U.S. Conference of Mayors Calls on Congress to Slash Nuclear
Weapons Spending and Redirect Funds to Meet the Needs of
Cities
Mayors for Peace congratulates the U.S. Conference
of Mayors (USCM) for unanimously adopting a groundbreaking resolution, Supporting
U.S. Participation in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and
Redirection of Nuclear Weapons Spending to Meet the Needs of Cities,
at the conclusion of its 78th annual meeting in Oklahoma City on June
14, 2010.
Noting that “cities have been hard hit by the recent recession which has
left them with rapidly rising unemployment and declining revenues,
forcing them to make severe cuts in critical public services such as
police officers, fire fighters, teachers, medical and emergency workers
and bus drivers,” the resolution provides that: “The U.S. Conference
of Mayors calls on the U.S. Congress to terminate funding for
modernization of the nuclear weapons complex and nuclear weapons
systems, to reduce spending on nuclear weapons programs well below Cold
Warlevels, and to redirect funds to meet the urgent needs of cities.”
This
month, Congress will decide whether to fund continued escalation of the
war,
even as the Obama administration faces a turning point in Afghanistan strategy.
President Hamid Karzai of
Afghanistan will be
in
Washington May 10-13 to seek
U.S.
permission to negotiate with the
Taliban and other armed insurgents.But
the U.S. plans
instead to
fight the insurgents in Kandahar
this summer, hoping to put itself in a
stronger negotiating position.With
scares like the attempted Times Square
car
bomb, the administration’s team may also reason that its political
prospects in
the fall elections will be better if Obama has shown himself to be a
strong and
successful military leader.
April 30 - May 2
in New York City, thousands of activists from around the world
will take a
stand against nuclear weapons and war
and for peace and justice with a
groundbreaking conference and a
mass demonstration of global
importance, culminating with the delivery to the United Nations of more
than 5
million international signatures on petitions calling for the abolition
of
nuclear weapons!
On the eve of the month-long review conference of
the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), we call on you to stand with Hibakusha --
survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Mayors for Peace,
Yoko Ono, LUSH Cosmetics, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and peace and
disarmament activists from around the globe to take action for a world
free of
nuclear weapons.
United for Peace & Justice (UFPJ)
works to end the wars and occupations in Iraq and
/Afghanistan and to abolish nuclear
weapons, as well as fighting for economic and social justice at home.
It'smore
important than ever that peace activists join hand-in-hand and march with
immigrants to fight for their rights and an end to the militarization of our
communities.
With the backdrop of scheduled U.S. troop withdrawals, millions of Iraqis went to the polls on March 7th in an effort to control their country’s destiny. The Status of Forces Agreement between the U.S. and Iraq calls for U.S. troop reduction from current levels of about 96,000 to 50,000 by August 2010 and all troops exiting with no bases left behind by the end of 2011. However, there is talk from the military, national political leaders and the media that U.S. troops may have to stay longer.
We must not forget the occupation of Iraq. It is not over. U.S. troop presence continues impede Iraqi domestic politics from progressing. The people of Iraq cannot negotiate with each other unhampered under the threat of continued if U.S. troop presence. The Obama Administration must pull out all troops within the agreed time frame or earlier. We must push the Administration to stick to the agreement. There are powerful people who want the troops to stay. The anti-war/peace movements must counter their influence.
Raed Jarrar provides excellent analysis of the mood in Iraq and the effects of delayed U.S. troop withdrawal possibilities:
We are about to reach a tragic milestone, the 1000th US troop death in Afghanistan. Many of you bore witness with us on similarly sad occasions as the casualties mounted in Iraq, and now with an administration set on escalation in Afghanistan we must continue, unfortunately, counting the dead. Please join us by hosting/attending a vigil in your community on or near the day after we reach this awful reminder of the human cost of this war.
Photo by Jim Vandegrift.
Though we are in the ninth year of this war in Afghanistan, fully one third of these 1000 deaths have taken place in the last year. Sadly, with the Obama Administration set on escalating the war in Afghanistan, the number of fatalities looks to continue to rise. Today, the number of US troop deaths is at 990, and AFSC will send out a memorial message when we reach the milestone, or you can check www.icasualties.org.
As we continue our efforts to end the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is working with hundreds of international and U.S. partner groups to bring pressure to bear on the U.S. and other nuclear powers to do more than just talk about a nuclear weapons-free future, but to create it. We need your help!
We have a terrific opportunity in May to make progress toward nuclear abolition at an important international meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York City, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. Government representatives and activists will gather there to consider how to move toward a nuclear weapons-free world and strengthen measures to stop the spread of these deadly weapons. UFPJ needs your financial support, now more than ever! To donate: click here.
Progressive Democrats of America expands the Healthcare NOT Warfare campaign to include Brown Bag Lunch Vigils.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observed over 40 years ago, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death,” and “of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.”
PDA’s Brown Bag Lunch Vigil Campaign is calling on our members, and like-minded individuals and organizations, to gather on the third Wednesday of every month in front of—and in—congressional offices in districts across the country. We’re asking you to spend your lunch hour exercising your First Amendment Rights by holding vigils, rallies, meetings with aides and representatives, pickets, and demonstrations that will serve to educate our elected officials, the public, and the press about the human and financial costs of war and militarism.
Specifically, PDA and our allies call on President Obama and Congress to support HR 2404, calling for an exit strategy from Afghanistan; HR 3699, prohibiting any increase in the number of U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan, and to establish improved and expanded Medicare for All to residents of the United States. We cannot let them forget that we are watching and waiting for the next election.
UnitedforPeace.org is a nonpartisan resource for anti-war and social change activists. The information and events on this site are not necessarily endorsed by members of United for Peace and Justice. Please see our
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for more information.
With the backdrop of scheduled U.S. troop withdrawals, millions of Iraqis went to the polls on March 7th in an effort to control their country’s destiny. The Status of Forces Agreement between the U.S. and Iraq calls for U.S. troop reduction from current levels of about 96,000 to 50,000 by August 2010 and all troops exiting with no bases left behind by the end of 2011. However, there is talk from the military, national political leaders and the media that U.S. troops may have to stay longer. 
provides excellent analysis of the mood in Iraq and the effects of delayed U.S. troop withdrawal possibilities:
As we continue our efforts to end the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is working with hundreds of international and U.S. partner groups to bring pressure to bear on the U.S. and other nuclear powers to do more than just talk about a nuclear weapons-free future, but to create it. 
PDA’s Brown Bag Lunch Vigil Campaign is calling on our members, and like-minded individuals and organizations, to gather on the third Wednesday of every month in front of—and in—congressional offices in districts across the country. We’re asking you to spend your lunch hour exercising your First Amendment Rights by holding vigils, rallies, meetings with aides and representatives, pickets, and demonstrations that will serve to educate our elected officials, the public, and the press about the human and financial costs of war and militarism. 
