FW: VFP Action Alert - Call on Senators to End the War

 

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From: Veterans For Peace [mailto:vfp@veteransforpeace.net]
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 5:10 PM
To: jon4paz@acsalaska.net
Subject: VFP Action Alert - Call on Senators to End the War

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The following is an email from our partner organization, Military Families Speak Out.  Please do what you can to help oppose this war and occupation by taking action! There is a way for Congress to end the war in Iraq NOW. Military Families Speak Out is launching a campaign this week to call on Senators who claim to oppose the war in Iraq - including Senators Clinton and Obama --  to lead and sustain a filibuster that will prevent the Senate from passing President Bush's latest funding request to continue the war in Iraq. This week General Petraeus will come before Congress with the kind of mistruths that facilitated the U.S. invasion of Iraq and have served to keep this unjustifiable war going. Within days or weeks, Congress will be voting on President Bush's most recent war funding request. Elected officials who say they are opposed to the war in Iraq are telling us to elect a new president and in January, 2009 there will be a new strategy to start bringing some troops home. Meanwhile, every day this illegal, immoral war continues,  more of our troops' lives and lives of Iraqi children, women and men of Iraq are lost or put in jeopardy. The time to end the war is NOW, and the only funding that is needed is funding for the swift and safe return of all of our troops, and the care they need when they get home. Here is what you can do NOW to help: Call Senator Clinton, Senator Obama and your own two Senators and tell them you want them to filibuster the war spending bill. (Phone numbers are below.) Click here to sign MFSO's online petition  supporting a Senate filibuster, and get others to sign on too by forwarding this message to everyone you know.. Click here to download our leaflet from our website and pass it out at meetings, concerts, baseball games, the post office -- anywhere people gather in your town. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper calling on people in your community to press Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and your Senators to filibuster the war spending bill. If you have a blog or a website, add a links to MFSO's "Call to Action"  and the petition. Click here to make a donation to help support this campaign and all of the work of Military Families Speak Out. No Senator who says she or he opposes the war should continue to fund it. The filibuster is a tool that all Senators are familiar with, and that can now be used to block the funding that would allow this war to continue. Speak out now and let these Senators hear the powerful voices of military families from across the country, and the voices of our families, neighbors, co-workers and friends delivering the clear message that funding the war is killing our troops! In Peace and Solidarity, Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson Co-founders, Military Families Speak Out mfso@mfso.org www.mfso.org _____________________________________________________________ CALL TO ACTION! CALL ON SENATOR CLINTON AND SENATOR OBAMA NOW TO USE THEIR LEADERSHIP TO END THE WAR IN IRAQ! "Let me be clear: there is no military solution in Iraq, and there never was. The best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq's leaders to resolve their civil war is to immediately begin to remove our combat troops. Not in six months or one year - now." -- Sen. Barack Obama,September 12, 2007 "Our message to the president is clear. It is time to begin ending this war -- not next year, not next month -- but today." -- Sen. Hillary Clinton,July 10, 2007 On the campaign trail, Senator Obama and Senator Clinton both say that the war in Iraq needs to end. Military Families Speak Out has one question for them: what are they doing now as sitting United States Senators, to bring our loved ones home from Iraq? Military Families Speak Out is an organization of almost 4,000 military families with loved ones who are serving in Iraq, ready to deploy or re-deploy, have been wounded physically and/or psychologically, or have died as a result of the war in Iraq.  We know first hand the devastation of this war. We are more than five years into a war that Clinton and Obama say should never have begun. Over 4,000 U.S. troops and, by some estimates, over a million Iraqi children, women, and men have died in this unjustifiable war. Countless more have sustained devastating life long injuries to their bodies, minds, and spirits. More are killed and wounded every day. The suicide rate among active duty and returned Veterans is skyrocketing. We simply can't wait nine more months for a new President to begin a process for ending this war. And we don't have to: Congress has the power to end the war in Iraq now. The President can't spend a dime on this war without the approval of both houses of Congress.  A single act of bold leadership by Senator Clinton or Senator Obama could be instrumental in ending this war. When the Senate takes up the next war funding bill, either one of them could lead a filibuster, refusing to stand down until their colleagues agree to vote against any bill that provides funding to continue the war rather than funding specifically for the swift and safe return of all our troops from Iraq. They wouldn't even need a majority of their colleagues to back them up -- all they need is 40 Senators prepared to unite behind their leadership and block additional funding to continue the war from making it through the Senate. Democrats and Republicans alike have routinely used filibusters and the threat of filibusters around important issues. What could be more important that ending the war in Iraq? If Senator Clinton and Senator Obama aren't willing to use the power they have now as U.S. Senators to end the war, what makes anyone think they will exercise bold leadership on January 20, 2009? If they fail to take action to stop funding the war that is killing our troops and the Iraqi people, we can only conclude that when their campaigns talk about ending the war, they are just using the memory of the fallen, the sacrifices of our troops, and the grief and pain of our families, for political gain.   As military families, we appeal to the American people: Call Senator Clinton, Senator, Obama, and your own two Senators and urge them to use the power of the filibuster to block any bill that continues to fund the war in Iraq rather than funding the swift and safe return of our troops. We also call on Congress to appropriate the funds needed for our troops to get the care they need when they return.   Senator Hillary Clinton -- (202) 224-4451 Senator Barack Obama -- (202) 224-2854 Senate Switchboard -- (800) 828-0498 Click here to find out who your Senators are.  Click here to sign our online petition. MILITARY FAMILIES SPEAK OUT mfso@mfso.org http://www.mfso.org

