"Peaceable Assembly Campaign: A Campaign to Demand Alternatives to U.S. Militarism"

Friends,

 

Thanks to the goodness of a friend, I am moving from 3338 Gilman Terrace, Baltimore, MD 21211 to 1202 Roundhill Road, Baltimore, MD 21218 effective August 31, 2009.  On August 29, the same phone number and email address will be transferred to the new house.  Another friend was willing to provide me space as well.

 

My major concern is Phantom the cat.  I let him out at night.  When we move and I let him out, will he return to the old house or the new house?  Should I keep him inside for a week, so that he becomes acclimated to the new place?  Any advice would be appreciated.  Kagiso,  Max

 

Peaceable Assembly Campaign

 

A Campaign to Demand Alternatives to U.S. Militarism

 

http://vcnv.org/pac

 

Voices for Creative Nonviolence is initiating a nationwide Peaceable

Assembly Campaign which seeks an end to the U.S. wars in Iraq,

Afghanistan and Pakistan and an end to U.S. support of the continued

occupation of the Palestinian territories. Beginning in September,

2009, and continuing for the next ten months, we will engage in both

legal and extralegal (nonviolent civil disobedience/civil resistance)

lobbying efforts, urging Representatives and Senators to stop

authorizing and funding wars and occupations.

 

The Folly of the Present Policy

 

At the zenith of its growth in the last half century, the United

States of America has the most powerful military forces in all of

human history. But this has come at a terrific cost: extravagant

demands for resources, trillions of dollars of national debt and the

incalculable destruction, displacement, and death that is caused by

war.

 

Projecting military power around the world is extremely costly for all of us.

 

   1) We believe that U.S. policies in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan

aim, in part, to secure and control priority access to natural

resources and to establish ongoing U.S. military presence in these

regions.

 

   2) We think it is folly to believe that the United States can

successfully control the politics of Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan.

Ultimately, this project cannot succeed, and is not worth the cost in

human lives and national wealth, even if it could succeed.

 

   3) The U.S. and its allies have used armed occupation and military

offensives to secure perceived U.S. national interests in Iraq,

Afghanistan and Pakistan. We believe military solutions are

facilitating recruitment for Al Qaeda, Taliban groups, and other

organizations that engage in armed resistance to the U.S. and its

allies. Lacking the resources to resist overwhelming U.S. superiority

in weapons technology, by so-called “conventional warfare,” they

resort to a variety of improvised tactics, including terror attacks on

civilians. Western attempts to dominate this region are increasing

armed resisters, not defeating them.

 

   4) In 2007, the U.S. and Israel signed a Memorandum of

Understanding that the U.S. would provide Israel with $30 billion in

military aid over the next 10 years. The U.S. also signed military

pacts worth 13 billion dollars for Egypt and arranged billions of

dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Gulf states. U.S. military

aid and U.S. weapon sales to the region escalate the arms race and

lessen the likelihood that conflicts will be resolved through

negotiation and diplomacy.

 

The current “War on Terror/ Overseas Contingency Operations” paradigm

of occupation and militarization is counterproductive. We should not

pursue this failed strategy. History clearly points out that attempts

at subjugating countries in the Middle East and Central Asia have all

failed miserably. We need a new path and vision for creating peace and

justice.

 

Our Proposal

 

We call on Congress and the Obama Administration to:

 

   1) Demand and organize prompt regional negotiations with all

interested parties and seek settlements to these conflicts that could

minimize the potential for civil wars during inevitable struggles over

political power.

 

   2) Announce and carry out a prompt end to U.S. combat engagement in

these wars, and an orderly, prompt withdrawal of all U.S. forces and

bases from these countries.

 

   3) Close Guantanamo, Bagram and other detention facilities

established as part of the so-called “war on terror” under President

Bush and press for full U.S. compliance with all international

treaties regarding the treatment of prisoners.

 

   4) Stop all forms of collective punishment imposed on civilians.

 

   5) End U.S. interference in the affairs of other countries.

 

   6) Massively reduce U.S. military spending consistent with these goals.

 

   7) Convert excessive military spending to:

 

   a) Provide assistance to refugees of these conflicts through

local aid agencies and the United Nations implementing partners;

 

  b) Support the development of public infrastructure, education,

local economies, and healthcare networks in Iraq, Afghanistan,

Pakistan, and Palestine;

 

 c) Retrofit U.S. housing, transportation, industry and other

property assets for maximum energy efficiency;

 

d) Invent and develop renewable and sustainable methods of

alternative energy production;

 

e) Build energy efficient systems for mass transit throughout

the United States;

 

 f) Repair and restore our public infrastructure, including

subsidies to create full employment and affordable housing in

impoverished and neglected areas;

 

g) Provide universal health care and quality education for all

people living in the United States.

 

We hold President Obama, elected members of Congress, and ourselves

fully accountable for:

 

   i) all destructive effects of military policies in Iraq,

Afghanistan and Pakistan, and

 

   ii) all failures in domestic policy caused by wasting public resources on war

 

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Voices for Creative Nonviolence | 1249 W Argyle Street #2 - Chicago,

IL 60640 | Phone: (773) 878-3815 | email: info@vcnv.org