Statement by Massachusetts Peace Action and the AFSC on Syria

On Thursday night, Donald Trump attacked Syria with over 50 Tomahawk missiles. We don’t know who caused the chemical attack in Idlib province, but U.S. bombs will not help the situation. The Syrian civil war must be solved by diplomacy, not more bombs.

A new U.S. war against Syria’s government is not the answer to the catastrophic Syrian civil war.

Whoever is responsible for the recent use of chemical weapons, a war against a sovereign country is certainly not the answer. As we learned in Iraq, once started there is no telling where such a war will go and what impact it might have. The Iraq war gave us ISIS. Who knows what this one will give us after all the triumphalism in Washington fades.

If the Assad regime used chemical weapons, it is a war crime and should be dealt with through the International Criminal Court. If the extremist militias that we and our allies support in Syria are responsible for the chemical attack, they should be brought before international tribunals.

The lives of Arab women and children are of no concern to this frightening administration in Washington. If we really want to protect the lives of tens of thousands of women and children in the Middle East, we should end our military and political support for rebels in Syria and for Saudi Arabia’s savage destruction of Yemen.

If Trump is so concerned about children being killed in gruesome ways, why is he killing so many of them in Yemen? Do we really trust Exxon’s CEO to decide who we go to war with (Syria) and whose wars we help in every way possible (Saudi Arabia)?

Trump’s war on Syria is a major breach of both international and U.S. law. Impeachment would be an appropriate response. Congress must come back into session immediately to stop this war and to debate our Syria policy.

Statement by Massachusetts Peace Action and the AFSC Peace & Economic Security Program.

Walpole Peace Group: Immigrant's Day at the State House - Wednesday, April 5 - join us to take the 8:11 am train from Walpole

A reminder that we will be going into Boston tomorrow, April 5 for Immigrant’s Day at the State House.  We will be taking the 8:11 am train out of Walpole and expect to return by the 1:35 pm train. Join us in going into Boston for Immigrant’s Day in support of immigrants and the Safe Communities Act. There will be speakers in the Hall of Flags at 10:00 am with a  rally outside the State House from 12:00  to 1:00 PM. We will join with RISE Sharon in meeting with State Senator Timilty’s office. We also have appointments to meet with Representatives Rogers and Kafka. You can register and get more information at http://miracoalition.org/.   Please let us know if you want to meet us at the Walpole Train Station and go in together.   We will have signs. 

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, April 15, 2017, 10:00 AM, Walpole Common: Tax Day Rally – Redirect Military Spending to Fund Human Needs. The Walpole Peace and Justice Group  will hold a  rally  on April 15, joining with the Global Campaign on Military Spending and the Tax Day 2017 Mobilization in calling for our federal government to redirect military spending to fund human needs and to stop military interventions. We call for:

·   President Trump to release his tax returns

·   Stopping the new “big, big” tax cuts for corporations and the 1%

·   Opposing President Trump’s “Death Budget” released on March 16

·   Re-directing money from the Pentagon to families and climate protection

·   Supporting the Peoples Budget in Congress

The Pentagon’s budget equals the combined total of the next eight largest  military spenders, including China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Kingdom, and India!   We will have a 40 foot budget banner that shows where the Federal discretionary budget is spent today. We will also have a couple of brief speeches  and will pass out an informational  leaflet urging people to call our U.S. Senators and Representatives. We may also have some drummers!