[Peace] Fwd: Use the Power of the Purse

Sat Jan 13 15:24:45 CST 2007

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Belden Fields <abfjem at yahoo.com>
> Date: January 13, 2007 3:12:40 PM CST
> To: a-fields at uiuc.edu
> Subject: Fwd: Use the Power of the Purse
>
>
> --- "Russ Feingold, U.S. Senator"
> <russ at progressivepatriotsfund.com> wrote:
>
>> Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:36:18 GMT
>> From: "Russ Feingold, U.S. Senator"
>> <russ at progressivepatriotsfund.com>
>> To: "Belden Fields" <abfjem at yahoo.com>
>> Subject: Use the Power of the Purse
>>
>> Dear Belden,
>>
>> I wanted to take a moment to pass along the op-ed I
>> wrote in
>> this morning's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel responding
>> to the
>> President's speech last night. Now, more than ever,
>> we need to
>> change our course in Iraq, and I hope you'll join me
>> by <A
>>
> href="http://ga1.org/campaign/iraq0107/8ieui332v56t36d? 
> source=web_iraq0107">co-sponsoring
>> my
>> resolution</A>
>> co-sponsoring my resolution to redeploy our troops.
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------
>> Use the power of the purse
>>
>> By RUSS FEINGOLD
>>
>> Keeping our brave troops in Iraq indefinitely is
>> having a
>> devastating impact on our national security and
>> military
>> readiness.
>>
>> That's why I have consistently advocated that we set
>> a timetable
>> to redeploy our troops from Iraq. But the president
>> refuses to
>> set a timetable, even though the American people
>> soundly
>> rejected his Iraq policy in November. Instead, the
>> president has
>> announced he wants to send approximately 20,000 more
>> troops.
>>
>> We should be redeploying our troops out of Iraq, not
>> sending in
>> more.
>>
>> Conditions in Iraq are deteriorating, the strain on
>> our military
>> is increasing and the threats we face to our
>> national security
>> elsewhere in the world continue to grow. We can't
>> afford to wait
>> any longer. Congress must use its main power - the
>> power of the
>> purse - to put an end to our involvement in the war
>> in Iraq.
>>
>> Over the next several weeks, I am going to take a
>> hard look at
>> just how we should do that in my capacity as a
>> member of the
>> Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees, both
>> of which
>> will be holding hearings on Iraq.
>>
>> As the president made clear Wednesday night, he has
>> no intention
>> of redeploying our troops from Iraq. Congress cannot
>> continue to
>> accept this. Congress can, by restricting funding
>> for this
>> misguided war, do what the president refuses to do -
>> redeploy
>> from Iraq to refocus on defeating global terrorist
>> networks.
>>
>> Some will claim that cutting off funding for the war
>> would
>> endanger our brave troops on the ground. Not true.
>> The safety of
>> our service men and women in Iraq is paramount, and
>> we can and
>> should end funding for the war without putting our
>> troops in
>> further danger.
>>
>> Congress will continue to give our troops the
>> resources and
>> support they need, but by, for example, specifying a
>> time after
>> which funding for the war would end, it can give the
>> president
>> the time needed to redeploy troops safely from Iraq.
>>
>>
>> Our troops in Iraq have done their job
>> professionally and
>> heroically. But we cannot continue to send our
>> nation's best
>> into a war that was started - and is still
>> maintained - on false
>> pretenses. An indefinite presence of U.S. military
>> personnel in
>> Iraq will not fix that country's political problems.
>> And sending
>> more troops will not provide the stability that can
>> only come
>> from a political agreement.
>>
>> Our country needs a new national security strategy
>> that starts
>> with a redeployment from Iraq so we can focus on the
>> global
>> threats to our national security that have only
>> grown while this
>> administration has been bogged down in that country.
>>
>>
>> We need to finish the job in Afghanistan and address
>> threats to
>> our security in Somalia and other weak or failed
>> states that we
>> have neglected for too long. We should scrap the
>> failed
>> diplomacy the administration has used to offend,
>> push away and
>> ultimately alienate so many of our friends and
>> allies, while we
>> also repair and infuse new capabilities and strength
>> into our
>> armed forces.
>>
>> Keeping massive numbers of American troops in Iraq
>> indefinitely
>> is not the way to defeat global terrorist networks.
>> We will
>> continue to weaken, not strengthen, our national
>> security by
>> continuing to pour a disproportionate level of our
>> military and
>> intelligence and fiscal resources into Iraq.
>>
>> In the November elections, the American people made
>> it clear
>> that they want our troops out of Iraq, and it is up
>> to Congress
>> to respond. Our top national security priority must
>> be to defeat
>> the global terrorist networks operating in countries
>> around the
>> world. With Wednesday's announcement that he seeks
>> to escalate
>> the Iraq war, the president made it clear that he
>> will continue
>> to shortchange that global fight and to ignore the
>> will of the
>> American people.
>>
>> From the beginning, this war has been a mistake, and
>> the
>> policies that have carried it out have been a
>> failure. Congress
>> must not allow the president to continue or escalate
>> a war that
>> has already come at such a terrible cost.
>>
>> It's time for Congress to use the power of the purse
>> to end this
>> devastating war and finally bring American troops
>> out of Iraq.
>> ----------------------------------------
>>
>> Once again, <FONT face="'Times New Roman'" size=3>I
>> hope you'll consider <A
>>
> href="http://ga1.org/campaign/iraq0107/8ieui332v56t36d? 
> source=web_iraq0107">co-sponsoring
>> my
>> resolution</A></FONT>. As always, thank you for your
>> support.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Russ Feingold
>> United States Senator
>> Honorary Chair, Progressive Patriots Fund
>>
>> Click below to <A
>>
> href="http://ga1.org/campaign/iraq0107/8ieui332v56t36d? 
> source=web_iraq0107">Click
>> here</A> to sign on as a citizen co-sponsor
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>>
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>>
>>
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>>
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>> sign up for
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>>
>>
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>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> Authorized and Paid for by the Progressive Patriots
>> Fund
>>
>> Daniel D. Hannula, Superior, WI Treasurer
>>
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