A PETITION TO THE
CONGRESS
AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
WHEREAS the people of Iraq have successfully elected and empowered a representative government, and
WHEREAS the people of Afghanistan have also elected and empowered a representative government, and
WHEREAS the United States has no grievance with either of these governments that constitutes a basis for war, and
WHEREAS the so called war on terrorism is not a war within the historic definition of war, but rather an ongoing policy to identify and address the conditions that breed terrorist activities and protect the United States and other nations from terrorist actions, and as such cannot be considered the basis for obtaining or retaining any powers of war not otherwise endowed to a specific branch of government, and
WHEREAS the thoughtful, responsible division of powers in order to provide crucial checks and balances among the branches of our government is foundational to our concept of democracy and to the preservation of the rights and freedoms of the citizens of our nation,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT
The president and Congress shall immediately and officially declare that the United States is no longer at war with the government or people of either Iraq or Afghanistan, and
The Congress shall immediately rescind and the president shall immediately relinquish war powers granted to him under Public Law 107-40 (Authorization for use of Military Force), Public Law 107-243 (Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq) and any and all other legislation that may have granted him extraordinary war powers during the term of his office and
That the War Powers held by both the Congress and the president shall return to those defined by Public Law 93-148 (The War Powers Act of 1973) and
That the president and Congress shall begin immediately to order redeployment of U.S. military forces consistent with the fact that our country is not presently at war with any other state, nation or sovereign power.
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RATIONALE
The basis for my petition is quite simple. First, regarding the war in Iraq. We the people of the United States of America have been given several reasons why we went to war with Iraq in the first place:
1. We have been told that we went to war to liberate the people of Iraq from the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein. We have accomplished that. Saddam Hussein has been deposed, tried, convicted and executed.
2. We have been told that we went to war to locate and destroy weapons of mass destruction and the capability to deliver them. We have discovered that there were no weapons of mass destruction, neither was there any means to deliver such weapons.
3. We have been told that we went to war to establish a democratic government in Iraq. The Iraqi people have voted and there is a democratic form of government in place.
Since the objectives we believed were the purpose of the war have all been accomplished, it is now time to officially declare that the war has ended.
The only possible argument for not ending the war revolves around a perceived need to establish some sort of stability in the nation of Iraq. But the evidence is now quite clear that our continued military presence in Iraq is the primary cause of the continuing instability. As our continued military presence only serves to further exacerbate the situation we want to resolve, it is clear that we must officially end that presence, beginning with a formal declaration that the war is over.
Next, regarding the war in Afghanistan. We went to war with Afghanistan to depose the rule of the Taliban, whose influence and support assisted the terrorists that attacked our country on September 11, 2001. Like Iraq, Afghanistan now has a government in place that has been freely elected by its citizens. We no longer have a grievance with the leadership of Afghanistan, and the country and its government do not pose an imminent threat to the sovereignty or safety of the United States. Therefore, it is also time to declare an official end to the war in Afghanistan and to immediately begin to remove our military presence from the country.
Finally, regarding the war on terrorism. War has historically been viewed as an armed conflict between states or nations in order to establish boundaries, authority, or power, or to redress a wrong inflicted upon one nation by another. The war on terrorism does not fit this definition. It is instead an effort to prevent terrorist activities, to locate and eliminate those individuals or groups who engage in such activities, to dissuade any and all nations from harboring or abetting such groups and to keep not only our country but countries around the world safe from such activities. It is first of all obvious that this will be an essentially endless task of vigilance and intervention. It is also obvious that such an effort does not fit the definition of war any more than does a war on poverty or a war on drugs.
Since the war on terrorism does not fit the true definition of a war, once our leaders have officially acknowledged that the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan are over, it will mean that the United States will not be at war with any other sovereign state or nation. Therefore, along with the official declaration that these wars are at an end, I will petition the president of the United States to immediately relinquish the wartime powers ceded to him by the Congress, and petition the Congress to immediately rescind the wartime powers it granted to the executive branch. I do not believe the structure of our democracy ever conceived of a situation where the ceding of wartime powers by Congress to the executive branch would be a permanent arrangement, as this would be a significant step toward dictatorial powers. Therefore, a continuing war on terrorism can neither be viewed as a war in the historic sense nor a justification for the executive branch to retain wartime powers in the absence of any authentic war.
I am doing this as an individual citizen - with the help and support of my loving wife - and not as a member of any group, organization or political party. I am doing it as a grandfather, in the belief that if the grandfathers and grandmothers of our nation do not raise our voices, we will one day see our grandchildren being sent off to a seemingly endless war.
So much for taking a day off - you probably knew I wouldn't be able to completely let go for a whole day anyway.
Peace,
Bill
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Lenticular formations over Anza-Borrego