Ending the United States’ pursuit of endless warfare will be the topic of an interactive forum on Tuesday, May 28th, 7:00 pm, at Tellus 360 in downtown Lancaster. The forum, part of a monthly series—“Peace on Tap”—sponsored by Lancaster Peace Action Network (PAN), will detail the extensive costs of post-9/11 military engagements, the current political-legislative situation that propels the nation’s war-making machinery, and concrete steps Congress can take to assume control over the current cycle of self-perpetuating wars.
The forum will be presented by local members of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), the nation’s oldest faith-based lobbying organization in Washington, D.C. “FCNL works with members of Congress to promote peace and social justice. Currently FCNL is focused on passage of legislation that would repeal the Authorizations for Use of Military Force – often referred to as AUMFs—passed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks,” says Beth Reeves, coordinator of the Lancaster FCNL group.
Reeves explains that the AUMFs passed by Congress in 2001 and 2002 authorized President George W. Bush to pursue wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, in the nearly 20 years since, Presidents Obama and Trump have used this legislation to pursue military incursions in numerous other countries without explicit approval from Congress and – in many cases – out of the public eye, in virtual secrecy. “Repeal of the outstanding AUMFs would mean that any future military engagement would need to be studied, debated and approved by Congress in a public, open way. No president – now or in the future—could unilaterally decide behind closed doors to pursue war-making as is the case now,” Reeves adds.
At its “Peace on Tap” forum, the FCNL team will share data from the Cost of War Project at Brown University detailing the enormous burden of endless war – in dollars, lives, moral standing and security. Using a role-play format – envisioning a group of citizens meeting with a member of Congress – the team will make the case for repeal of the AUMF based on constitutional, pragmatic, and moral imperatives. The forum will end with a dialogue with the audience and information on how to get involved in the AUMF repeal campaign.
The Lancaster FCNL team is under care of Lancaster Friends Meeting (Quakers). Tom Latus, clerk of Meeting, welcomes inquiries about the May 28th forum, FCNL, and Quakers’ peace-making efforts locally and globally: tlatus@yahoo.com / 717-381-7290.
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