PLEASE everyone - call again Congress TODAY to reject the Petraeus/Bush plan

[peacebird]

Please call your senatiors and reps as well as Pelosi and Reid. Please take the time to call!

Maybe I'm just a dreamer but I still have the faint glimmer of hope that if enough folks speak out perhaps Congres will listen?

[babylonsister]

1. Here's an easy way to express yourself -quick and easy!

(peacebird, I hope you don't mind me putting this here: if so, let me know. I tried to get people motivated, to no avail)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1792997&mesg_id=1792997


President Bush and the Republicans in Congress have been telling us to wait for the so-called "Petraeus Report" for months before we change the course in Iraq. Now with relentless bloodshed and no political solution in sight, President Bush wants more time for his failed war.

Tell Congress that their time is up -- find a new course for Iraq:

http://www.democrats.org/TimeIsUp

All summer, Republicans have used the so-called "Petraeus Report" to delay dealing with growing anti-war sentiment.

In June, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said:

"I think everybody anticipates that there's going to be a new strategy in the fall. I don't think we'll have the same level of troops, in all likelihood, that we have now. The Iraqis will have to step up, not only on the political side, but on the military side, to a greater extent. We're not there forever. I think they understand that, and the time to properly evaluate that, it strikes me, is in September."

And in July, President Bush said,

"I welcome a good, honest debate about the consequences of failure, the consequences of success in this war. But I believe that it's in this nation's interests to give the commander a chance to fully implement his operations. I believe Congress ought to wait for Gen. Petraeus to come back and give his assessment of the strategy that he's putting in place before they make any decisions."

This week, General Petraeus testified before Congress, asking for more time. He wants to wait until March to make recommendations about bringing our troops home.

Tell them that the time to make those decisions is right now -- just as they've been saying all summer.

http://www.democrats.org/TimeIsUp

According to the Washington Post, many experts have questioned data behind the general's optimistic assessment of the war, accusing the Pentagon of "cherry-picking positive indicators." Even in December 2006, the Iraq Study Group reported "significant under-reporting of violence."

In fact, this has been the bloodiest summer for American soldiers since the war began.

And when it comes to the Iraqi government, there's even less progress. The surge was supposed to help give breathing room in the political process, but the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that two and a half years after the first election, the Iraqi government has met just three of the 18 benchmarks set by Congress.

Kenneth Katzman, author of a report for the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, put it this way:

"My assessment is that because of the number and breadth of parties boycotting the cabinet, the Iraqi government is in essential collapse. That argues against any real prospects for political reconciliation."

Add your name to the list of people telling Congress that this isn't a war that's going to be won with military might, now or six months from now. It's time to change the course and redeploy our troops from Iraq:

http://www.democrats.org/TimeIsUp

President Bush cherry-picked intelligence to make his initial case for war over four years ago. Since then he has stifled dissent and distorted the truth to sell his failing strategy to the rest of us.

The Republicans accuse Democrats of setting arbitrary dates for withdrawal -- but it's the Republicans who set arbitrary dates for delay.

Sincerely,

Tom McMahon
Executive Director

[Sherman A1]

2. I sent this email yesterday morning to my

Congressman (MO 1 - Lacy Clay) and Senators Bond & McCaskill, it would be a good idea if we all did send our thoughts to our respective representatives.



Congressman,
After listening to parts of Petraus/Crocker report over these last few days, I am more convinced that no end is in sight for our brave young men and women deployed in this ill-conceived war based upon lies and half truths. I urge You and your colleagues to refuse to continue to fund operations in Iraq and thereby force the Administration to bring the troops home. Do not pass legislation with a time table or benchmarks, do not pass stop gap measures requiring additional reports, do not pass legislation that allegedly "supports the troops". Simply send NO more money.
There is no question of failure in Iraq. We have failed and that failure started on the day the Bush White House chose to lie to the American people and their elected representatives in order to start a war based upon whole cloth. Please put an end to this madness.

Thank You Very Much,
Sincerely,