Fw: Conferees Eliminate Ban on Permanent Bases - FCNL

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Volk" <joevolk@fcnl.org>
To: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@optonline.net>
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 3:36 PM
Subject: Iraq: Conferees Eliminate Ban on Permanent Bases - FCNL

Thwarting the will of the majority, a joint House and Senate conference
committee this week decided to delete language barring permanent U.S.
military bases in Iraq from legislation pending in Congress. Meeting
behind closed doors, negotiators from the conference committee dropped
language that would ban permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq, language
that both chambers had approved in the emergency war supplemental
spending bill.

*Disappointment Tempered by Hope and Rising Debate in Congress*

Our disappointment in the congressional leadership's actions this week
is tempered by the knowledge that, thanks in large part to your work,
majorities in both chambers have determined the goal of U.S. policy is
to remove all bases and, ultimately, to leave Iraq. Read more about the
language that was included in the House and Senate bills at
http://www.fcnl.org/action/2006/lam0504.htm.

Both the Senate and the House will begin new debates on U.S. policy
toward Iraq next week that provide opportunities to persuade Congress
to shift the debate about Iraq from how the U.S. wins to how the U.S.
leaves.

U.S. troops in Iraq are now part of the problem, not part of the
solution. The perception that the U.S. intends to permanently occupy
Iraq, bolstered by decisions such as this recent congressional action,
is fueling the conflict.

We at FCNL believe that three points should guide future U.S. policy in
Iraq. We urge Congress to enact legislation that:

--States that it is the U.S. policy to remove all U.S. military troops
and bases from Iraq;
--Requires the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. military troops and
bases from Iraq; and
--Provides resources for reconstruction by the people of Iraq through
appropriate multinational, national, and Iraqi agencies.

*Take Action*

Next week, the Senate is scheduled to consider several changes in U.S.
policy in Iraq during a debate on military authorization legislation.
Please contact your senators today to urge them to support legislation
that will shift the focus of U.S. policy from how to win in Iraq to how
to leave Iraq.

Please also contact your representative. The House leadership has
agreed to schedule an extended debate on U.S. policy in Iraq next week.
This debate will be an opportunity for your representative to speak out
publicly in favor of a change in U.S. policy in Iraq.

You can find a sample message and contact your legislators directly
through FCNL's online legislative action center at:
http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=8834266&type=CO

*Background: How Did the Congress Reverse the Ban on Permanent Bases in
Iraq?*

Thanks in large part to your work, both the House and the Senate
recently voted to amend supplemental funding legislation (H.R. 4939)
pending before Congress with specific language to prevent spending to
establish permanent military bases. The supplemental funding
legislation will provide additional funding for the war in Iraq as well
as hurricane relief and other programs. Significant differences in the
versions of the supplemental legislation approved by the two chambers
required that negotiators from the House and the Senate meet in a
conference committee to work out a single bill. Meeting behind closed
doors this week, the conference committee quietly removed the
provisions from this legislation that were intended to bar spending on
building permanent military bases.

The supplemental funding legislation is expected to win approval from
both chambers in the next few days. President Bush has said he will
sign the legislation.

Although the ban on permanent bases will not become law in the
supplemental bill, we at FCNL believe that both chambers of Congress
passed an important milestone this spring when they approved a clear
statement of policy that the U.S. does not seek permanent military
bases in Iraq. In the next few months, FCNL will be continuing to work
with Congress to bar permanent bases and also to change the focus of
U.S. policy from how the U.S. wins in Iraq to how the U.S. leaves.

The situation in Iraq is becoming progressively worse every day. As
FCNL's Colonel Dan Smith (USA Ret.) describes in his blog
(http://quakerscolonel.blogspot.com/2006/06/military-kills-al-zarqawi-politi
cal.html) this week, the killing of Abu Masab al-Zarqawi in Iraq does not
address the underlying problems in Iraq or provide the political solutions
Iraq requires. U.S. policy has brought civil war to Iraq. If the U.S.
continues along the current course, the result will be more violence and
more
deaths.

The time has come for Congress to determine a new course in Iraq. War
is Not the Answer.

_______________________________________

The Next Step for Iraq: Join FCNL's Iraq Campaign, http://www.fcnl.org/iraq/

Contact Congress and the Administration:
http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/

Order FCNL publications and "War is Not the Answer" campaign
bumper stickers and yard signs:
http://www.fcnl.org/pubs/
http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=bump

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http://www.fcnl.org/donate/

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________________________________________

Friends Committee on National Legislation
245 Second St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-5795
fcnl@fcnl.org * http://www.fcnl.org
phone: (202)547-6000 * toll-free: (800)630-1330

We seek a world free of war and the threat of war
We seek a society with equity and justice for all
We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled
We seek an earth restored.

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