(March 16, 2006) — There are a lot of activities planned this weekend across the country. Some of our friends in the peace movement have put together websites where you can look up local events or post your own. Check out the following organizations online to learn more.
• United for Peace and Justice
• American Friends Service Committee
• Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

Last week’s election fundraising campaign raised more than $700,000 towards our big plan for the 2006 election. Together we’re on our way towards meeting our big goals for the year. Thanks for all you do.

Today President Bush launched a new public relations effort on Iraq to counter his record-low poll numbers. As part of the PR campaign, he is once again asserting his doctrine of “pre-emptive war.”

With the president on the road for a PR blitz during the three year anniversary of the war, we must remind the country that the Bush pre-emption doctrine has been a disaster in Iraq — making America and the world less safe. Will you write a letter to the editor to help do that?

We’ve set up an online tool that makes submitting a letter easy. Click below to get started.
http://political.moveon.org/lte?lte_campaign_id=50&id=7050-642276-MXXLJtQtaGJb5Hh15AzWfg&t=1

The Letters to the Editor page is often the most-read page in a newspaper. Press coverage of Iraq will spike around the anniversary and public opinion will further solidify. Together, we need to help shape that coverage. This is especially important as the Bush administration starts saber-rattling with Iran.

Even prominent neo-conservatives are beginning to jump ship on the war and even neo-conservatism. Professor Francis Fukuyama has gone so far as to renounce his affiliations with Cheney, Rumsfeld and the pre-emption doctrine. Fukuyama was one of the 25 original founders of the Project for the New American Century — the intellectual founding document for neo-conservative foreign policy.

Writing in The New York Times last month, Fukuyama said:

“As we approach the third anniversary of the onset of the Iraq war, it seems very unlikely that history will judge either the intervention itself or the ideas animating it kindly. By invading Iraq, the Bush administration created a self-fulfilling prophecy: Iraq has now replaced Afghanistan as a magnet, a training ground and an operational base for jihadist terrorists, with plenty of American targets to shoot at.”

He added, “The so-called Bush Doctrine that set the framework for the administration’s first term is now in shambles.” And, “Neoconservatism, as both a political symbol and a body of thought, has evolved into something I can no longer support.”
It is clear that the Bush pre-emption polices are a disaster — and now they’re being rejected by people from Left to Right. All that remains is to change course in Iraq and move forward.

Let’s make sure the public hears the truth while Bush is pushing spin. It will help us get out of Iraq — and maybe prevent another war. Please write a letter to the editor.
http://political.moveon.org/lte?lte_campaign_id=50&id=7050-642276-MXXLJtQtaGJb5Hh15AzWfg&t=2

Thanks for all you do.
– Tom, Joan, Wes, Tanya and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team

No More Money for War

The House of Representatives could be be voting on the $72 billion dollar budget supplemental appropriations bill to fund Bush´s wars in Iraq and Afghanistanas as soon as Wednesday. Please take the time to call your Representative Wednesday morning at 800-614-2803 or 202-224-3121 to tell them:

“I’m a member of Democrats.com. Please vote against the supplemental money for war in Iraq and please support amendments from Representatives Allen (D-MA) and Lee (D-CA) that call for a prohibition on permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.”

On March 13, the Charlottesville (Virginia) Center for Peace and Justice co-sponsored a Town Forum on the War in Iraq to mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq with Eman Khamas, Gael Murphy, Karen Kwiatkowski, Ray McGovern, Tia Steele, and David Swanson. Listen here:

Town Hall Meeting on the War in Iraq

Your Receipt for the Cost of the War
UFPJ has produced a new resource for use during local activities around the third anniversary of the war.

This educational piece looks like a receipt you get when you go food shopping. But instead of grocery items, the breakdown covers the monthly costs of the US war in Iraq since it began three years ago.

On the flip side is text and more figures, all explaining the costs of the war and how our tax dollars could have been put to better use. There is a space at the bottom for you to add your group’s name and contact information. Please download it and make copies for widespread distribution:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/receipts

UPCOMING EVENTS
• Protest the Pro-War Media
March 15 Everywhere
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/8339

• UFPJ Anti-War Events Everywhere
MARCH 15-22
Three Years Too Many: A Week of Local Actions on the Third Anniversary of the War
Visit our website for events calendar, resources, and more
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/3yearstoomany

• Evening of Conversation with Harry Belafonte/big>
March 18
Democracy Now! and WBAI invite you to join us for an evening ofconversation with Harry Belafonte, Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez and WBAI’s Bernard White as we mark the 3rd anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and the 10th anniversary of Democracy Now!
The Great Hall at Cooper Union, East 7th Street at Third Avenue, New York City
Pre-event reception: 6-7 p.m.
Ticket price (includes admission to main event): $100. Main Event: 7 p.m. Ticket price: $25
http://www.democracynow.org/belafonte.shtml

March 18 to 19
Fayetteville, North Carolina
http://www.ncpeacejustice.org