[Grem] Fwd: How We Stopped a War - For Now

[Emoke Greschik]

Csordás Böbi, k.Lttag kiküldte a listára, de azt hiszem, spam-ként
visszapattant. DE ITT A JÓ HÍR ALÁBB az USÁ-ból

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elizabeth Csordas <ecsordas at rcn.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 13, 2013 at 4:01 PM
Subject: How We Stopped a War - For Now

 America speaks




After three frenetic weeks, during which time Team Grayson was burning
the midnight
oil every night, it's time to take stock of what we've accomplished.

Here were the headlines in late August, just before we started our campaign
against U.S. military intervention in Syria.

*"**Syria** crisis: **UK** and US finalise plans for military strikes"* - *The
Guardian*, August 27.
*"Syria strike due in days, West tells opposition - sources"* - *Reuters*,
August 27.
*"Strike Against **Syria** is Imminent"* - *Reuters*, August 27.
*"Obama Will Bomb **Syria**"* - *Politico*, August 26.
*"**U.S.** military 'ready' to attack **Syria**, Hagel says"* - *CBS News*,
August 27.

And here are the headlines, now:

*"Obama to explore diplomatic route on Syria,"* - *Reuters*, September 10.
*"**U.S.** to Work Through U.N. on **Syria** Arms Proposal"* - *The **New
York** Times*, September 10.
*"Obama Agrees To U.N. Discussion Of Putting **Syria** Chemical Weapons
Under International Control"* - *Associated Press*, September 10.
*"**Syria** Will Sign Chemical Weapons Convention, Declare Arsenal, Foreign
Ministry Says"* - *Reuters*, September 10.

Let's go behind the headlines, to the numbers in Congress. *Bloomberg
News*just came out with its own count of how every single member of
the U.S.
House and Senate would vote on war with Syria. In the U.S. Senate, which is
institutionally designed to favor war and bailouts, the war vote is losing
34-22. That's shocking - *the Senate is voting for
peace?!<http://cl.exct.net/?qs=ff357ffe0647353c0108d23e0efc442f7173ad06262704cb19ef0b12c6ff673b>
* In the U.S. House of Representatives, it's even better. House members
oppose war by a 10-to-one margin. *The Washington Post* has it at 26 in
favor, 251 against.

In other words, we are winning. *Peace is
winning.<http://cl.exct.net/?qs=ff357ffe0647353c0108d23e0efc442f7173ad06262704cb19ef0b12c6ff673b>
*

How did this miracle happen?

To answer that question, look in the mirror.

*You did this.<http://cl.exct.net/?qs=ff357ffe0647353c0108d23e0efc442f7173ad06262704cb19ef0b12c6ff673b>
* Your calls and e-mails. Your pressure. The military industrial complex,
the neoconservatives like Dick Cheney, the foreign policy corporate-funded
think tanks in D.C., the warmongers at the State Department - they wanted
war, but you wouldn't let them. *We stood up for
peace.*<http://cl.exct.net/?qs=ff357ffe0647353c0108d23e0efc442f7173ad06262704cb19ef0b12c6ff673b>

Now, what's interesting is not just that we averted military action (so
far). It's also what has happened, because we averted military action. We
showed that successful diplomacy, shunted aside just a week ago as
irrelevant, is actually possible.

Think about this. We are on the verge of a solution that:

   - *Removes chemical weapons from
Syria<http://cl.exct.net/?qs=ff357ffe0647353c0108d23e0efc442f7173ad06262704cb19ef0b12c6ff673b>
   *, preventing another attack and putting them out of the reach of both
   the Assad regime and Al Qaeda,
   - Does not require the use of dangerous military force by the United
   States,
   - Compels Syria to become a signer to the Chemical Weapons Convention,
   - Restores the role of Congress in matters of war and peace, and
   - Rejuvenates the United Nations as a platform for peace.

This happened only because of our work. To his credit, President Obama
listened. He listened to Congress, to the voices of allies around the world
asking us to pause, and most importantly, to *We the People of These United
States<http://cl.exct.net/?qs=ff357ffe0647353c0108d23e0efc442f7173ad06262704cb19ef0b12c6ff673b>
*. But you spoke, President Obama listened, and now peace may bloom.

Of course, we may still go to war - the war lobby is fierce and relentless.
Even as we speak, warmongers in Congress are writing new war resolution
language, thinking that if they tweak this word or that word, making it an
itsy-bitsy, teensy-weensy war, it can pass. To that, we say, "a big, fat
NO."

We have shown that Peace can be more powerful than War.

And hopefully, one day soon, we will not be arguing about where to direct
our bombs. If you and I keep working together, we will be trying to figure
out what to do with the fruits of peace - the Peace Dividend.

Courage,
Rep. Alan Grayson
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