04.11.08
*I will be faxing the following letter to our congressmen, Weller, today
at noon. It's not too late to agree to have your name added to the list
of signers! Just respond to this e-mail with "Yes" and the name of the
CITY in which you live! Thanks! *
Dear __Gerald Weller,
We recently began the sixth year of the Iraq War. Fighting in Basra
renewed, untold numbers of Iraqis continued to die, the number of U.S.
soldiers killed in Iraq surpassed 4,000, and the U.S. may have incurred
three trillion dollars in costs in the Iraq war. We disagree with the
assessment of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker—* this war is not
worth its costs*.
The war has worn out our military, diverted resources from the battle
against al Qaeda and from homeland security, and deeply damaged our
reputation abroad. It is past time to bring the Iraq War to an end. The
best course of action in the upcoming supplemental appropriations bill
is to provide funding only for the safe and timely redeployment of U.S.
troops out of Iraq and end the occupation.
The purpose of this letter is to ask you to take a strong and unwavering
stand in the upcoming discussion of the FY08 Supplemental Appropriations
Bill. We urge you to take the following actions:
1) Support funding for a diplomatic offensive as suggested by the Iraq
Study Group. We ask that you co-sponsor or support H.R. 3797, which
calls for* *diplomatic negotiations to stabilize Iraq and create the
conditions for the war's end.
2) Vote against funding for military construction in Iraq and for U.S.
military contractors in Iraq. Given the President's use of signing
statements on these issues, the only way to ensure compliance with
Congress' directives is to remove such funding.
3) Make no funds available for any formal U.S.-Iraq agreement based upon
the Bush-Maliki "Declaration of Principles" unless the agreement is
approved by Congress and the Iraqi parliament. We ask that you support
H.R. 5507 as an amendment to the appropriations bill. This legislation
repeals the original authorization for the use of military force, bans
permanent military bases, supports funding for Iraqi reconstruction,
requires closure of all detention centers operated by the U.S. and
contains many other valuable provisions including anti-torture language.
Our organization, Generations for Peace, is willing to work with you and
your staff in the critical weeks and months ahead to end the debacle in
Iraq and bring our men and women in uniform home. Please let us know if
there is anything we can do to support you in taking a stand against
appropriating billions of dollars more to an endless war.
Sincerely,
Robt. Braam, Manhattan
