E-news: Iraq, What We're Reading, and More
E-News: Iraq, What We're Reading, and More
March 11, 2008
Iraq:How to End the War?
From the Quakers' Colonel: Scoring the "Surge" and What Lies Beyond
Grassroots Tip: Easter Recess Lobbying for Climate Security
Quote of the Week: CIA Needs License to Torture
From the Hill: 700 People Lobby During Ecumenical Advocacy Days
Success: House Passes Bill to Invest in Peace
FCNL in the News: After All, It's Your Money
What We're Reading: Bury the Chains, by Adam Hochschild
War is Not the Answer Photo of the Week: Brentwood, CA
You can read this newsletter online at: http://action.fcnl.org/enews/11march08/index.html.
U.S. and Iraqi officials met in Baghdad last week to work on an agreement that could lead to a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq. On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion, the Bush administration could be tying the hands of the next president and Congress and making a future withdrawal more difficult.
From the Quakers' Colonel: Scoring the "Surge" and What Lies Beyond
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The public perception is that the troop surge in Iraq is succeeding. But the surge has failed to accomplish any of the goals that President Bush laid out for it over a year ago. Read why Col. Dan Smith (USA, Ret.) says that the administration is striking out in Iraq. |
Grassroots Tip: Easter Recess Lobbying for Climate Security
Members of Congress will be home from March 15-31. This Easter recess provides an opportunity for you to talk with your elected officials about strengthening the bill on reducing greenhouse gas emissions that the Senate is planning to debate in the next few months. Find out why. FCNL believes that the Climate Security Act (S. 2191) falls far short of what is needed and who else is lobbying Congress on this bill during the recess.
Quote of the Week: CIA Needs License to Torture
"The bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror -- the CIA program to detain and question key terrorist leaders and operatives…. The main reason this program has been effective is that it allows the CIA to use specialized interrogation procedures to question a small number of the most dangerous terrorists under careful supervision."
~ President Bush, using his weekly radio address on March 8 to explain why he vetoed the Intelligence Authorization Act (H.R. 2082), which would have banned the CIA and other U.S. interrogators from using inhumane techniques such as waterboarding when questioning prisoners. Find out if your members voted to ban torture
From the Hill: 700 People Lobby During Ecumenical Advocacy Days
Last weekend's annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days gathering here in Washington showcased FCNL lobbyists, who helped organize sessions and briefed participants on national security issues, Middle East politics, and Africa issues. The core lobbying points for the 700 people who attended focused on FCNL's five steps Congress can take right now to create structures for peace.
Success: House Passes Bill to Invest in Peace
Legislation that would strengthen the U.S.'s capability to prevent and resolve violent conflicts passed the full House on March 5. The Reconstruction and Stabilization Civilian Management Act (H.R. 1084) would create a civilian response corps that could be sent to crisis-torn areas and help countries provide basic services to their citizens.
FCNL in the News: After All, It's Your Money
What else could people in Belmont, Massachusetts, have done with tax dollars being spent on the Iraq war? What local priorities could that money have been used to meet? Writing in the Belmont Citizen-Herald, FCNL Program Assistant Claire Valentin raises these questions and encourages readers to tell their elected officials how they want their tax dollars to be spent.
What We're Reading: Bury the Chains, by Adam Hochschild
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Twelve people, many of them Quakers, met in a London print shop in 1787 and launched a movement that led to the virtual disappearance of slavery within a century. Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves tells their story and the story of the movement. "Nobody believed it could be done," says Executive Secretary Joe Volk. "They were making up their tactics. And today, almost every political movement you look at is using the tools they created to advance change." |
War is Not the Answer Photo of the Week: Brentwood, CA
Photo: Kati Short
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