The following was delivered to Congressman Putnam's Bartow office on the fifth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq
The Honorable Adam Putnam
12th Florida Congressional District
650 E. Davidson Rd
Bartow, FL 33830
March 19, 2008
Congressman Putnam,
Following these five years of our extended military engagement in Iraq, the loss
of many thousands of American and Iraqi lives, cost in financial resource, and
collapsing regard for the foreign policy of the United States throughout the
world, we urge you to support the re-examination of the current policy
implemented by the Bush Administration. Although President Bush continues to
insist on a military response to the threat of terrorism, repeating and
compounding circumstances persist that demonstrate a deeper and effective
approach must be pursued.
Our conviction is that this approach involves an unbiased appraisal of the root
causes of terrorism. We must respond to the needs of the societies and
communities where terrorism emerges and realize they are people who seek to
fulfill the same purpose we have as Americans who are first, and principally,
human beings. President Bush's vision has remained ineffective bringing any
lasting progress. It's fundamental problem is the lead strategy of demanding
cooperation from those people as though the conditions that have led to
terrorist activity could be silenced through our contest of it's influence. The
domination we choose by resorting to military subjugation, the subjugation we
continue to persist through our military presence in Iraq, deepens the very
foundation of discontent originally creating the terrorist.
The profound resources of our great nation are amply suited to appreciating and
serving the deeper level of human need in each and every one of our lives. The
community we must realize we serve is the family of mankind, impossible to
delimit by the border of any nation no matter their wealth or heritage. Please
support all legislation that seeks to end the conflict in Iraq through this
comprehensive approach. We must come to understand why economic purpose as an
isolated incentive will always lead to conflicting positions and territory
amongst human beings. We must come to value peace more than our privilege to
live in the liberty of pursuing economic advantage. It is our conviction the
conflict in Iraq as well as the roots of terrorism can be traced to the
inequities imposed on humanity by the greed of the few who would persist in
their personal gain alone.
We urge you Congressman Putnam, to recognize the value of human life above all
policy, however that policy seems justified. Where lives continue to be
sacrificed we have failed to understand what is really happening between us, and
the tragedy of war will continue no matter the plateau of success measured in
any other way.
Sincerely,
The Executive Committee of Polk County Citizens for Peace and Justice
