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This Week

Tell Congress

No More Money for War and Occupation

Bring All Our Troops and War Dollars Home!

Dear Supporter:

Last year, Americans were told that the May 2009 supplemental appropriation would be the last, yet President Obama is asking for another $33 billion dollars to escalate the number of US troops in Afghanistan.

In December, $636 billion was appropriated for Defense spending including $128 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan.

For a war-torn country like Afghanistan, it means more destruction, death and poverty. And for American troops and their families, there will be more separation, loss and devastation.

Congress should instead fund education, healthcare, infrastructure repair, restoration of vital public services, and other projects that create well-paid jobs here, and humanitarian aid and diplomatic efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

We and they need more jobs, not more guns and killing!

Tell Congress to Vote "NO" on more supplemental war spending, to bring all our troops and war dollars home as soon as humanly possible, and to redirect funding to meet human needs at home and abroad.

Please take a moment to contact your member of Congress and Senators to ask them to Vote "NO" on the supplemental war appropriation.

Click here to look up your Congressional delegation contact information or call the Congressional switchboard directly at this toll-free number: (866) 261-4755, or 202-224-3121.

Call your Representative and ask for the foreign policy staff person. Most offices are open from 9 AM til 5 or 6 PM Eastern. Some offices allow you to leave messages after hours or you can call their local district offices.

JOIN MEMBERS OF MORE THAN 20 ORGANIZATIONS

THAT ARE CALLING CONGRESS THIS WEEK.

YOUR CALL CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

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An Alternative Route to Security and Peace

There are more effective ways to assure our security. Here are just a few alternatives to a military response:

Terrorists are criminals, not state-sponsored armies at war with the U.S. Pursue them using time-tested policing and intelligence methods. Cut off their finances.
Engage in robust diplomacy that involves all the stakeholders in the region. Build practical cooperation rather than confrontation with countries like Iran, Pakistan, India, Russia, China and others.
Negotiate with elements of the Taliban, whose interests are not the same as Al Qaeda. Withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan will open the door to negotiated agreements.
People need jobs, not more guns. Utilize foreign policy rather than military tools. Strengthen non-military aid. Provide resources for reconstruction, economic development, water treatment, sanitation, healthcare, education and electrification. Eliminate poverty and suffering that are the underlying conditions in which desperation grows and extremism flourishes.
End the military occupation that leads people to join the armed resistance. Innocent civilians and our own military forces will not be killed or wounded if the U.S. withdraws military and mercenary forces from Afghanistan.
Political, economic and diplomatic tools are more effective than military aid, that only fuels corruption that undermines civilian rule.
End unauthorized cross-border raids into Pakistan and the use of drones that target "militants" but which kill 50 civilians for every person targeted.

U.S. Military Casualties

Operation Iraqi Freedom

Dead: 4390

Wounded in Action, Medically Evacuated
due to Injury/Illness: >70,355

Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghan.)

Dead: 1041

Wounded in Action, Medically Evacuated due to Injury/Illness: >14,441

============================================

TOTAL CASUALTIES - BOTH WARS:

>90,227

[Death Data as of April 10, 2010

Casualty Data as of March 13, 2010]

PTSD: One-third of all Iraq Vets

Amputees: Highest % since the Civil War

Depression: 15-17% screened positive

Suicides: 334 in 2009

Vets who committed suicide: 1/2 served in
Iraq and/or Afghanistan

For each suicide death: Five others tried and

were hospitalized

Traumatic Brain Injury: 429,000 (19.5%)

Post Traumatic Stress: 770,000 (35 %)

[Scientific Estimates as of March 13, 2010]

Approved PTSD Claims: 67,052 (47 %)

Mental Health Patients: 243,685 (21 %)

Service-related Disability

Benefits: (end of FY 2009) 998,751

2005 - 2009

Service-related Disabilities Up: 14.1%

Hearing Loss: 138,723

Disabilities per veteran: (avg.) 4.8

(41% more than Vietnam War Vets)

Benefits to Beneficiaries of Deceased

Veterans: 20,517

Average Annual benefit: $14,249

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