PDA float in Bisbee 4th of July parade

PDA activists in Southern Arizona outdid themselves this year with a peace and social justice float in the Bisbee July 4th parade. Check out this video.

Progressive Democrats Bisbee July 4th Parade

Bisbee, Arizona PDA members strut their stuff and spread PDA's message of peace in the local 4th of July Parade. (Video by Alison McLeod.)

Join Other Progressives and Tell John Kerry Your Opinion on the War in Afghanistan

From Progressive Democrats of America...

As you may know in 10 days we gathered over 25,000 signatures in a letter to the Senate Democratic Caucus, which we delivered to Senator Kerry. In addition we delivered 54 packets containing the letter to the Senate Democratic Caucus. Sen. Kerry then responded to us. His response is here: http://www.pdamerica.org/blog/view/from-senator-john-f-kerry/ Sen. Kerry's office has been monitoring the comments on our blog containing his response to us about our letter to the Senate Democratic Caucus. In addition we are receiving press queries about it.

I'm writing to you today to ask you to read the comments and to make a comment yourself. This is a delicate operation though.

While we agree with Barbara Lee that this initial drawdown should have been 50, 000 troops by the end of this year, we are happy that Obama did not follow the advice of his generals to remove just 5000 troops. We didn't get everything we wanted, but we did reverse the direction of our military strategy there. It's important to remember that this is no small victory. See Tom Hayden's post: http://tomhayden.com/home/obama-begins-to-de-escalate-in-face-of-public-opinion-and-pr.html

We also should recognize that we are in conversation with a very powerful member of the Senate. For maximum impact and in order to continue to build on this opening, which is important for future efforts, the tone of your comment is very important. Respectful comments are needed—we can respectfully disagree and show support for his willingness to address us directly, while urging Kerry to step it up:

Support Lee's amendment in the Senate debate on defense authorization by calling for 50,000 troops in the initial drawdown. If we bring home 97,00 troops by the end of 2012, we'll save 100 billion a year and still have a strong military presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan: 50,000 from Afghanistan for a $50 B savings, withdraw 47.000 from Iraq, saving another $50 b a year

Sponsor a new Baker-Hamilton-style “Afghanistan Study Group” which includes public hearings to inform the work. We need to hear all the facts, and any strategy should include what the American people want.

Speak clearly to dispel the myth that our national security is at risk if we leave Afghanistan, when the reverse is actually true. Our military intervention in muslim countries is creating the risk.

We've got a toe-hold here, and we need to get our foot in the door. Some comments on the blog have been excellent while other are rather mean-spirited. We want to get our points across without alienating his office. We want to show we can be partners in ending the war, and not cry-babies when we don't get exactly what we want. Can you help in this effort by making a comment today? http://www.pdamerica.org/blog/view/from-senator-john-f-kerry/

End the war in Afghanistan: Call Congress today!

by Norman Solomon
Co-chair, Healthcare NOT Warfare

With lives in the balance every day, the Healthcare NOT Warfare campaign has never been abstract.

Nearly two years ago, in Kabul, I saw tragic human consequences of what Martin Luther King Jr. called "guided missiles and misguided men." Since then, contrary to the recommendations of a Congressional Progressive Caucus report to President Obama in mid-2009, our country has continued to spend vast sums on warfare in Afghanistan.

The people of that country—in desperate need of healthcare and so much more—deserve much better. So do the people of the United States, where economic distress is severe.

This week, as early as Tuesday (May 24, 2011), a large military authorization measure is expected to come to a vote on the House floor. Please call your member of Congress now and urge support for Rep. Barbara Lee's amendment that would limit U.S. military spending in Afghanistan to paying for a rapid, safe withdrawal of U.S. military forces.

Call Congress TODAY!

The Healthcare NOT Warfare campaign is strongly behind Congresswoman Lee's push for a responsible end to the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan. If it fails, we will throw our support behind Rep. Jim McGovern's measure for requiring the president to set a timetable for ending the longest war in U.S. history.

It's also important to make clear that you oppose any move to undermine congressional authority over war. We must defend the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution.

Please urge President Obama to follow the wishes of his party as expressed in the Afghanistan Withdrawal Resolution and fulfill his pledge on a significant military drawdown in Afghanistan this July.

Call Congress TODAY!

Capitol Hill maneuvers related to military spending will be fast moving and fluid this week. You can check here to get updates and to report on your conversation.

Carry it on!

Norman Solomon
Co-chair, Healthcare NOT Warfare

We Got Osama bin Laden – Now Let’s Get Out of Afghanistan

by Raul Grijalva

The news of Osama bin Laden’s death at the hands of a small group of Navy SEALs, after hiding in plain sight for years, reminds us that we spent a generation deploying ever more troops to fight an enemy that doesn’t have an army, or a country, or a government. President Bush told us a decade ago that we’d prevent al Qaeda and the Taliban from committing more attacks, no matter what it took. After our recent successes, we know what it took, and it wasn’t a ground force still scaled for the Cold War. The rationale for the decade-long battle in Afghanistan is gone. It ended in Pakistan, a nation where we have no combat soldiers on the ground. This is a new chapter. It’s time to bring our troops home.

Several leaders in the Congressional Progressive Caucus -- Rep. Barbara Lee, my co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Rep. Mike Honda, Rep. Maxine Waters and myself -- sent a letter to President Obama May 4 urging him to order "a near-term and significant drawdown of U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan beginning no later than July of this year." The logistics of bringing approximately 100,000 troops home should be an incentive, not an impediment, to getting started as soon as possible. Our soldiers deserve to come home to an honorable reception, be reunited with their families, and begin thinking about the rest of their lives.

It's important to put this moment in the right context.

For the rest of Congressman Grijalva's blog post, click here.