The Long War: How to organize against a quagmire

AfterDowningStreet.Org's David Swanson has suggestions on arguments and actions that might help Congress rethink its support for expanding hostilities in Afghanistan:

The argument for voting No is laid out here.  And here.

Congress members can vote No on this one without voting to end a war, only to refrain from escalating it. And as of last winter a lot of them, including Pelosi, Obey, etc., said they opposed the escalation.  They said last December that the money they were then voting for would not cover the escalation, so the fact that the escalation has begun without funding does not make it a legitimate fait accompli, but an unconstitutional abuse that can be halted and reversed. Talk of "abandoning troops" makes even less sense than usual, given that a No vote is a vote not to send them (or to bring back those just sent).

But the House can halt a war as well as an escalation if it refuses to pass future war funding.  If the U.S. House of Representatives votes No on war funding, war ends.  Wars have been ended this way before.

In December 2009, 34 voted No.  We should reward them.
Here's a flyer on ending the war in Afghanistan: PDF.  Here's a book. Here's how to step up your activism.  Here's what's needed instead of bombs and guns.  Here's a way to nonviolently resist. You should build a campaign in your state like this one in Maine or this one in Boston, Mass.  Join midday vigils in front of every congressional office in the country on the 3rd Wednesday of the month: sign up. Tired of teabagging?  Try brownbagging! Print out posters.

Facts you can use: Here's who is suffering.  A report from the National Priorities Project (PDF) contains on pages 23 and 24 documentation of how investing in military reduces jobs and hurts economy.  Get cost of war to your area here, but multiply it by five. Get cost of military contracts to your area here.  Get the amount of money military companies give your representative here.  Where U.S. public opinion is and where it's moving.


Try an AVATAR Awakening.

Pass a local resolution.  Even big cities are doing it.

Hold a drawathon.

Here's a list of top targets and multiple ways to contact them.

You can post the ever-changing chart below on your own website. Here's the code.
Please sign the petition and watch the video at http://rethinkafghanistan.com and watch this video.

Most importantly, phone your representatives at 202-224-3121 and ask them to commit to voting No on War Funding, and post what they tell you below.

The rest of the story at AfterDowningStreet.Org