually leave the country, the Pentagon is building 14 " enduring " bases and

Congress continues to vote for billions in war funds.

FCNL friends and supporters have lobbied their congressional representatives for

weeks to attach an amendment to the Iraq supplemental funding bill stating

simply that " It is the policy of the United States to withdraw all military

troops and bases from Iraq. " No deadlines, no timetable, just a simple statement

of policy. In private, many members of Congress agree that such a statement

would be helpful, but few are willing to speak out publicly.

 

 

Thanks to your pressure and the work of many others, a bipartisan group of

members of Congress did delete language from the Iraq supplemental that would

have provided funds to build a new imperial embassy in Baghdad. Another

amendment added with bipartisan support called on the Secretary of Defense to

stipulate what criteria will determine when the U.S. can begin withdrawing from

Iraq. None of these amendments were a clear statement that the U.S. has no

long-term designs in Iraq, but they are evidence that your efforts can shift the

debate..

 

Now attention shifts to the Senate, with a vote expected on the Iraq

supplemental bill in early to mid-April. This bill presents a key opportunity

for senators to go on record supporting a policy of withdrawing from Iraq.

 

Action

March 19-20, people across the country will be holding vigils, teach-ins, and

other events to commemorate the start of the war and to call for peace. Download

our action alert flier at http://www.fcnl.org/pdfs/iraq/iraq_flyer.pdf (*PDF)

and take copies to distribute at events. Help FCNL get the word to as many

people as possible, that senators must attach a resolution to the Iraq war

spending bill stating that the policy of the United States is to " withdraw all

military troops and bases from Iraq. "

 

Go to http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1269 & issue_id=35 to read Col.

Dan Smith’s perspective on the Second Anniversary of the Iraq invasion.

 

The American Friends Service Committee www.afsc.org and United for Peace and

Justice www.unitedforpeace.org have extensive listings of local and national

events.

 

* To access PDF files you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your

computer. If you do not have this free program you can download it from Adobe's

web site at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

 

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The Next Step for Iraq: Join FCNL's Iraq Campaign,

http://www.fcnl.org/iraq/index.htm

 

Contact Congress and the Administration: http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/.

 

Order FCNL publications and " War is Not the Answer " campaign bumper stickers and

yard

signs:

http://www.fcnl.org/newinfo/special_pub.htm

http://www.fcnl.org/iraq-war.htm

 

Contribute to FCNL:

http://www.fcnl.org/suprt/indx.htm

 

Subscribe or update your information to this list:

http://capwiz.com/fconl/mlm/. To from this list, please see the end

of this message.

 

Subscribe to other FCNL legislative, policy, and action alert lists:

http://www.fcnl.org/listserv/quaker_issues.php.

 

______

 

Friends Committee on National Legislation

245 Second St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-5795

fcnl * http://www.fcnl.org/

phone: (202)547-6000 * toll-free: (800)630-1330

 

We seek a world free of war and the threat of war

We seek a society with equity and justice for all

We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled

We seek an earth restored.

 

 

 

 

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