There has not been a declaration of war since WWII; we entered WWIII without a declaration of war by Congress, or consent of voters; all without the funds or taxes to pay for it. And of course no draft, so the true pain and sacrifice is a burden not mutually shared by us all
Not Enough Progressives
by ovelarde
http://www.dailykos.com/...
You may not like this or any war. You may not like the current plan. But if you care about changing the perception that Democrats are weak in national security, you'll have to play along until you can show most folks that your methods in confronting terrorism are better. That's something our President is doing and he deserves our support.
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It really does not matter what your foreign policy preference is; we can NOT afford our current engagement of offensive military, contractors and special forces.
Defense of only our country is all we can, and should pay for.
The simple change in policy of not striking first, drones or combat, will greatly reduce the level of violence aimed at us.
Just like if you keep hitting a hornet's nest, they will keep wanting to sting the one swinging the bat.
Is annihilation really an option? Is it any more justified than any other country's retaliation, or nation building?
We are still occupying Japan for heavens sakes and not complying with a 2006 agreement to relocate our troops. After dropping a nuclear bomb on them, the phrase "adding insult to injury" doesn't even do it justice.
Look up PL 107-243; with it Congress gave permission to go into Iraq in 2003 for only a short duration. I ran against Feinstein in 2006 on this issue.
Once she started her new term, she actually responded to the unhappy voters by sponsoring a bill to sunset PL 107-243. It died in the Republican led Foreign Relations Committee. Now that Dems control(?) the House, Senate, and White House, what is in the way of getting adherence to the Constitution on war powers, and all the civil rights we lost during the last Admin?
The left needs unity in its message if it is to get any traction.
A cease fire is not a surrender.
True Muslims will honor a cease fire if we honorably lead the way. Most of the rest aimed at defeating us would stop if we left.
As for the rest of the "terrorist", if we end all offensive endeavors, we can afford more true defense at home, and will not have the need for strike-first actions abroad.
Using our troops only for defense, is the absolute smartest way to honor and support their job and tremendous sacrifices.
A cease fire is the only safe way out of the mess which has been allowed to happen. It's also about the only thing we have not tried.
Please see www.peaceoneday.org and learn how the UN is part of a worldwide call for a cease fire each Sept. 21st, but it gets no press or US support - even though Afghanistan's President called for one on 9/21 of this year!
9/11 was synthetic terrorism - we are not holding the other real bad guys who orchestrated it accountable in any way. As far as I know, there is no further investigation on it.
I'm not talking about the bad guys who were tortured into "confessing" it, or the many, many anti-American's who have both justified and unjustified reasons to hate us. I mean the ones who enabled the events of 9/11 to happen.
This is not to be interpreted in any way as sympathizing with the terrorist; I'm against all acts of violence, including the death penalty.
Having a strong military defense and local public safety services is VERY important; but is something the US lacks.
At the very least will you call for our National Guard home, so we're better prepared for whatever disasters may come our way next?
Please don't let fear and propaganda continue to get in the way of Democrats, & all voters, calling for responsible political and military leadership.
As Dennis says, "Strength through peace".
In peace,
Colleen Fernald
DK Diaries
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Campaign for Peace
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Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time; and your government when it deserves it.
Mark Twain
There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.
Howard Zinn
Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?