<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<html><head><style type="text/css"><!--
blockquote, dl, ul, ol, li { padding-top: 0 ; padding-bottom: 0 }
--></style><title>Please take this action today: Stop paying for
military o</title></head><body>
<div>Thanks to Mary Cathcart for forwarding this message:</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="+1" color="#990000"><b>Stop paying for military occupation of
Iraq</b></font><font face="Verdana" size="+1" color="#000099"><b><br>
</b></font><font face="Verdana" size="-1"><b><br>
Tell Congress to cut off funding NOW. Sign onto an open letter from
Win Without War coalition.</b></font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Arial"
size="-1"> </font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">March 19 marked the 5th anniversary of
the US invasion of Iraq.<b> In the next month or
so, Congress will vote on whether to provide the Bush administration
with more than a hundred billion dollars MORE for the
war.</b></font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1"><i>Enough.</i> WAND is working with the Win Without War
coalition to organize an open letter to Congress; we hope to gather
millions of signatures from people across the country.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><a
href="http://capwiz.com/wand/issues/alert/?alertid=11224976"><font
face="Verdana" size="-1"><b>Tell Congress:</b></font></a><font
face="Verdana" size="-1"> Stop giving President Bush the money
that he needs to continue the military occupation
of Iraq.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">When you take this action, you will add your name to the
open letter; and send a message to your Representative.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1" color="#990000"><b>Take Action:</b></font><font
face="Verdana" size="-1"><b> </b></font><a
href="http://capwiz.com/wand/issues/alert/?alertid=11224976"><font
face="Verdana" size="-1"><b>Send a message</b></font></a><font
face="Verdana" size="-1"><b> to your Representative. AND sign
onto the open letter to Congress at the same time.</b></font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
color="#000066"><b>The open letter to Congress from the Win Without
War coalition</b></font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">Dear Chairman Murtha,</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">As we enter the sixth year of the Iraq War, we urge you to
draft a new supplemental appropriations bill that will direct the
president to immediately begin the orderly removal of all U.S troops
from Iraq and complete this process as quickly and safely as
possible.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">The Iraq War has taken the lives of nearly
4,000 U.S. soldiers and caused the death and displacement of
millions of Iraqis. Congress has already approved $500 billion for the
war in direct costs. Our nation faces trillions in additional costs to
care for veterans' injuries suffered in the course of this conflict,
not to mention the costs of financing the war. This waste of federal
dollars comes at a time when our nation faces an economic recession.
The war has hollowed out our military, diverted resources from the
battle against al Qaeda and from homeland security, and deeply damaged
our reputation abroad.<br>
<br>
Despite clear mandates from your subcommittee and Congress to seek a
change in course, Senate Republicans and President Bush have combined
to veto measures calling for a sensible withdrawal from Iraq. In
January, the President went even further, issuing a signing statement
saying that his Administration is not bound by the provision in the
2008 Defense Authorization Act that bars the use of appropriated funds
in this Act for the construction of permanent American military bases
and U. S. control over Iraqi oil resources. He also rejected
language to establish an independent, bipartisan "Commission on
Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan" to
investigate allegations of waste, mismanagement, and excessive force
by contractors.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">Furthermore, at the end of last year, President Bush and
Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki signed a "Declaration of Principles"
providing an outline for negotiating an "enduring" U.S.-Iraq
relationship for security, economic, political, diplomatic, and
cultural relations. President Bush has rejected the notion that
Congress has a role in these negotiations over the
future U.S. presence in Iraq.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">With these actions, the President has made clear his
intention to stay the course in Iraq while deepening
the U.S. military commitment for an indefinite time and
attempting to tie the hands of the next President.<br>
Mr. Chairman, it is past time to bring the Iraq war to an
end. The costs are too great to allow it to continue indefinitely. The
best course of action in the upcoming supplemental appropriation's
bill is to provide funding only for the safe and timely redeployment
of U.S. troops out of Iraq and end the
occupation.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">As part of a responsible redeployment, we support funding
for a diplomatic offensive as suggested by the Iraq Study Group.
Greater resources and resolve for diplomacy to the Iraq War are needed
for a comprehensive solution.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">In addition, we strongly urge you to cease funding for
military construction in Iraqand for U.S. military
contractors in Iraq. Given the President's use of signing
statements on these issues, the only way to ensure compliance with
Congress' directives is to remove such funding.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">Finally, we ask that it be made clear that no funds will be
made available for any formal U.S.-Iraq agreement based upon the
Bush-Maliki "Declaration of Principles" unless the agreement is
approved by Congress and the Iraqi parliament.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">Thank you for your continued leadership in the effort to end
the war in Iraq and bring our troops home. Your courage and
tenacity in the face of attacks and criticisms is most admirable. We
are eager to work with you and your colleagues in the critical weeks
and months ahead to end the debacle in Iraq and bring our
men and women in uniform home.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">Sincerely, The Win Without War Coalition</font><br>
</blockquote>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#990000"><b>Take
Action:</b></font><font face="Verdana" size="-1"><b> </b></font><a
href="http://capwiz.com/wand/issues/alert/?alertid=11224976"><font
face="Verdana" size="-1"><b>Send a message</b></font></a><font
face="Verdana" size="-1"><b> to your Representative. AND sign
onto the open letter to Congress at the same time.</b></font></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div>The Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine<br>
170 Park Street<br>
Bangor ME 04401<br>
(207) 942-9343<br>
fax 992-2288<br>
email: info@peacectr.org<br>
check our website:
<http://www.peacectr.org/>www.peacectr.org</div>
</body>
</html>