You put the brakes on war

 In Syria

It’s astounding to watch a run-up to war come to a screeching halt. And it wouldn’t have happened without your efforts.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the media was discussing a strike on Syria as an inevitability. After you joined the clamor for a vote in Congress, President Obama surprisingly slowed down the rush to war and got ready to put the question to Congress.

Then things really got impressive.

The public sent a persistent, insistent message that couldn’t be ignored. We were on Capitol Hill this week while all of this was developing and visited over 70 House and Senate offices.Every one of them confirmed that they were flooded with calls and emails overwhelmingly opposed to military action.

The red flag thrown up by the American people, forcing a real debate, left time for the promising diplomatic opportunity that arose this week. On an evening when President Obama had planned to sell us a war, he instead announced that he had called on Congress to delay a vote while his administration works with the Russian government and other allies on a new proposal to secure Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles.

I cannot tell you how inspiring it is to be in the middle of the action and see your efforts reverberating in Congress. Thank you so much for the thousands of emails and phone calls that gave our arguments for peace a fighting chance.

This isn’t over yet. We must remain vigilant and push for the diplomatic solution to succeed, and block any new attempts to revert to military force. We will be keeping our ears to the ground and will let you know when your action is needed.

But for now, we should take a moment to celebrate the fact that we helped bring our nation back from the brink of war.

Thank you, from all of us at Peace Action West, for making this possible.

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Showing 2 comments
  • maggieannthoeni
    Reply

    A quote I like – sometimes encouraging for me to keep in mind:

    “Time-lines are for high school textbooks. History itself is all indirection and angles, actions and events caroming off one another, one unintended consequence glancing into the next.” (David Rothkopf)

    Thank you for all you have done, intend to do, and for sending feedback. For those of us who cannot travel to make our points, your reports are most welcome. And yes, this isn’t over yet. A good opening, possibilities hold promise, but momentum of old patterns persists!

    • Rebecca Griffin
      Reply

      Thanks for the kind words and all your support! We can’t do it without all of you.

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