[pjw] NEWS: 5 Political Parties/Governor Candidates Respond to Guard Home Campaign
Peace and Justice Works
pjw at pjw.info
Mon Aug 1 18:09:37 EDT 2016
Peace and Justice Works
PO Box 42456
Portland, OR 97242
(503) 236-3065
pjw at pjw.info
http://www.pjw.info
NEWS: Five of Eight Political Parties/Governor Candidates Respond to
Oregon Guard Home Campaign
August 1, 2016
On July 5, nineteen organizations and a military family sent a letter to the
eight political parties in Oregon and/or their candidates for Governor, asking
them to pledge not to send Oregon's National Guard into undeclared war zones.
Five of the eight responded, and the responses ranged from philosophical to
outright support for the idea of keeping Oregon's Guard stateside.
The responses are below, edited for length in some cases, in order of their
response:
--James Foster, Libertarian Party candidate
--Jack Alan Brown Jr, Constitution Party chair
--Cliff Thomason, Independent Party candidate
--David Delk, Oregon Progressive Party
--State coordinating committee, Pacific Green Party
The three parties not responding (to date) are:
--Working Families Party
--Kate Brown, Democratic Party candidate
--Dr. Bud Pierce, Republican Party candidate
Dan Handelman of the Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group, which
coordinated the effort, said: "It's encouraging that most of the political
parties recognized by Oregon's Secretary of State seem to be in favor of
keeping the Guard home. We hope this sends a clear message to those party
candidates who did not reply."
For more information contact Peace and Justice Works at 503-236-3065 or
<iraq at pjw.info>.
---James Foster, Libertarian Party candidate---
Dear friends,
Thank you very much for your inquiry as to whether I would be willing to
"pledge not to send any more Oregonians into an unauthorized and ill fated
war." ...
While I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments... without further legal
analysis I'm not sure I can assert that the Governor of Oregon has the power to
review the legality of the President's actions. It seems that that power lies
with the federal courts. Based on the court cases upholding the Montgomery
Amendment... it seems to me that a better position would be assert that the
Governor has standing to initiate a court challenge to the federalizing of the
Guard. Or, perhaps, we need a review of the activities of the Guard overall and
ask whether disbanding it would be within the Governor's powers.
Regards,
James Foster
---Jack Alan Brown Jr, Constitution Party---
Sirs, [sic]
The Constitution Party of Oregon wholeheartedly oppose the deployment of our
national guard outside the boundaries of the USA. There is no basis for the
Oregon National Guard's existence, except as a morphed Oregon Militia as
defined in both the US constitution and our state constitution. The militia
exists for the two-fold purpose of suppressing insurrection against constituted
authority and to repel invasion of our own soil.
Our party platform says regarding the Militia/Guard, "We repudiate the concept
that it is an extension of the army of the United States to be used for the
purpose of invading foreign jurisdictions of enforcing United Nations mandates,
a concept that is doubly repugnant when no constitutionally declared war
exists."
I can assure you that our candidate for governor, Aaron Auer, is enthusiasticly
[sic] in support of our platform on this point.
Regards,
Jack Alan Brown Jr
Chairman, Constitution Party of Oregon
---Cliff Thomason, Independent Party candidate---
I have never, nor will I ever, support the deployment of National Guard troops
overseas. It is, and remains to be great overreach and an abuse of Federal
power. Bring our troops home now!
Make Oregon Great!
Cliff Thomason
---David e. Delk, Oregon Progressive Party--
Yes, the Oregon Progressive Party supports the position outlined in your email.
David e. Delk
Oregon Progressive Party
----Emma Lugo on behalf of the State coordinating committee, Pacific Green
Party---
The Green Party has approved the following statement via a quorum approval of
the state coordinating committee via email:
The Pacific Green Party supports an end to the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and
Pakistan and calls on Governor Brown to immediately recall US Army Reserve
Troops and National Guard that have been sent out on multiple deployments.
These terms of service are an abuse of the National Guard and Army Reserve
systems. We want the Governor to bring the troops home now so they can be with
their friends and family.
------Original email as sent to the candidates/parties------
July 5, 2016
Dear [candidate or party] and [other] candidates for Oregon Governor:
We are writing to you to get your opinion on a crucial life-and-death matter
for many Oregonians: The deployment of our National Guard to Iraq, Afghanistan
and possibly Syria, Libya and Yemen* without Congressional authorization.
In 2011, President Barack Obama withdrew most American troops from Iraq. In
August and September of 2014, he began building troops back up in Iraq, sending
others to Syria, and bombing both countries in an effort to repel the
self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS). While we are peace loving people and do
not support the violent tactics of ISIS, we also believe that the US presence
in the region is feeding the insurgency leading to a never-ending escalation.
