UNITED ANTIWAR MOVEMENT TELLS OBAMA: NO ESCALATION!

Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice is proud to be among representatives of 34 antiwar groups who delivered an open letter to President Obama strongly opposing his anticipated decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan with the commitment of tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops.  

The document calls increased war spending, in light of the ongoing U.S. economic crisis, an “utter folly” and names the war “a war against ordinary people, both here in the United States and in Afghanistan,” which “if continued, will result in the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of U.S. troops and untold thousands of Afghans” and “cause other people in other lands to despise the U.S.” as “the world’s richest nation making war on one of the world’s very poorest.”

The signatories pledge “to keep opposing this war in every nonviolent way possible.  We will urge elected representatives to cut all funding for war. Some of us will be led to withhold our taxes, practice civil resistance, and promote slowdowns and strikes at schools and workplaces.” Signed by veterans and peace activists, religious leaders and labor organizers, the document represents one of the most widespread antiwar coalitions in decades, including many of the organizations which, in 2003, brought millions onto the streets to oppose the U.S.-Iraq war.

Signers to the letter are urging their colleagues to participate in local demonstrations the day after an announcement of troop escalations is made.

The letter ends by warning President Obama, “we will do everything in our power, as nonviolent peace activists, to build the kind of massive movement -- which today represents the sentiments of a majority of the American people – that will play a key role in ending U.S. war in Afghanistan.  Such is the folly of your decision and such is the depth of our opposition to the death and suffering it will cause.”

Below is the text for the entire letter, with some of the signatures:

November 30, 2009 

Dear President Obama,

With millions of U.S. people feeling the fear and desperation of no longer having a home; with millions feeling the terror and loss of dignity that comes with unemployment; with millions of our children slipping further into poverty and hunger, your decision to deploy thousands more troops and throw hundreds of billions more dollars into prolonging the profoundly tragic war in Afghanistan strikes us as utter folly. We believe this decision represents a war against ordinary people, both here in the United States and in Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan, if continued, will result in the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of U.S. troops, and untold thousands of Afghans.

Polls indicate that a majority of those who labored with so much hope to elect you as president now fear that you will make a wrong decision --a tragic decision that will destroy their dreams for America. More tragic is the price of your decision. It will be paid with the blood, suffering and broken hearts of our young troops, their loved ones and an even greater number of Afghan men, women and children.

The U.S. military claims that this war must be fought to protect U.S. national security, but we believe it is being waged to expand U.S. empire in the interests of oil and pipeline companies.

Your decision to escalate U.S. troops and continue the occupation will cause other people in other lands to despise the U.S. as a menacing military power that violates international law. Keep in mind that to most of the peoples of the world, widening the war in Afghanistan will look exactly like what it is: the world's richest nation making war on one of the world's very poorest.
The war must be ended now. Humanitarian aid programs should address the deep poverty that has always been a part of the life of Afghan people.

We will keep opposing this war in every nonviolent way possible. We will urge elected representatives to cut all funding for war. Some of us will be led to withhold our taxes, practice civil resistance, and promote slowdowns and strikes at schools and workplaces.

In short, President Obama, we will do everything in our power, as nonviolent peace activists, to build the kind of massive movement --which today represents the sentiments of a majority of the American people--that will play a key role in ending U.S. war in Afghanistan. Such would be the folly of a decision to escalate troop deployment and such is the depth of our opposition to the death and suffering it would cause.

Sincerely,

Jack Amoureux, Executive Committee, Military Families Speak Out 

Frida Berrigan, Witness Against Torture

Leslie Cagan, Co-Founder United for Peace and Justice

Michael Baxter, Catholic Peace Fellowship

Imam Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, Muslim American Society Freedom

Medea Benjamin, Co-founder Global Exchange

Marie Dennis, Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns 

Mike Ferner, President Veterans For Peace 

Diana Gibson, Coordinator Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice 

Mark C. Johnson, Ph.D., Executive Director, Fellowship of Reconciliation 

Kathy Kelly, Co-Coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence 

Adele Kubein, Executive Committee, Military Families Speak Out 

Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Chair –Elect World Parliament of Religion 

Kevin Martin, Executive Director Peace Action 

Michael Nagler, Founder Metta Center for Nonviolence 

Dave Robinson, Executive Director Pax Christi USA 

Samina Sundas, Founding Executive Director American Muslim Voice 

Jose Vasquez, Executive Director Iraq Veterans Against the War