Open Letter From Cynthia McKinney to Obama
Open Letter From the Peace Movement to President Obama on His Upcoming Decision Regarding the Afghan War
by Cynthia McKinney
Dear Mr. President:
According to press reports, you intend to decide between November 7 and November 11 whether or not to send tens of thousands of American soldiers to Afghanistan. We are writing in advance of that decision to add our voice to those of Sen. Feingold, many House Democrats, and of a clear majority of Americans in urging you not to escalate this war, but rather to announce an immediate cease-fire followed by a withdrawal of all US troops in the fastest way consistent with the safety of our forces. We urge you to end the policy of using Predator drones to assassinate Pakistani civilians on the territory of their own country, in defiance of all concepts of international law. We also call upon you to cease all covert CIA and Pentagon operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.
No vital American interest is at stake in Afghanistan. Former Marine and State Department official Matthew Hoh is right: the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan have come to be viewed as invaders and occupiers, and the resistance they encounter has nothing to do with international terrorism. This war is futile, and now doomed to failure. There is no military solution to the problems that beset Afghanistan. Afghanistan and the rest of this tragically war-torn region need a Marshall Plan of peaceful economic development, through which some of the 15 million unemployed workers in our own country could find productive jobs. We have no confidence in the advice being given to you by military leaders like Gen. McChrystal, who has been implicated in torture in Iraq.
We supported your candidacy because we viewed you as the best chance for ending the wars of the Bush era. We applauded your rejection of the rhetoric of fear and division that was the stock in trade of Bush and Cheney. We are alarmed by the way that rhetoric has crept into your public pronouncements since your August address in Phoenix. Your decision on Afghanistan will represent the decisive turning point of your presidency. If you turn away from war, you will provide a profile in courage that will solidify your support and open up a new perspective for progressive reforms in our country. You will honor the spirit of John F. Kennedy, who was searching for an exit strategy from the Vietnam war. If you opt for a wider war, the resulting heavy casualties will destroy confidence in your leadership among your own most devoted advocates. Hundreds of billions of dollars will be poured down a rat hole, and will no longer be available for any reform and renovation of American society, which will increasingly fall behind the economic strength of other countries. Your domestic agenda will be halted, in the same way your predecessor Lyndon B. Johnson was crippled by the Vietnam war. Escalation of the Afghan war, in short, would be an act of political suicide for you, and of national suicide for our country.
We are keenly aware of the difficulties and animosities you face, and we have long done everything possible to give your administration the benefit of the doubt, even in the face of repeated disappointments. But we now approach the moment of truth: will you be a great progressive president, or will you prove too weak to turn away from the bankrupt policies institutionalized and entrenched under Bush and Cheney. Therefore, we want you to know our attitude before you decide on the proposed Afghan escalation. If you choose to escalate, we will oppose this policy with all the energy we possess. We will act to mobilize the largest possible anti-war demonstration in Washington DC and other cities before the end of 2009, and continuously thereafter. We will support anti-war candidates of any party in the 2010 elections. If you are still waging the Afghan war in 2011, we will be forced to seriously consider backing an explicitly anti-war primary candidate to challenge you during the Democratic primaries.
We therefore respectfully urge you to act in the spirit of your 2008 campaign – the spirit of hope and change, neither of which can survive the continuation or expansion of the hopeless Afghan war.
Cynthia McKinney, DIGNITY
From: Global Research.ca
Subtle left/right paradigm. It works right?
Very inspiring peace speak.
But did you feel something breeze over your head?
"Afghanistan and the rest of this tragically war-torn region need a Marshall Plan of peaceful economic development, through which some of the 15 million unemployed workers in our own country could find productive jobs."
Little nation building? We don't have bridges falling in the U.S.?
"We have no confidence in the advice being given to you by military leaders like Gen. McChrystal, who has been implicated in torture in Iraq."
In all fairness, McChrystal said either up the force and subdue things or come home.
McKinney would be right up there with Van Jones if they were still in D.C. politics.
She is not a conservative or a libertarian.
I wish she were.
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Go Cynthia!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"God is at home, it's we who have gone out for a walk."
Meister Eckhart
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for peace*))
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very nice article. Wouldn't
very nice article. Wouldn't it be nice if Obama was a real progressive so that we could have debates about ideology and policy rather than just deperately trying to stop insane wars and Treasury looting.
