[Peace-discuss] [Peace] impt: urge Rep. Davis sign Price/Dent letter, Iran diplomacy opening on Iranian election

[Robert Naiman]

Is it a choice? Am I stopping anyone from standing anyone from standing on
their soapbox and denouncing the Empire?

Would it be so horrible if a few people took 15 seconds to call Rep. Davis
to ask him to sign a letter for diplomacy with Iran?

How is it that you manage to stay quiet for weeks, until I try to speak?

It's like I have my own personal FBI agent.




On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 7:23 PM, Carl G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu>wrote:

> But even if most members of Congress are "worse that the Obama
> administration on this issue," that's hardly a reason to accept Obama's
> lies. "You don't stick a knife in a man's back nine inches and then pull it
> out six inches and say you're making progress."
>
> Or to carry out the 1939 analogy, a letter then to the members of the
> Reichstag that said, "I urge you to stop yammering on about the Polish
> threat to Germany" would not have got many signatures - but to say anything
> else would have been at best inaccurate.
>
> It would seem better to tell Americans about the administration's
> propaganda about Iran than to accept it and suggest moderation.
>
> --CGE
>
> On Jul 10, 2013, at 4:24 PM, Robert Naiman <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>
> wrote:
>
> Most Members of Congress are worse than the Obama Administration on this
> issue, thanks to AIPAC and friends. A Congressional letter that said, "I
> urge you to stop yammering on about Iran's nuclear program because it
> doesn't threaten the United States" would get zero signers, not even
> Barbara Lee would sign that.
>
> On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 3:50 PM, Carl G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu>wrote:
>
>> Maybe this would be worthwhile, Bob, but the problem is that it accepts
>> the Obama administration's consciously false description of the issue.
>>
>> Wouldn't it be something like urging the German government in the summer
>> of 1939 "to pursue the potential opportunity presented by Poland's recent
>> presidential election by reinvigorating German efforts to secure a
>> negotiated agreement to end the threat from Poland"?
>>
>>
>> --CGE
>>
>>
>> On Jul 10, 2013, at 3:01 PM, Robert Naiman <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Dear fellow Champaign-Urbana area lovers of peace,
>>
>> Once in a blue moon, there's a good opportunity to push Congress in a
>> good direction on diplomacy with Iran. Most of the time, it's like that
>> scene from the Matrix where Morpheus shows Neo what the world really looks
>> like. But every once in a while, there's an opening.
>>
>> Right now, there's an opening, because of three things.
>>
>> One, Iran just had a presidential election. To the surprise of many, the
>> candidate who won, Rouhani, was the candidate saying, hey, let's try to get
>> along better with the West.
>>
>> Two: there's a bipartisan letter in Congress to President Obama saying,
>> hey! We noticed that Iran just had a presidential election. We noticed that
>> the guy who was saying, hey, let's try to get along better with the West,
>> was the guy who won. So, like, why don't we try to test things with the new
>> guy with diplomacy before jacking up the confrontation again?
>>
>> Three: this letter is being supported by groups in DC that have been
>> pushing for diplomacy with Iran, including the Friends Committee on
>> National Legislation, the National Iranian American Council, and J Street.
>> And also CREDO.
>>
>> Finally, as is often the case with these things, there is a special
>> effort to try to get Republicans to sign the letter, because only 15% of
>> the current signers are Republicans. And that means that Rep. Davis is
>> special, because in the set of Republicans, he's a plausible target. Voted
>> for McGovern's recent amendment on Afghanistan withdrawal, for example.
>>
>> So here's my request:
>>
>> 1. Please call Rep. Davis' office in DC at (202) 225-2371, ask to talk
>> to Kaitlyn Hastings, who's the Foreign Policy LA. Probably you will get
>> transferred to voicemail. Fine. Leave a message with your name and address,
>> asking that Rep. Davis sign the Price/Dent letter calling for President
>> Obama "to pursue the potential opportunity presented by Iran's recent
>> presidential election by reinvigorating U.S. efforts to secure a negotiated
>> nuclear agreement."
>>
>> 2. Please send me a note letting me know that you've called. I'm trying
>> to get folks in DC to push on Davis, and I want to be able to say, X people
>> in the district have called.
>>
>> 3. Please forward this note to other folks you know who might call. If
>> you know folks in the district outside of Champaign-Urbana who might call,
>> (e.g. Decatur, Bloomington, Springfield) forwarding this note to them would
>> be especially helpful.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> P.S. The text of the letter is here:
>> http://fcnl.org/issues/iran/diplomacy_with_iran_letter/
>>
>> --
>> Robert Naiman
>> Policy Director
>> Just Foreign Policy
>> www.justforeignpolicy.org
>> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Robert Naiman
> Policy Director
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
>
>
>


-- 
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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