[Peace] Tell Rodney Davis: Don't let Eliot Engel transfer MANPADS to Ukraine!

Tue Jun 18 16:19:12 UTC 2019

I have no idea if we can get Rodney Davis to vote against this. He's never
done a single thing I ever asked him to do on war and peace, even when it
was bipartisan.

But, it's plausible that this could be different. There are a bunch of
Republicans who agree that it's insane to transfer MANPADS into the theater
of a civil war. That's how we got the House to vote against transferring
MANPADS into Syria. There was a Republican majority in the House at the
time.

Rodney Davis' direct line is 202.225.2371.

Also, please report your call and vote in the poll at Daily Kos. There are
a bunch of Democrats who support Engel on this, because they would support
any weapon being sent to Ukraine. We need to organize countervailing force.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Just Foreign Policy <info at justforeignpolicy.org>
Date: Tue, Jun 18, 2019 at 11:10 AM
Subject: Don't let Eliot Engel transfer MANPADS to Ukraine!
To: <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>

[image: Just Foreign Policy]
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=gWM%2BdmjgEJ7CIb9DsYerwHKefp560WLI>

*Urge your Rep. to vote NO on Engel's amendment to transfer dangerous
MANPADS to Ukraine, threatening Americans on civilian aircraft. *

*Call your Rep. at 202-225-3121 and urge them to vote NO.  **Report your
call in the comments below this piece at Daily Kos
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=JaL0LjCHUBw6uTTaMK%2F7h0BLE3XC0mL%2F>.
*

Dear Robert,

As early as this afternoon, a floor vote is expected in the House on Eliot
Engel’s push to send MANPADS to Ukraine.

Engel has introduced an amendment to the Defense Appropriation which would
strip language prohibiting the transfer of MANPADS to Ukraine.

MANPADS are shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. They can be used to
shoot down civilian aircraft. They are easy to move around and transfer to
other actors. The “MP” stands for “man-portable.” Once these weapons are
transferred to the theater of a civil war, they could go anywhere. That’s
what happened to U.S. weapons in Syria in the past, that’s what happened to
U.S. weapons in Ukraine in the past. That’s why the House voted to prohibit
the transfer of MANPADS to non-state actors in Syria. Transferring MANPADS
to the theater of a civil war is asking for blowback.

People used to say that John McCain “never met a war he didn’t like.”
That’s who Eliot Engel is. Engel voted for the Iraq war. Engel voted
against the Iran deal. Engel voted to keep sending cluster bombs to Saudi
Arabia for use in Yemen even after Obama stopped doing so. Engel led the
House to vote for the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran that led to the
current “Iran crisis.”

The chief reason that Eliot Engel isn’t as notorious as such warmongers as
John McCain or Joe Lieberman or Joe Biden is that Eliot Engel is in the
House, and House warmongers aren’t as notorious as Senate warmongers. But
as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel is occupying
the same slot in the House that Joe Biden occupied in the Senate when Joe
Biden led the Senate to vote for the Iraq war, even though Joe Biden knew
the case for war was a fraud just as Dick Durbin did, as Durbin revealed on
the Senate floor in 2007, explaining why Durbin voted against the Iraq war.

Engel is wielding his power as committee chair for more war all the time,
not chiefly by how he votes, but by his control over what gets voted on.
The House isn’t voting on ending the transfer of weapons to Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates for use in their war in Yemen. How come?
Because Eliot Engel won’t allow the House to vote.

So today, today, today, we have a rare, blue moon, Halley’s Comet,
Christmas-in-July world-historical opportunity to rebuke Eliot Engel’s
warmongering.

*Call your Representative at 202-225-3121.* When you reach a staffer or
leave a message, you can say something like: *“I urge you to vote NO on the
Engel amendment to transfer MANPADS to Ukraine. Transfer of these weapons
would threaten Americans flying in civilian aircraft.”*

When you’ve made your call, *please report it in the comments below **this
post at Daily Kos*
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=n01k%2Bs1VrpB15RfjlTJeskBLE3XC0mL%2F>,
to encourage others to call.

And *please vote in the poll
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=YRsrzWb1HFcdekX7JxEf3UBLE3XC0mL%2F>*
- it's already attracted some haters.

Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,

Sarah Burns, Hassan El-Tayyab, and Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy

*If you think our work is important, please make a donation to support it.*
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate
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