Yesterday I wrote about some history related to how the U.S. got involved with the Vietnam and Iraq Wars. About how flimsy the rationale to start those wars was, and the parallels today as we see the same pattern developing, moving us closer to conflict in Iran, which would likely spread to other countries in the Middle East and possibly beyond.

Unfortunately, Iran is not the only country the U.S. has heightening tensions with, which include North Korea, China, Russia and Venezuela. This is an especially perilous time, with a President and Cabinet members who are ill-informed about international affairs, and the State Department’s decimated diplomatic corps. In addition, becoming involved in conflict has been used in the past as an attempt to help a president’s election chances.

The Quaker lobby organization, the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) has a 75 year history of working with Congress and the Administration in a non-partisan manner to support legislative and diplomatic efforts for peace and justice. Part of the effectiveness of FCNL is the large network of supporters, and the tools FCNL provides to help them engage in our democratic processes. Of course everyone is welcome and encouraged to use these tools. It is important that our representatives hear from those of us who want to deescalate the conflicts and prevent war.

Among those tools are very informative articles about current affairs, and online tools to help anyone write a letter to the editor, or letters to their Congressional representatives. Suggested content for such letters, which people are encouraged to modify, are then sent to the appropriate Senators, Representatives, and/or the Administration based upon the writer’s home address.

If you have trouble reading the following, you can see it online here: https://www.fcnl.org/updates/quaker-lobby-welcomes-bipartisan-bill-stopping-march-to-war-with-iran-2035

As another example, the following is recent information from FCNL about Iran.

Earlier this year President Donald Trump said, “Great nations do not fight endless wars.” Yet his administration continues to drag our country towards war, this time with Iran.
First he pulled us out of the Iran nuclear agreement and re-imposed sanctions. Then he designated the Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization over the objections of the Pentagon, and tightened sanctions even further. Now the Secretary of State is suggesting that Trump already has permission from Congress to go to war.
Fortunately, a bipartisan group of senators and representatives are taking steps to prevent an unauthorized war. Sens. Tom Udall (NM), Rand Paul (KY) and Richard Durbin (IL), and Reps. Anna Eshoo (CA-18) and Mike Thompson (CA-5), recently introduced the “Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act of 2019” (S. 1039/H.R. 2354). These bills would ban funding for a U.S. military attack against Iran without specific, prior authorization from Congress. The legislation would thus assert the constitutional authority of Congress to determine if and when the U.S. goes to war.
Act now. Urge your members of Congress to cosponsor the “Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act” (S. 1039/H.R. 2354) to prevent war with Iran.
Legislative Ask Say NO to War with Iran ›
Co-sponsor S. 1039/H.R. 2354
The U.S. administration is beating the drums for war with Iran. Last spring, the president pulled our nation out of the Iran nuclear deal, even though Iran remains in compliance with the agreement. In the fall, National Security Adviser John Bolton directed the Pentagon to develop military options for attacking Iran. Most recently, President Trump – over the objections of the Pentagon — designated a branch of Iran’s security forces as a terrorist organization, which could make negotiations with Iran more difficult and increase the risk of conflict.

Stop the March to War with Iran, By Liz Bajjalieh, April 30, 2019, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)

That article includes a link to a page where you can write a letter to your member of Congress, asking them to co-sponsor a specific bill, in this care S. 1039/H.R. 2354 “Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act. Following is the page where you enter your information so the letter will be sent your representatives.

After you fill in that information, the next page appears:

You should note in the picture above there are two tabs: Message 1 -Cindy Axne, which is the letter you see above. At the bottom of the page is a link that says NEXT MESSAGE, which will take you to the following page to send a similar letter to your Senators.

There are similar tools to help you write a letter to your newspaper, including a link to choose which newspapers to send your letter to.

Following is a one page summary of this issue. Here is a link to a PDF version of this.