Veterans For Peace Chapter 161

On September 14, 2001, the US Congress passed, with only one dissenting vote, the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) which has served for the last 17 years as a legal veneer for our military misadventures around the world. Count the countries where our military has killed people who are not at war with us —at least nine (Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Niger, Algeria). Count the dollars spent on just our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — at least Four Trillion Dollars. Count the number of countries where we have deployed US Special Forces — 149 in 2017. Count the number of military veteran suicides daily — at least 22.

Add to these figures the tragic irony that recent news is filled with reports of the US being allied with Al Qaeda forces in Yemen and Syria. Al Qaeda, the enemy that was the focus of the 2001 AUMF. An additional irony is that there are efforts underway to pass a new AUMF in Congress, which would call for even less Congressional oversight than the 2001 AUMF.

It is time to start paving the path to the peace we claim to love. A good first step is to rescind the 2001 AUMF and get the US military out of the bullying business. Tell Senator Ernst and Senator Grassley and Representative Loebsack or whoever represents you in Washington that they need to get on board the peace train and enable war no more. And spend 15 minutes at the weekly peace rally at the east side of the Pentacrest, this and any Friday, 4PM-5:30 PM.