Bring the Troops Home from Iraq and End the War!

Greetings Friends,

On Saturday, community members from across Massachusetts came together in Cambridge to begin the Massachusetts Home From Iraq Now Campaign. The day began with a panel of military and gold star families organized by Charlie Richardson and Nancy Lessin of Military Families Speak Out and was organized by folks from MFSO, UFPJ, HomeFromIraqNow.org, Traprock and AFSC WMA and Cambridge.

Home From Iraq Now has three components which we believe will work together well: town and city council resolutions, a state hearing and a binding ballot initiative.

Harold Hubschman, the central organizer of the ballot initiative, also spoke at the meeting. The following is an email he sent yesterday. Please get involved in this historic effort to bring the troops home and end the war.

Kjerstin Rossi of AFSC WMA is helping to coordinate this effort. You can phone her at 413.584.8975. Roger Conant has put up Emily and Bryn's great work from this summer (including a MA National Guard fact sheet). You can see this all at www.WesternMassAFSC.org.

Many thanks for all you do for justice and peace,

Jo

What if you could vote to end the war in Iraq? Soon you will be able to.

I am writing to tell you about HomeFromIraqNow.org, an exciting campaign that is getting underway in Massachusetts. The goal of HomeFromIraqNow.org is to place a binding initiative on the Massachusetts ballot to prevent the governor from sending any more National Guard troops to Iraq. A yes vote on this initiative will not only stop future deployments of the National Guard to Iraq, but will also send a very strong message to our elected leaders that we want them to end the war and bring all of our troops home immediately.

The HomeFromIraqNow.org initiative was crafted by constitutional law experts who have litigated past National Guard cases on behalf of the state of Massachusetts and was certified as constitutional by the Attorney General of Massachusetts. It relies on a US Supreme Court ruling that authorizes a governor to refuse a presidential request to deploy the Guard abroad if that deployment impairs the Guard's ability to respond to domestic public safety or security emergencies - conditions that clearly prevail today. The binding initiative requires the governor to exercise that authority to refuse to send more National Guard troops to Iraq.

This is the first time in American history that a ballot initiative is being used to empower voters to take matters into their own hands to end a war. But to get it on the ballot, the campaign needs to collect 100,000 signatures of Massachusetts voters by November 15. You can help (even if you don't live in Massachusetts.) Please visit their website at www.HomeFromIraqNow.org today, and take action to get this initiative on the ballot.

Here are some things you can do right now:

1. Send in your signature

You can download the petition right now at www.HomeFromIraqNow.org, print it, sign it, get everyone who lives with you to sign it, and mail back to the campaign. If everyone reading this email were to send just five signatures, that would be enough to put the initiative on the ballot.

2. Volunteer to collect signatures

You can sign up to volunteer at www.HomeFromIraqNow.org, and you can download the petition as well as a guide to collecting signatures. We also have petitions and how-to sheets at the AFSC office. You can also call or email (413.584.8975 or afsc@crocker.com) and we'll get an organizing packet to you.

3. Spread the word

There is very little time to collect 100,000 signatures, but you can help spread the word about this campaign by forwarding this email to all of your friends today and asking them to join the campaign and send in their signatures. Only Massachusetts voters can sign, but everyone can help spread the word. Also, if you're a part of a group that has an email list, please ask them to send out a notice about this campaign too.

4. Give Right now, this campaign is being run by volunteers who are donating their time and paying campaign expenses out of their own pockets. To get the word out and to reach their goal of collecting 100,000 signatures, they're going to need to hire organizers, make copies, and pay for phone calls and mailings. You can make a contribution at www.HomeFromIraqNow.org.

This ballot initiative is a unique opportunity to change the course of the war. If this signature drive is a success in Massachusetts, there are plans to expand the campaign to other states. There are 23 other states that have ballot deadlines in the coming months, and if similar initiatives could be put on the ballot of some of those states, this has the potential to be a national referendum on the war. Kicking this campaign off with a bang in Massachusetts is an essential first step before it can move forward.

So please visit the campaign website at www.HomeFromIraqNow.org now and help get this campaign moving!