Moreover, President Obama is relying on the 2001 Authorization for Use of
Military Force which was cobbled together after 9/11 to go after those
responsible for the attacks on New York and Washington. It was never intended
as an open-ended "war on terrorism" without borders.
The Congress has been reluctant to vote on a new authorization bill. In early
May 2016, Rep. Barbara Lee led a bipartisan effort to urge a vote on whether to
authorize the war on ISIS.
Rep. Lee, others push House to debate war against Islamic State
<http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Rep-Lee-s-bipartisan-effort-to-open-d
ebate-7465184.php>
Unfortunately the effort to repeal the 2001 Authorization failed 138-285.
<http://news.antiwar.com/2016/05/18/house-rejects-bill-that-would-lead-to-de
bate-on-isis-war-authorization/>
One of the most recent American service persons to die in Iraq was a National
Guard member from Washington state who grew up and went to school in Oregon.
Forest Grove, UP grad dies in Iraq non-combat incident
<http://www.kgw.com/news/local/us-soldiers-dies-in-noncombat-incident-in-ira
q_/182347795>
And, perhaps most significantly, an active duty Army Captain is suing the US
government for deploying him to a combat zone without Congressional
authorization.
Deployed Army captain sues Obama over ISIS fight
<http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2016/05/04/deployed-army-captain-su
es-obama-over-isis-fight/83942016>
A number of groups from around the state of Oregon have been urging the
Governors of this state to Keep Oregon's Guard in Oregon, from Gov. Kulongoski
in 2008 to Gov. Kitzhaber in 2012 and Gov. Brown last year.
<http://www.pjw.info/guardhomeletter2015.html>
While several deployments of the Guard have happened in the interim, we urge
you to pledge not to send any more Oregonians into an unauthorized and ill
fated war.
We hope you will let us know your opinion on this matter so we can share a fact
sheet with our constituents. We are non-partisan groups interested in finding
alternatives to war as a solution to the world's problems.
We look forward to your prompt reply by no later than July 29, 2016.
Thank you
Dan Handelman
Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group
S. Jenika
Veterans for Peace Chapter 72 (Portland)
Bart Bolger
Veterans For Peace, Linus Pauling Chapter 132 (Corvallis)
Allen Hallmark
Veterans for Peace Rogue Valley Chapter 156 (Medford/Grants Pass/Rogue River)
Ed Pool Veterans for Peace, Chapter 141 Bandon, Oregon
Michael Taylor and Linda Marshall, parents of Iraq combat Veteran
members Military Families Speak Out* (Portland)
Kelly Campbell
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
Susan Cundiff
Oregon Women's Action for New Directions (WAND)
Michael Carrigan
Community Alliance of Lane County (Eugene)
Leah Bolger
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Corvallis Branch
Natasha Beck Women's International League for Peace and Freedom-Portland
Ellie Gunn
Yamhill Valley Peacemakers (McMinnville)
Nancy Greenman
Albany Peace Seekers
Ivend Holen
Citizens for Peace & Justice (Medford)
Elizabeth Hallett
Ashland Peace House
Philip H. Randall
Central Oregon Peace Network (Bend)
Emma Lugo
Pacific Green Party
Jordana Sardo
Freedom Socialist Party
Recruiter Watch PDX
Malcolm Chaddock
Individuals For Justice (Portland)
Max White and Will Singer
East Timor and Indonesia Action Network Portland
* US sends troops to Yemen, steps up anti-Qaeda strikes (AFP 5/7)
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/us-sends-troops-to-yemen/2764406h
tml>
U.S. establishes Libyan outposts with eye toward offensive against Islamic
State
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-establishes-libya
n-outposts-with-eye-toward-offensive-against-islamic-state/2016/05/12/11195d
32-183c-11e6-9e16-2e5a123aac62_story.html>
The US continues to argue about language to explain how the President is
keeping his pledge not to put any "boots on the ground" in Iraq an Syria:
As More American Boots Hit the Ground in Syria, U.S. Parses "Boots" and
"Ground" (Intercept 4/29)
<https://theintercept.com/2016/04/29/as-more-american-boots-hit-the-ground-i
n-syria-u-s-parses-boots-and-ground>
and tries to explain why Americans bombed a hospital in Afghanistan even though
the US has supposedly ended its combat role there.
US military's hazy "noncombat" Afghanistan role creates confusion in hospital
bombing (Wash Times 5/1)
<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/1/us-militarys-hazy-noncombat-
afghanistan-role-creat/print/>
cc: Kate Brown, Democratic Party
Bud Pierce, Republican Party
Cliff Thomason, Independent Party
James Foster, Libertarian Party
Pacific Green Party
Working Families Party
Constitution Party
Progressive Party
More information about the pjw-list
mailing list