[PAA-Discuss] Launching_a_bold_campaign_against_war

[Bill Crosier]

All this is good, Massoud, but I don't want to 
depend on just trying to get 2 million signatures 
on a petition.  Distibuting a petition can be 
good even without getting that many signatures if 
it helps educate people about the problems with 
Obama's Afghanistan policy, but I'd like us to 
discuss (on this list and at the PAA meeting 
tomorrow) about other things we can do now to 
also have an impact.

I suggest:
Those who want to get petition signatures, should do so.
Those who want to write letters to the editor (LTE's), should do so.
Those who want to contact Congress and the White 
House, and keep contacting them repeatedly, 
should do so.

I don't think any of these will necessarily 
result in Obama reversing himself right away, but 
the more of each of these we do, the more support 
we can build for changing the policy and our 
spending priorities.  Congressional candidates, 
in particular, may be more inclined to listen to 
their constituents in the next few months, even 
though we also know they listen to lobbyists way 
too much.  As you've noted, an increasing number 
of people are wondering why we're in Afghanistan 
and why we can't pay for human needs here, but 
Congress needs to hear from us about this.

I'm open to other suggestions, too, but I want to 
personally concentrate on getting more folks to 
write LTE's and to Congress & Obama -- a few 
hundred people writing LTE's may have more effect 
than thousands signing petitions.  And I don't 
want to wait until we get one or two million 
petition signatures.

Bill



At 8:30 AM -0600 12/9/09, Massoud wrote:
>Dear All,
>
>
>
>- We are going through extraordinary times. The 
>American people are turning against the war by 
>millions.
>
>
>
>- We have the opportunity to bring people 
>together and show our forces- relying on a 
>grassroot anti-war movement.
>
>
>
>- Politicians in general are entertainers. They 
>will entertain us as long as we allow them to be 
>on the stage.
>
>
>
>- War is the mother of all problems. If you 
>agree, then the question is how to end the war?
>
>
>
>- Abortion, environment, education and all other 
>important social issues will not be solved as 
>long as the government is spending billions 
>of dollars on endless wars.
>
>
>
>- We need to speak up now and start a bold campaign against the war.
>
>
>
>- We only need about 2 million signatures to 
>make the city of Houston a city that is against 
>war* (read more about this idea below).
>
>
>
>FIRST STEP: Please read this statement, correct 
>it, reject it, approve it or come up with a 
>totally new concept. Just don't ignore the facts.
>
>
>
>Debbie and Massoud
>
>
>
>* * *
>
>
>
>
>
>President Obama, your decision in launching a 
>military ìsurgeî in Afghanistan, is bad for the 
>people of Afghanistan and bad for the people of 
>our country. Your speech on Dec. 1, 2009 was 
>eerily reminiscence of President George Bush in 
>the lead up to the Iraq invasion and occupation 
>- a war that has caused the deaths of more than 
>4600 US soldiers and one million Iraqis, with 
>another million maimed and displaced.
>
>President Obama, your decision in launching a 
>military ìsurgeî in Afghanistan, is bad for the 
>people of Afghanistan and bad for the people of 
>our country. We are suffering in the US with a 
>broken health care system, inadequate education 
>funding, unemployment, bankruptcies, 
>homelessness, and an environmental and energy 
>crisis, while being told there are not adequate 
>funds to deal with those needs.  Yet every hour 
>you spend more than $ 11 million for your war 
>-  you are charging us a $100 billion a year. 
>Needless to say this is our money that our 
>families need desperately to improve our quality 
>of life and ensure a decent future for our 
>children.
>
>President Obama, your decision in launching a 
>military ìsurgeî in Afghanistan, is bad for the 
>people of Afghanistan and bad for the people of 
>our country. All independent reports suggest 
>that the majority of people in Afghanistan see 
>the American troops as an army of occupiers. 
>This fact and the killing of innocent and 
>defenseless Afghani men, women and children by 
>the blind US drones and missiles, creates more 
>hatred and exacerbates other problems in the 
>region and internationally. This is a false 
>military policy that breeds extremism rather 
>than eliminates it.
>
>President Obama, your decision in launching a 
>military ìsurgeî in Afghanistan, is bad for the 
>people of Afghanistan and bad for the people of 
>our country. Your disingenuous mentioning of 
>July 2011 as the time line for withdrawal of 
>American troops from Afghanistan was rejected by 
>Defense Secretary Gates just 24 hours after your 
>speech. You know better than anybody else that 
>a time line is not practical and youíre willing 
>to risk the lives of our youth and our future 
>only to guarantee the profit for a minority in 
>this nation which supports war because it is a 
>profitable business for them.
>
>President Obama, your decision in launching a 
>military ìsurgeî in Afghanistan, is bad for the 
>people of Afghanistan and bad for the people of 
>our country. We demand that you bring the troops 
>home NOW. War and militarism rob the United 
>States of its financial resources. We are tired 
>of the cost and talk of war and torture. This 
>war is already a defeat for the average hard 
>working Afghan and American people. We need 
>peace to end the poverty and to have prosperity 
>for generations to come. 
>
>End the war now!
>
>
>
>Signed by:
>
>
>
>----------------------------
>
>* Our course of action would be; first - to 
>present this statement to the community 
>organizers and leaders and allow them to read 
>and modify it as they wish for a final draft 
>(within a timetable), second - based on this 
>agreed statement, we launch a vigorous campaign 
>to show that Houstonians (we are talking about 
>millions of signatures and support from 
>individuals and organizations of all kinds) are 
>indeed against the war in Afghanistan, and third 
>- based on this massive support, we present a 
>statement to City Hall and demand that they 
>announce that Houston is a city against this war 
>and wants to bring the troops home. We hope with 
>a successful campaign, Houston will become the 
>model for other cities and states to emulate.
>
>
>
>

-- 
Bill Crosier
paa at crosierbiomed.com      713-641-4941
Progressive Action Alliance   http://progressiveactionalliance.org/
KPFT - Radio for Peace - 90.1 FM Houston   http://kpft.org
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