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

"E. Wayne Johnson 朱稳森" ewj at pigsqq.org
Thu Jul 11 02:27:49 UTC 2013


Carl,

Can't you see we're busy with these Deck Chairs?

We can't be bothered by your distracting notions of some damn icebergs.



On 07/11/13 10:07, Robert Naiman wrote:
> I don't want you to stay quiet about U.S. imperialism. I want you to 
> stop interfering in my efforts to get people to take action.
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 8:54 PM, Carl G. Estabrook 
> <galliher at illinois.edu <mailto:galliher at illinois.edu>> wrote:
>
>     As I said, such a call to Rep. Davis' office might be worthwhile.
>     (You might remind him that he replaced a representative who
>     regularly voted against any more money for war in the Greater
>     Middle East, and suggest that he do the same.)
>
>     But it is surely at least inaccurate to speak of "U.S. efforts to
>     secure a negotiated nuclear agreement." As you well know, there is
>     already such an agreement - the Non-Proliferation Treaty - which
>     Iran observes, while US clients are not signatories. US efforts
>     are directed to destroying the Iranian economy because the oil
>     flow from Iran is not under US control. And the US for years has
>     successfully blocked "a negotiated nuclear agreement" that would
>     establish a nuclear-free zone in the Mideast.
>
>     Obama's own position on the matter was set out when he ran for the
>     Senate from Illinois, and he's never changed it: "…the United
>     States should not rule out military strikes to destroy nuclear
>     production sites in Iran, Obama said … ‘having a radical Muslim
>     theocracy in possession of nuclear weapons is worse [than] us
>     launching some missile strikes into Iran…’ he said."
>
>     In these circumstances, accepting the administration's propaganda
>     about what it's doing vis-a-vis Iran would seem to me
>     inappropriate at best.
>
>     Regards, Carl
>
>     PS - I don't quite understand your comment about a "personal FBI
>     agent" - you can't mean what it seems to mean - but I do know that
>     there are a number of people (including some comrades in the local
>     antiwar movement) who don't think I've managed to stay quiet, and
>     wish I would...
>
>
>     On Jul 10, 2013, at 7:57 PM, Robert Naiman
>     <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
>     <mailto:naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>> wrote:
>
>>     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 <mailto: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
>>         <mailto: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 <mailto: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
>>>             <mailto: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 <tel:%28202%29%20225-2371>, 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
>>>>             <http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/>
>>>>             naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
>>>>             <mailto:naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>
>>>>
>>>>             _
>>>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Robert Naiman
> Policy Director
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org <http://www.justforeignpolicy.org>
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org <mailto:naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>
>
>
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>    

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