A PLEDGE TO TAKE ACTION TO

 

– Bring the Troops Home Now

 

– By September 21, Establish a Comprehensive Plan to End the War

 

– Oppose Future US Military Invasions

 

The US war in Iraq is an endless fire consuming lives, resources, and the fragile possibilities of peace. Instead of quenching this fire, the US occupation intensifies it. The Declaration of Peace is a call to end this war — and a commitment to take action to translate this call into a concrete plan for peace. With nearly seventy percent of the people of the United States opposing this war, there is a growing call to bring the troops home now and to establish a comprehensive, concrete and rapid plan to end the war. This comprehensive plan must include withdrawal of US troops; the closure of US bases in Iraq; support for a peace process in the post-occupation transition; reconstruction and reparations in Iraq; and a shift from hundreds of billions of dollars spent for war to meeting human needs at home and abroad. The Declaration of Peace is a commitment people are making across the United States to take bold, powerful and peaceful steps to help establish this comprehensive plan. Together — policy-makers and citizens; Democrats, Republicans and Independents; people of faith and people of conscience — we have the power to douse this fire. Sign The Declaration of Peace — and take tangible, nonviolent action to end this war and to declare a new era of peace and justice.

 

Goal of the Declaration of Peace:

 

A COMPREHENSIVE, CONCRETE AND RAPID PLAN TO END THE WAR

 

The Declaration of Peace is a commitment to take nonviolent steps for a comprehensive, concrete and rapid end to the US war in Iraq, including:

 

• Withdrawal of US troops and all coalition forces

 

• Closure of US military bases

 

• Support for an Iraqi-led peace process, including a peace conference to shape a post-occupation transition and an international peacekeeping presence if mandated by this peace process

 

• Return of Iraqi control over its oil resources and the political and economic life of the nation

 

• Reparations and reconstruction to address the destruction caused by the US war and thirteen years of sanctions

 

• Establish a “peace dividend” for job creation, health care, education, housing, and other vital social needs

 

• Increased support for US veterans of the Iraq war, and

 

• No so-called “preventive” war against Iran or any other nation

 

This comprehensive and concrete plan must be established and activated no later than September 21, 2006, and completed no later than March 19, 2007, ending four years of war and occupation in Iraq. We will take every nonviolent step possible to meet this goal before these deadlines.

 

Declaration of Peace ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS

 

United for Peace and Justice; Clergy and Laity Concerned About Iraq; Gold Star Families for Peace; Hip Hop Caucus; Peaceful Tomorrows; Global Call Iraq; Peace Action; Student Peace Action Network; The Shalom Center; The United Church of Christ (Justice and Witness Ministries); Call to Action; Proyecto Guerrero Azteca por la Paz; War Resisters League; PeaceMajority Report; Buddhist Peace Fellowship; Code Pink; Pax Christi USA; Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace; Peaceworkers; Global Exchange; Episcopal Peace Fellowship; Thomas Merton Center Anti-War Committee; Network of Spiritual Progressives; School of the Americas Watch; Iraq Pledge of Resistance/National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance; Voices for Creative Nonviolence; Courage to Resist; The MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence; Ecumenical Peace Institute/CALC; Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns; Brandywine Peace Community; Methodist Federation for Social Action; DC Anti-War Network; Presbyterian Peace Fellowship; American Humanist Association; Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service. To add your organization as an endorser: info@declarationofpeace.org

 

The Declaration of Peace: A Commitment to Take Action

 

The Declaration of Peace is a pledge to take nonviolent steps for the immediate withdrawal of US troops — and to engage in peaceful protest if a comprehensive, concrete, and rapid plan for an end to the US war in Iraq is not established and begun by September 21, 2006, just days before Congress adjourns for the fall elections. Between now and September we will:

 

• Call on the Bush administration and Congress for an end to the war. As part of this, we will call on and visit members of Congress and all candidates in the fall elections to “declare peace” by publicly pledging to support and vote for legislation that brings the troops home and cuts off funding for the war;

 

• Participate in activities leading up to September 21, including marches, vigils, and nationally coordinated phone-ins and email campaigns;

 

• Prepare for September by participating in public Declaration signings, organizing Declaration-inspired events, and attending nonviolence trainings that will be scheduled across the United States.

 

If the September 21 deadline is not met, Declaration signers will engage in peaceful action in Washington, DC and at Congressional offices and other sites throughout the nation from September 21-28. These activities will include marches, rallies, vigils, demonstrations and other creative expressions “declaring peace.” In the spirit of Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, some signers will be led by conscience to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience and risk arrest as a way to signify their principled opposition to the US war in Iraq. Nationally coordinated nonviolent activities will continue on a regular basis until the United States withdraws from Iraq.

 

To Take the Declaration of Peace pledge online go to: www.declarationofpeace.org

---