Saturday, January 27, 2007
Let's Try Saving Lives - Not Taking Them
The "Bring the Troops Home and Iraqi Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2007," H.R. 508, was introduced last week by Reps. Lynn Woolsey (D - CA6), Barbara Lee (D - CA9), and Maxine Waters (D - CA35), with the following intent: "To require United States military disengagement from Iraq, to provide United States assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq, and for other purposes."
Click here to send an email to your Representative and tell them to co-sponsor H.R. 508!
This bill - which Peace Action Education Fund was involved in creating - mandates that all U.S. troops and military contractors in Iraq return to the U.S. or redeploy outside of the Middle East within six months of the date of enactment, at which point funding obligated or expended to deploy or continue to deploy U.S. forces in Iraq will be terminated. H.R. 508 would also repeal the 2002 authorization of force resolution approved to go to war with Iraq.
A truly comprehensive piece of legislation to end the war, H.R. 508 would also do the following:
* authorize U.S. support for replacing U.S. troops and contractors with an international stabilization force
* prohibit any permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq
* accelerate U.S. troop and contractor assistance for training of a permanent Iraqi police force
* authorize a wide array of non-military U.S. bilateral and multilateral assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq, including a compensation fund for Iraqi noncombatant civilian casualties
* guarantee complete health care for U.S. veterans of military operations in Iraq and other conflicts.
This is very important: even if this bill does not pass, the amount of support we can generate for it will help push the debate, and any legislation Congress does pass, in our direction. Click here to let your Representative know that you expect them to co-sponsor H.R. 508.
Peace Action Education Fund, along with our members, supporters and colleagues, has lobbied long and hard for many of the provisions in this act, and its introduction represents a shift toward real security based on international cooperation and the defense of human rights - as opposed to the endless war strategy of the Bush Administration. It would build trust with the Iraqi people and others in the Middle East, guarantee that the federal government meets its obligations to the many veterans who have sacrificed so much in this war, provide reparations and reconstruction for the Iraqi people, and offers a formal avenue for members of the House to admit their error in authorizing Bush to use force in the first place.
This is the bill we have been waiting for, and working toward, for a long time. Please take a moment to send your Representative an email and let them know that non-binding resolutions are not enough - demand that the co-sponsor H.R. 508, the "Bring the Troops Home and Iraqi Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2007."
With thanks for all you do for peace and justice,
Randolph
Labels: American Troops, Iraq war fiasco, peace action, war on terror
