Americans Against Escalation in Iraq
01/24/2007
Americans Against Escalation in Iraq Blasts Senator Coleman for Failure to Say ‘NO’ to Escalation in Iraqhttp://www.NoIraqEscalation.org
January 24, 2007
Washington– The national campaign known as Americans Against Escalation in Iraq was outraged today by Senator Coleman’s failure to say ‘No’ to escalation with his Iraq vote today. The Bush-McCain escalation effort has been met with harsh criticism from senior military leaders, the Iraq Study Group, our troops and the American public. The bipartisan resolution against escalation passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with a largely party line vote of 12 – 9 today, but Senator Coleman failed his constituents by voting ‘NO’ on the resolution expressing opposition to sending more troops to Iraq.
“This vote makes it painfully clear that Senator Coleman is joining President Bush in ignoring the safety of our troops and the opinions of top military leaders, the Iraq Study Group, and the American people,” said Moira Mack of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.
“Escalating the war in Iraq, by putting more than twenty thousand additional U.S. troops in the crosshairs of a civil war, represents no fundamental shift in strategy and is simply “Staying the Course”. Escalation is at odds with the views of Generals, top military experts, our troops and the American people who in November expressed their strong opposition to the current failed policy – a tried and failed policy which the President is simply proposing to expand,” Mack added.
Americans Against Escalation in Iraq is a national campaign comprised of a variety of groups from across the political spectrum who are committed to opposing the Bush-McCain plan to send more than 20,000 additional troops into a civil war in Iraq. Americans Against Escalation in Iraq includes some of the nation’s leading anti-war voices, Veterans, students, union members, the faith community and progressive organizations which traditionally confine their activity to domestic issues. Instead of escalation, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq urges responsible redeployment of American forces out of Iraq.
“After nearly four years of combat, tens of thousands of U.S. casualties, and over $300 billion dollars diverted from unmet needs of Americans here at home, we believe our country and our troops have sacrificed enough. It is time to bring the war to a close,” said Mack. “Rather than escalating the crisis in Iraq, we believe the way forward is to begin the responsible redeployment of our troops out of Iraq.”
Americans Against Escalation in Iraq has banded together to launch a multi million dollar effort in twenty to twenty five states to apply pressure through paid advertising and a firestorm of grassroots mobilization opposing President Bush on his plan for escalating the war and on Members of Congress who must stand up to the President and insist on a policy of responsible redeployment. The campaign is targeting key members of the House and Senate and will employ the use of emails, text messaging, phone calls and the Internet to channel the opposition of Americans to the President’s plan towards a policy to bring our troops our home.
Many of the organizations coming together to lead Americans Against Escalation in Iraq include those which successfully mounted a national campaign in 2005 to defeat President Bush’s effort to privatize Social Security. Using that same campaign model, these organizations are joining with more traditional anti-war forces, Veterans and students to mount this campaign because the stakes are so high and because the future of a generation of Americans is on the line.
The Biden – Hagel resolution is expected to go to the full Senate for consideration next week.
Americans Against Escalation in Iraq includes the Service Employees International Union, MoveOn.org Political Action, Center for American Progress Action Fund, USAction, Win Without War, Vote Vets, Campaign for America’s Future and the United States Student Association.