VETERANS WORKING TOGETHER FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE THROUGH NON-VIOLENCE. Veterans For Peace, 216 S. Meramec, St. Louis, MO 63105, 314-725-6005 www.veteransforpeace.org   Veterans For Peace appreciates your generous donations. We also encourage you to join our ranks.

FW: [Fwd: Request to Show "Body of War" in Anchorage]

Vets,

I am forwarding a message I received from a local vet who is interested in
working with veterans. I am leaving town on Apr. 10 for a couple of weeks.
If any of you are interested in the suggested direction, please contact
Barbara. Why don't we shoot for a meeting in early May to just touch base
and see if we have any ideas on which to work.

My friend Harry Brod is working with Move-On to get to the congressional
delegation on the cost of the war sometime in April--watch for it.

-----Original Message-----
From: barbara@efn.org [mailto:barbara@efn.org]
Subject: [Fwd: Request to Show "Body of War" in Anchorage]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Request to Show "Body of War" in Anchorage
From: barbara@efn.org
Date: Wed, March 26, 2008 9:19 pm
To: info@bodyofwar.com
Cc: barbara@efn.org
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Hello all,

I am a service-connected disabled veteran (at 40% due to orthopedic
problems) living in Anchorage. The Veterans clinic here (we have no VA
hospital) grossly under serves or just plain does not serve the many Alaska
veterans I have come to know or know about. In particular, I am concerned
about women veterans who experience military service and sexual trauma,
while on active duty, differently from veterans who are men. I have a heart
for the many women veterans who experienced PTSD due to MST (military sexual
trauma) and who have disappeared themselves, largely due to their inability
to arrange VA treatment and compassion because of their invisible wounds and
injuries. Many of these veterans simply cannot manage to put their lives
back together on their own; they just need assistance in arranging the
services they need. The Anchorage VA is just awful.

The circumstance for these women is a problem in my state, but also in our
country. Many women cannot cope after initial attempts at the VA are
followed by humiliating and disrespectful behaviors from VA staff members,
"patient advocates", service organizations, our congressional delegation,
etc.. I haven't even mentioned the misinformation that some VA personnel
perpetrate, so veterans will go away.

In response to all of this, I am working with the Anchorage Small Business
Administration to develop my business. We agree that women are not treated
equitably at the VA and that this is harming a significant number of
returning veterans.

Last evening I learned about the film "Body of War" while listening to
Democracy Now. I was "blown away" as kids say these days. Now I wonder
whether we (me and others in Alaska) could put together a plan for Tomas
(Phil and others?) to visit Anchorage, give a presentation, and show the
remarkable film "Body of War". Such a program would be a fabulous experience
for many of us who who strongly oppose the war (the winners in our primary
elections were Barak Obama and Ron Paul). Not only would this be informative
about something we as voters must know, but it could also serve as a way to
raise money for the many veterans' unmet needs. Does this sound do-able?

I'd like to hear back from you after you are able to consider my request.
I think it is terrific idea that would "work" in Alaska.

Thank you very much, Barbara Bachmeier