Ventura 2012
Good letter. I don't think
Good letter. I don't think it will work to halt Obama's war policies. I think it will work to invigorate the anti-war left though.
this is why...
while i voted for chuck baldwin, as ron paul endorsed, my wife voted for cynthia ( and i wholeheartedly supported her decision)...
obomba is tragically giving in to the pressures of the new world order, he hasn't the stomach to stand up to them...the last real american president we had was jfk, all since are cowards!
you would think that somehow, somewhere, our presidents could find enough protection and support personnel to keep them safe as they make decisions to benefit americans!
i guess not...
O Captain! My Captain! Rise up and hear the bells!
its 'cos I owe ya, my young friend...
Rockin' the FREE world in Tennessee since 1957!
This is a good thing.
This is a good thing. Putting political pressure on the powers that be is using their own weapon against them.
It won't work, though. The real U.S. agenda as per Afghanistan is to destabilize central Asia, and in that respect the mission is working marvelously. They will not withdraw.
BUMP
----------------
Ron Paul Supporter Since 1997
"If people let government decide which foods they eat and medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny."
Thomas Jefferson
“We have allowed our nation to be over taxed and over regulated and overrun by bureaucrats, the founders would be ashamed of us for what we're putting up with.” Ron Paul
Positive Empathy Index score
The Empathy Index score is a rhetoric metric. Basically, it is the number of times you reference your audience minus the number of times you reference yourself. If you reference the audience more than yourself, you get a positive Empathy Index score...which typically gets a much better response.
I didin't count all the references in this piece, but the first paragraph has 6 references to Obama (you and implied you) and three references to herself. That is a great Empathy Index.
Here's an example of technically good writing, but doesn't persuade:
http://www.clarityconsultants.com/our-services-detail.asp?se...
Here's one that is written well *and* persuades:
http://www.business.att.com/enterprise/Family/IT-consulting-...
This is but one of the ways that organizations become great.
Hint, hint to Ron Paul's campaign team.
That letter was so good, so strong and
well-reasoned, it actually might make a difference. It states the situation clearly, draws a line in the sand. The Obama administration cannot hide from the facts she lays out, nor can his supporters, without revealing their hypocrisy and ethical failure.
Bump
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I just love Cynthia McKinney
I realize she isn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier, and she's inconsistent in a freedom philosophy, but she strikes me as a very sincere and sweet person. And she sure has guts. Let's hope this gets a lot of play on the left.
_________
A Man's Country Is Not A Certain Area Of Land,
Of Mountains, Rivers, And Woods,
But It Is A Principle......
And Patriotism Is Loyalty To That Principle .
- George William Curtis
Thomas Jefferson: “Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever."
Viva La Revolucion!
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Bring them home!
Will Obama even get this letter? no
Would he do anything about it if he read it? no
Would the war profiteering interests stop him from doing anything even if he wanted to? yes
Does Obama in his own heart want to bring our troops home? I think yes
Obama needs to stop being a whore to the special interests that are profiting off of our militaristic intervention in the Middle East. He needs to do what he knows in his heart is the right thing, and bring our troops home now! We've all seen too many American soldiers and innocent civilians die from our occupation in the Middle East. When will all politicians come to their senses, and make the right decision for a CHANGE?
http://theconstitutionalists1.blogspot.com
Has anyone told McKinney
about Ron Paul? He was the only peace candidate in the debates.
Cynthia was representing one of the 3rd parties Ron recommended
as an alternative to voting for the Republican party.
So, yes, Ron knows her.
BTW: She was with the Green party...i'm not sure if she still is.
Remember this..
Ron Paul, Ralph Nader, McKinney, Barr, Baldwin Unite under 4 Principles!
FOREIGN POLICY
THE NATIONAL DEBT
PRIVACY
FEDERAL RESERVE
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Ron-Paul-Press-Conference-b...
Ron Paul 2012 for Peace
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for peace.
___________________
"a half truth is a full lie" old Jewish saying quoted by Gary Null
exposing big pharma and their deadly vaccines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gavenB_AJ9A
Website:
http://www.libertypoet.com/
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/LibertyPoet
"How can we justify to the unemployed and underemployed in the United States the incredible cost of maintaining a global empire?" - Dr. Ron Paul
Here's
a bump for the cessation of war...
Berwick, Columbia County, Pennsylvania
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