Filling in for another MFSO Pac NW member who had already intitiated contact with an aide to Governor Gregoire (D Washington), I sent this to that aide as a follow up on 9/16/05. I never received a response or acknowledgment and have decided to go public with the letter.
Dear Sir,
In the interests of time (yours and mine) on a workday where I suspect you are busy, I've chosen to use the email to convey the current purpose and desire of Military Families Speak Out - Pac NW chapter.
The question of the deployment of Washington National Guard troops as well as NG troops nation-wide is back on the front burner. It's a more significant issue in light of Hurricane Katrina as well as the growing positive response to the questions raised by Cindy Sheehan outside the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Support for the war in Iraq has now fallen below 50%. Growing support for and positive actions taken in agreement with Mrs. Sheehan and the
current Bring Them Home Now bus tour headed toward Washington D.C. reveal the shifting mood of our national and state voters.
Three days ago, the city of Chicago passed a resolution demanding that the Bush administration bring the troops home now. The vote was 29-9.
Yesterday the the city of Philadelphia did the same thing (the vote was 16-1). In Pittsburgh earlier this week the United Steel Workers
announced their support and a demand that the troops be brought home now.
Yesterday the AFL-CIO in Philadelphia took the same step.
Hurricane Katrina has morally empowered every state governor to initiate action aimed at returning the NG home where they belong. The proportion of NG troops required by the Bush administration in Iraq as a percentage of the overall troop strength there is an embarrassing testament to the folly of the incursion.
On-going revelations of lies and deception used to obtain support for the Iraq venture in the first place are not going to die down - rather will continue as this president's support remains in freefall. The notion that somehow a need to complete the now-discredited Bush "mission" is no longer politcally supportable. The time has come for the citizens and leaders in each state to intitiate the actions needed to bring about change.
MFSO (Military Families Speak Out), as I hope you know, does not have as its agenda a non-support of the military. Rather, we consider holding leadership accountable for decisions that place our loved ones in harm's way as a patriotic duty that equals a soldier's obligation to defend the country and follow the chain of command. Troops cannot do that in full confidence if they do not bear with them the confidence that citizens at home are "watching their backs"; supporting them fully but making sure the leadership is kept honest. That's the basis of democracy and patriotism.
We in Washington State are proud of our governor and support her in her role.
MFSO members on the Bring Them Home Now bus tour include Northwest members Stacy Bannerman and Lietta Ruger who have been speaking publically from city to city as the buses near D.C. Currently a western tour is being discuseed and a visit with the Governor is what we hope to arrange with you.
My wife, Lietta Ruger, is on the Central bus in the BTHN tour which has met with reps of Senators Bayh and Lugar in Indiana, Dewine and Voinovich in Ohio and Specter and Santorum in Pennsylvania so far. Her impressions have been that consistently, the Republican Senators' reps have been evasive, attempted to short-circuit or deflect questions and divert the discussions in an effort to waste time. At the end of the interview with Senator Lugar's rep, Lietta asked him to have the Senator call her.
"Why would I do that?" he replied, "You are not his constituent."
"Because I have something to say to him." she replied.
I am also the President of Local 970 of the Washington Federation of State Employees and am aware of the direction national union support for our troops has taken. I've met Governor Gregoire, have heard her speak to our union convention, and am therefore aware that she is not ideologically opposed to what we citizens who speak out in support of our NG troops have been saying.
We think the time to take further action regarding bringing our National Guard troops home is now. We believe the our Governor would be willing to hear us out and that we represent a powerful, willing and public advocacy in support of her taking action regarding our State National Guard troops.
Reference: Military Families Speak Out Pacific Northwest
Dying to Preserve the Lies
Chicago City Council urges immediate withdrawal of U-S troops from Iraq
Bloomington Resolutions Oppose Iraq War, Patriot Act, Seek Higher Minimum Wage
Philadephia resolution:Click for copy in PDF
Pacific Northwest Portal's WASHBLOG:Lietta Ruger: Bring Them Home Now Tour Notes 9/5 - 9/8
Thank you for taking time to read this.
Please get back to me via email or telephone (360-942-7311)
Arthur Ruger
Bay Center WA
aruger@swandeer.com