26 organizations tell the Senate to end the war

 In Action Alert, Afghanistan

The Obama administration is in the midst of deciding how many troops with leave Afghanistan starting in July. President Obama has reiterated his pledge to begin withdrawal in July, and recently assured the public that it will not be a “token gesture.”

The Pentagon seems to have a different idea. The Washington Post reported that the military leadership is preparing options that range from a withdrawal of almost no troops to a maximum of 5,000, far below the 30,000 the president added when he made the withdrawal pledge in 2009. One official told the reporter, “Our hope is that we’ll be able to get away with no combat troops getting pulled out this summer.”

That’s why this is a critical time for members of Congress to step up and push the administration for a significant withdrawal in July that sets us on a path toward ending this near ten-year-old war. In the Senate, Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has introduced a bill that puts the Senate on the record supporting the July withdrawal and requires the president to develop an exit strategy with a clear end date. Eighteen senators voted last year for a similar amendment offered by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and we need to get that total up this time around. That’s why 26 organizations sent a letter to Senate staffers this week urging them to cosponsor the bill. You can read the letter below, and click here to send an email to your senators urging them to cosponsor.

On behalf of our supporters, we are writing to urge you to cosponsor S. 186, the Safe and Responsible Redeployment of United States Combat Forces from Afghanistan Act of 2011.

As the administration and military leadership debate the extent of the July troop drawdown, this is a critical time for senators to weigh in. S. 186 puts the Senate on the record supporting the beginning of troop withdrawal in July and exerts oversight by requiring a clear end date for the nearly ten-year-old war.

You can view the text of the legislation below.

We strongly encourage you to cosponsor S. 186. To cosponsor, please contact Sen. Boxer’s office.

Matthew P. Hoh
Director
Afghanistan Study Group

Robert Greenwald
Director
Brave New Foundation/Rethink Afghanistan

William C. Goodfellow
Executive Director
Center for International Policy

Jodie Evans
Co-Founder
CODEPINK

Michael Kieschnick
Chief Executive Officer
CREDO

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

Jonathan W. Evans
Legislative Representative for Foreign Policy
Friends Committee on National Legislation

Carleen Pickard
Associate Director
Global Exchange

Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy

Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Simone Campbell, SSS
Executive Director
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

David Robinson
Executive Director
Pax Christi USA

Paul Kawika Martin
Policy & Political Director
Peace Action

Rebecca Griffin
Political Director
Peace Action West

Tom Hayden
Peace and Justice Resource Center

Peter Wilk, M.D.
Executive Director
Physicians for Social Responsibility

Tim Carpenter
Director
Progressive Democrats of America

Andrea LeBlanc
Board Member
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

Jean Stokan
Director
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team

Lisa Schirch
Director
3D Security Initiative

James E. Winkler
General Secretary
General Board of Church and Society
The United Methodist Church

Rusti Eisenberg & Gael Murphy
Co-Conveners Legislative Working Group
United for Peace and Justice

Cassandra McKee
Program Director
USAction

Michael Eisenscher
National Coordinator
US Labor Against the War

Hon. Thomas Andrews
National Director
Win Without War

Susan Shaer
Executive Director
Women’s Action for New Directions

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Comments
  • James Rogers
    Reply

    Telling the children who run the Senate to stop the war is like thumb-twiddling. You need to tell the controllers of the Senate, the people who make money by waging war. Bet you don’t even know who they are.

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