It’s breathtaking, isn’t it?
After twelve years of war in which justifications for war proved to be lies and claims of easy victory proved false, while the Afghanistan war drags on and Washington cuts Head Start, Meals on Wheels, and cancer clinics, and threatens to cut Social Security and veterans’ benefits, elite media are once again manufacturing a drumbeat for war, this time with Syria, even though recent polls have shown that the public is overwhelmingly opposed to U.S. military intervention in Syria’s civil war. [1] [2]
Members of Congress who are dubious about another U.S. war in the Middle East will have a good opportunity soon to push back against this media drumbeat when Congress considers the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Amendments can be offered that can counter the pro-war media chorus.
Help us take advantage of this opportunity to push against the media drumbeat for war by urging your representatives to support amendments to the NDAA that will slow down calls for military escalation.
https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/syria-ndaa
There are a lot of things that Congress could do to slow down the rush to war, including passing amendments to the NDAA to:
- Bar the introduction of U.S. ground troops to Syria. Such an amendment might pass the House overwhelmingly, as it did in the case of Libya, sending a signal that there is a limit to U.S. military escalation. [3]
- Re-affirm that U.S. drone strikes in Syria would constitute “hostilities” as defined by the War Powers Resolution, meaning that any use in Syria would have to be explicitly authorized by Congress. Most of the media discussion ignores the role of Congress, but when the Administration conducted drone strikes in Libya without Congressional authorization, in violation of the War Powers Resolution, the House of Representatives objected. [4]
- Affirm that the United Nations is the proper forum for addressing claims about the use of chemical weapons in Syria. This has been President Obama’s position. A leading UN investigator says that the evidence the UN has collected so far points to use of chemical weapons by Syrian rebels, not by the Syrian government. [5]
- Affirm that the U.S. should pursue diplomacy in the UN and in the region to press for a political resolution in Syria that ends the civil war.
Urge your representatives to speak up against another rush to war.
https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/syria-ndaa
Thank you for all you do to help bring about a more just foreign policy,
Robert Naiman, Chelsea Mozen, Sarah Burns and Megan Iorio
Just Foreign Policy
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References:
1. “Syria Skepticism: Chemical claims should be investigated, not used as pretext for war,” FAIR, May 6, 2013, http://fair.org/take-action/media-advisories/syria-skepticism/
2. “Americans want U.S. to keep out of Syria conflict: poll,” Patricia Zengerle, Reuters, May 2, 2013, http://news.yahoo.com/americans-want-u-keep-syria-conflict-poll-001905089.html
3. “Lawmakers bar US ground troops from Libya,” AFP, May 26, 2011, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jY-A0s1hUqS07RxFUkdPed5GFsqQ
4. “House rebukes Obama on Libya,” Pete Kasperowicz, The Hill, June 3, 2011, http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/164675-house-approves-boehners-libya-resolution-rejects-kucinich-proposal
5. “UN’s Del Ponte says evidence Syria rebels ‘used sarin’,” BBC, May 6, 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22424188