[pjw] REPORT BACK/ACTION: Say no to more troops for Iraq/Syria wars

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hey Iraq Affinity Group supporters
About 25 of us marched about in the rain last night to mark 14 years since 
the war on Iraq began. The actual anniversary is tomorrow, so it's as good 
a time as any to take action!

Below is an email we sent to Representative Earl Blumenauer on Thursday. 
It contains many of the points we raised in the fact sheet we handed out 
yesterday, which you can find at
<http://www.pjw.info/iraq14ylfacts.pdf>.

We encourage you to write your own email to your own Congress people 
asking them to invoke the War Powers Resolution to stop President Trump 
from continuing to deploy troops into hostilities for more than 60 days 
without congressional approval by voting the bring the troops home now! 
And of course it's probably worth it to add that we want to spend that 
$54 billion he has planned for the military on human needs, not war.

We took the PPRC march on a slightly longer route than usual knowing many 
people would be out and about on St. Patrick's day and found many 
supporters willing to take literature. We passed out roughly 70 fact 
sheets and got a lot of thumbs up and "keep up the good work" comments. 
There were also, sad to say, several naysayers who came by us in the 
Square and heckled us on the route, I guess they like war. One Coast Guard 
veteran came by to thank us for being peaceful.

I saw folks from VFP Chapter 72 and Occupy Portland Elder Caucus, and at 
least one person identified as having seen our event promoted by Oregon 
PSR. Two others had seen it on the Mercury's Resistance and Solidarity 
calendar, which is remarkable both because until President Trump was 
elected, the Mercury has never promoted a PJW event in its 17 years and 
because it wasn't carried in the print edition's activist calendar, just 
on line. (The calendar drops old dates automatically but can be found at 
<http://www.portlandmercury.com/events/resistances-and-rallies>, our event 
is still up there at 
<http://www.portlandmercury.com/events/18846240/the-quagmire-continues-14-years-in-iraq>
). If other group reps were there that I failed to recognize here I'm 
sorry!

Anyway, thanks to all who supporter and attended. Here's the email to 
Blumenauer (which you can also find on our site at
<http://pjw.info/blumenauer_troops0317.html>.

dan h
peace and justice works iraq affinity group

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2017 17:52:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Peace and Justice Works <pjw at pjw.info>
To: Congressman Earl Blumenauer <Congressman.EarlBlumenauer at mail.house.gov>
Subject: Resist! Trump's adding more troops to America's endless wars

Peace and Justice Works
   Iraq Affinity Group
   PO Box 42456
   Portland, OR   97242
   (503) 236-3065  (Office)
   iraq at pjw.info
   http://www.pjw.info/Iraq.html

Representative Blumenauer:

We appreciate the spirit of your reaction to the current President's 
agenda ("Resist") and hope you will back that up with concrete actions. 
The military recently announced a plan to send 2500 troops to Kuwait so 
they can be forward-deployed into Iraq and Syria to fight the so-called 
Islamic State (Army Times March 9).
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/82nd-airborne-syria-iraq-kuwait-islamic-state

Over 5000 troops are currently in Iraq and 400 in Syria, with 400 more on
the way (New York Times March 9).
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/world/middleeast/us-troops-syria.html

American soldiers are increasingly involved in what is unquestionably 
combat operations despite the previous administration's promise of "no 
boots on the ground" (example: "Marines Tasked with Firing Howitzers in 
Syria Are Just Advisers, Says Sean Spicer, the Intercept, March 10).
https://theintercept.com/2017/03/10/marines-tasked-with-firing-howitzers-in-syria-are-just-advisers-says-sean-spicer/

Thus we call on you to demand the implementation of the War Powers
Resolution which requires congressional approval of any deployment of forces
into hostilities, or where hostilities are imminent. The Authorization for
Use of Military Force passed in 2001 addressed Al Qaeda and those
responsible for 9/11. It is being used to justify the ongoing wars against
ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and military actions in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia,
Libya, and Afghanistan.

[Examples:
  US pounds al Qaeda in Yemen with more than 20 strikes - Reuters 3/2
  http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-yemen-idUSKBN1691PV

  Suspected US drone strike kills two in Pakistan near Afghan border
  - Reuters 3/2
  http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-drones-idUSKBN16914P

  UN: US airstrikes in Afghanistan kill 18 civilians -Stars & Stripes 2/13
  http://www.stripes.com/news/un-us-airstrikes-in-afghanistan-kill-18-civilians-1.453783
]

The President promises to rebuild America's infrastructure and reform the
health care system while pouring billions more into wars that only
perpetuate themselves and result in our country being less safe.

The War Powers Resolution refers to deployments of over 60 days. Even
ignoring the troops deployed by the previous President, that means many of
the soldiers in these zones will have been deployed for 60 days under
President Trump as of March 21.

Our request is for Congress to take its responsibility under the
Constitution to be the branch of government that declares war-- but in this
case, we want Congress to order the President to declare peace, bring the 
troops home, work on diplomatic solutions, and spend Americans' tax money on 
human needs.

Thank you
Dan Handelman
for
Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group