[Peace-discuss] From the Desk of Rodney Davis

Fri Sep 12 18:29:44 EDT 2014

Rep. Davis:

Every American president for more than a quarter century - up to and including the current incumbent  - has bombed Iraq.

President Obama's excuses are no better than those of his predecessor(s).

Please read the following statement from Veterans for Peace, a group of which I am proud to be an associate:

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Veterans For Peace is disappointed but not surprised by the so called strategy President Obama presented last night. We are disappointed because it is more of the same. The U.S. will continue to be “the greatest purveyor of violence” on the earth. It will continue to follow a failed policy of war-making in the Middle East. It will continue to waste precious financial resources which should be directed toward human needs and to support the U.S. economy.It will continue to put U.S. service members into harm’s way when other solutions are possible and it will continue to take the lives of innocent people, most of whom will undoubtedly be women and children who are always disproportionately impacted by war.

We are not surprised because it has been made clear to us that our leaders are not interested in finding solutions other than war to solve international conflicts. After thirteen years of war what has been accomplished? Iraq and Afghanistan are in shambles, the Taliban has not been defeated, al Qaeda has further decentralized to at least thirty countries, ISIL has emerged as a power of sorts in Iraq and Syria and a State Department report outlines that terrorism increased by 43% in 2013. By any objective measure, U.S. foreign policy in the Iraq and Afghanistan from Bush to Obama has been a failure. Yet more war is put forth as the answer, even though President Obama himself in the recent past said there is not a military solution to the violence in Iraq and last night explained that ISIL does not pose an immediate threat to the U.S. Why then do we continue down this path

There are solutions to confronting ISIL which do not include U.S. military action.

	• Stop the airstrikes because the Sunni leaders and militia, who President Obama acknowledges must be persuaded to break with ISIL, see the U.S. as acting as the air force for the Kurds and Shia against Sunnis. The driving force for the Sunni-ISIL alliance is the alienation of Sunnis from Baghdad by the previous Iraqi administration. Bombing Sunnis will not help mend this relationship.
	• Stop the slippery slope of sending troops to Iraq and stop sending more weapons that fuel the conflict killing more civilians and ignoring human rights violations committed by “allies.”This includes pressuring countries to stop supporting and selling arms to ISIL and stopping all black market weapons sales.
	• Make diplomacy the number one priority. Since it is clear there is no military solution, seriously engage with everyone in the region, including Iran who is needed to force the Iraqi government to be more inclusive with Sunni leaders. Without an inclusive government in Iraq there is no way to effectively confront ISIL.
	• Initiate a new effort at building a broad diplomatic solution in the United Nations to use diplomatic and financial pressure to stop countries from financing and arming ISIL and other fighters in Syria. An arms embargo on all sides should be on the long-term agenda.
	• Make a real effort to restart UN negotiations to end the civil war in Syria. Set aside preconceived demands and work to end the violence. Once that is achieved the people of Syria can begin to chart their destiny.
	• Massively increase humanitarian efforts through the UN and any other means. Real and effective efforts to relieve suffering will go a long way in convincing people to break with ISIL. More U.S. bombings and killings will only confirm that the U.S. is the enemy of Islam.
President Obama outlined a strategy no different from what the U.S. has done for the past thirteen years. It is not a plan for success, it is a gamble that war will work this time when it has spectacularly failed thus far. We at Veterans For Peace challenge the American people to ask whose interests does endless war serve? Who is paying for these wars, whose children are dying in these wars and who is getting paid to finance and provide weapons for these wars? We the people are being driven by manipulated fear to support polices that are not in our interest. Peace is harder than war, but it is cheaper in blood and treasure. After thirteen years it is time to take another path, the path of peace.

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Regards, 
C. G. Estabrook

On Sep 12, 2014, at 2:01 PM, Rep. Rodney Davis <rodneydavis-no-reply at mail.house.gov> wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> RODNEY DAVIS
> 13th District, Illinois 
> www.rodneydavis.house.gov
> www.facebook.com/reprodneydavis
> www.twitter.com/rodneydavis	
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>  
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> COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
>  
> Subcommittee On 
> General Farm Commodities
> and Risk Management
>  
> Subcommittee on 
> Horticulture, Research, Biotechnology,
> and Foreign Agriculture
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> COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
> AND INFRASTRUCTURE
>  
> Subcommittee On Aviation-ViceChair
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> Subcommittee on
> Highways and Transit
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> Subcommittee on 
> Water Resources and Environment
> September 12, 2014
> Dear Dr. Estabrook, 
> 
> Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns with U.S. military intervention in Iraq.  I appreciate hearing from constituents in my district and the time you took to share your thoughts. 
> 
> Since the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011, the Middle East has become increasingly less stable.  The Syrian Civil War, which started in March 2011 and continues today, has allowed the spread of radical Islamic terrorists, such as groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), to spread into Iraq.  This poses significant national security concerns to the region, the United States, and our allies. 
> 
> Our military sacrificed too much during the long Iraq War to allow the gains we made there to slip away. The crisis in Iraq could also have an impact on gas prices and the supply of energy which have the potential to hurt the U.S. economy.  Although I do not believe we should send troops into Iraq, I do believe we need to analyze all other possible options to halt these terrorists from moving further into Iraq and from possibly capturing Baghdad.  The Iraqi people have shown that they are now willing to try to stand up to these radicals and it is important that we keep the safety of innocent citizens in mind as we look at ways to stop the bloodshed.  I will continue to monitor this situation carefully.
> 
> Again, thank you for contacting me with your concerns about this issue.  Please let me know if my office can be of assistance to you in the future. In addition, if you would like to stay informed on what is happening in Washington, DC and around the 13th District, I encourage you to sign up to receive my e-newsletter by visiting https://rodneydavis.house.gov/contact/newsletter. It is truly an honor to represent you.
> 
> Sincerely, 
> 
> Rodney Davis
> Member of Congress
> RD/RC
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