Take Action

Say "No" to Veto

Friends Committee on National Legislation: Legislative Action Message:
Read this alert online at: http://www.fcnl.org/action/2007/lam0426.htm
Take Action: Tell the president to change course in Iraq.
Congress has just approved the first legislation requiring the U.S. to begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq by a date certain. The president has said he will veto this legislation, because he disagrees with the provision for eventual withdrawal. We believe that the president is not in touch with reality. Please write to President Bush today to appeal to him to face reality and to urge him to reconsider his promised veto. Give him a dose of reality today. He should know that the people of this country insist on a change in U.S. policy in Iraq and will mobilize popular opposition to this awful, failed war, until the last U.S. troops have left Iraq.
Next Tuesday, May 1, is the fourth anniversary of the president’s declaration of “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. The weekly death toll in Iraq – for both Iraqis and U.S. soldiers – is growing. Not one more dollar, not one more drop of blood should be spent on this war. The U.S. should not send more soldiers off to Iraq to die.
As is often the case, we at FCNL don’t like the vehicle Congress has chosen to make this policy change. The bill containing the U.S. troop withdrawal provision also provides over $100 billion more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we oppose any funding for war. But a majority in Congress isn’t there yet. We believe insisting that new funding, at least, should be contingent upon a date certain for the withdrawal of U.S. troops is an important step along the road to changing U.S. policy. Congress rarely, if ever, takes radical measures; it is an incremental institution. We have to move members of Congress by increments through continuing, assertive, legislative action to turn them around. Your grassroots work is indispensable. A great deal of work remains to change U.S. policy towards Iraq, especially if the president vetoes the legislation because of the troop withdrawal provisions. The president needs to hear, again and again, that people in this country want a change in policy, members of Congress needs to hear that you expect them to act, and more people need to speak out in favor of troop withdrawal. Writing to the president today helps advance our strategy for this change process.
Take Action
Please send an urgent message to President Bush today. Let him know that you want a change in U.S. policy towards Iraq, beginning with a date for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Send copies of your letter to your senators and representative. Encourage them to keep working on this provision, even if the president vetoes the bill. And, thank you for your steadfast work on this issue.
Background
The U.S. presence in Iraq is the problem, not the solution. The U.S. military presence and occupation of Iraq fuels the armed insurgency, prevents political solutions, and, as the National Intelligence Estimate reported last year, has been a boon to al Qaeda recruiters. President Bush is doing just what the violent extremists want him to do. We need to get him off their team; he’s shooting baskets in the opponents hoop.
Read updates on the FCNL’s Iraq Peace Campaign
Read more about what FCNL’s chief Iraq lobbyist Jim Fine believes will happen
Urge Five Friends to Act
Congress has just approved the first legislation requiring the U.S. to begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq. The president has said he is going to veto this legislation. Please ask your friends to join in writing to President Bush today and urge him to reconsider. It’s time to let the White House know that the people of this country insist on a change in U.S. policy in Iraq and that we will mobilize popular opposition to this awful, failed war, until the last U.S. troops have left Iraq.
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Contact Congress and the administration.
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Friends Committee on National Legislation245 Second St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-5795fcnl@fcnl.org * http://www.fcnl.orgphone: (202)547-6000 * toll-free: (800)630-1330
We seek a world free of war and the threat of warWe seek a society with equity and justice for allWe seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilledWe seek an earth restored.