|
December 9, 2008
President-Elect Barack Obama
Transition Headquarters
451 Sixth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Dear President-Elect Obama:
Congratulations on your historic election victory. We hope that your election will mark turning points in our government's conduct in war and peace, in our country's role on this shrinking planet, in U.S. national policy, and in how our nation confronts the legacies of slavery and racism.
Your election can be a turning point away from the unilateral, military-based policies of the past eight years to conduct more becoming America. We urge your administration to address the needs of the most vulnerable people in our global society. Civilians now account for between 80 and 90 percent of casualties in war. Poverty and ignorance plague hundreds of millions of children. War is not the answer. A prosperous peace would allow this country to answer the need here and abroad.
We urge you to lead a rapid demilitarization of U.S. policy and spending, starting with ending the U.S. war in Iraq and ensuring that the resources now spent on war are invested for building a sustainable peace and a revitalized society. Peace is possible through peaceful means.
A first step would be to end the so-called war on terror. We appeal to you to heed the cautionary tale of President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" initiative. If not for the Vietnam War he might have succeeded, and he might have enjoyed a second term in office. Afghanistan and Pakistan may be to your administration what Vietnam was to Johnson's. War is not the answer either to extremist violence or to the destabilization of Afghanistan. Diplomacy, development, and international cooperation are the right tools for that job, and they are compatible with the values and practices of our constitutional form of government.
Your administration can be a turning point in how our government approaches climate change. Global warming presents an existential threat to every nation, indeed to our human species, and it cannot be answered with the barrel of a gun. Your administration would be wise to develop an integrated response to the urgent and interrelated problems that face the United States and the world. As you search for solutions to the worst economic meltdown in a generation, we urge you to invest in bold and concerted action to green our economy and infrastructure to address global warming.
Your election, with 53 percent of votes cast, marks a rejection of the reactionary and greedy policies of the Bush administration. When voters went to their polling places, they sought two things: the unity of our diverse society and a clean break with Bush-era policies. Since the election, individuals from across the political spectrum, some of whom voted for you and some of whom voted for your opponent, have offered to work together to help your presidency succeed. You have a mandate to bring the nation together and to replace rule by force with the rule of law. Ending torture and domestic spying and restoring our constitution's plan for dividing and balancing government power should be among your first priorities.
Your election is already a turning point in our nation's history. As a people, we in the United States have not reached justice, but November 4th suggested that we are headed in the right direction. Our Quaker lobby in the public interest stands in a nearly 400-year-old faith-based movement that has worked for this moment through worship, protest, community organizing, and movement building. Martin Luther King Jr. remarked that "the moral arch of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Our nation may now be on an accelerated pathway from slavery and racism and toward equality and dignity for all.
Our Quaker lobby and our network of people from both the Friends tradition and other walks of life look forward to working with you and your administration. In particular, we want to immediately engage the work for
- Senate ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, banning nuclear test
explosions, before the 2010 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review;
- Senate ratification of two humanitarian treaties that will protect civilians from the
fallout of war: the Global Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster
Munitions;
- resetting federal spending priorities to achieve a reduction of 25 percent or more
in U.S. military spending, as a first step in recalling the blank checks that the
United States has been issuing to its military;
- opening a diplomatic initiative for a "grand bargain" with Iran, as proposed by
five former secretaries of state, for stabilizing Iraq and Afghanistan and settling
the U.S.-Iran conflict;
- launching a bold environment and energy initiative to create a new green
infrastructure, economy, and agricultural system that will dramatically reduce
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
We welcome your leadership to guide our nation into a sustainable, safe, and secure 21st century.
Sincerely,
Joe Volk
Executive Secretary
More Recommendations for the President-Elect
Reviewed:
01/05/2009
|
