Sample Letters
SAMPLE LETTER (please handwrite yours)
Dear Representative (or Senator) _______:
Greetings. My name is _____ _______, and I am writing you about some important things to me, and, I hope, to you as well:
1. The war in Iraq
2. The Bill of Rights in America
3. Impeachment of Vice President Cheney and President Bush
Please seriously consider the facts, as I know you will also consider the requests:
The war in Iraq is an illegal in self-defense, as we were tricked into believing, nor as a result of a UN Security Council resolution allowing us to do so. The UN Charter is an agreement of the United States, and the war is therefore the illegal not just by international standards, but by our own. This is the crime that many Nazis were punished for after WWII, and I refuse to allow my leaders to get away with it either.
The war in Iraq is also quite counterproductive, seeing as it is increasing terrorism instead of lessening it. Research fellows at the Center for Law and Security at the NYU School of Law
have found that the Iraq war has generated a sevenfold increase in the number of yearly fatal jihadist attacks. NIEs, the NIC, the CIA, and other intelligence agencies outside of America have concluded similar findings, either before or since the invasion, about the war in Iraq increasing terrorism.
The war in Iraq is also wrong. Although some supported it because they believed it to be the right thing to do, the Bush administration has ulterior motives, and whoever becomes president in 2008 may have those same motives. The war, quite simply, was not about fighting terrorism or helping the Iraqi people, but about money and power. Contractors have made incredible profits by rebuilding Iraq after it the country, and the US is in a strategic position to threaten other countries, such as Iran. We owe it to our soldiers to end this war, to ensure that they are sent to war ONLY for defense, and NOT used as cannon fodder for the profits and increased power of others.
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 has virtually stripped Americans of our 5th and 6th amendment rights to due process and fair trials. It gives the executive branch almost exclusive power to detain people by labeling them and the Geneva Conventions, remove the right to speedy, public trials, notice of charges, no hearsay evidence and no evidence under coercion, bar the courts from jurisdiction, restrict detainees from bringing charges against US personnel for abuse, and interpret the meaning of the Geneva Conventions.
We don't know that the Executive Branch is abusing these new almost limitless powers, but I'd rather be sure that it's not rather than TRUSTING that it's not, for our government was built on suspicion, not trust, which is probably a large reason why we have lasted so long.
VP Cheney and President Bush must be impeached for High Crimes and Misdemeanors so that the rule of law is upheld and future leaders will know that they will be held accountable for their crimes if they choose to follow in the footsteps of this administration. These men have authorized spying on Americans without warrant; lied to the American people and the Congress about WMDs and terrorist ties in Iraq; detained people indefinitely and authorized cruel treatment; and attempted to subvert the rule of law via signing statements and other actions. Impeachment is NOT about political games; it about standing up for American values, responsibility, and true representation.
If you, Representative (or Senator) _______, have any questions about the factual basis of my conclusions and assertions, please contact me or visit www.makeyourcall.org. In conclusion, though, I have a few requests for you:
1. Stop the War
a. Bring all troops home NOW
b. Stop funding the war
c. Create a Peace Plan for Iraq that does not involve Coalition troops but that does involve US financing peacekeeping missions via an outside agency and reconstruction
2. Restore the Bill of Rights
a. Repeal the Military Commissions Act of 2006
3. Impeach Bush and Cheney
a. Cosponsor and support impeachment resolutions put in the House by Kucinich and Wexler (if they are a representative - if they are a Senator, this request should be to "vocally support impeachment and conviction and to vote for conviction in the Senate")
I look forward to your cooperation with the will of your constituents, which is also the will of America in general, and the majority of the world.
Thank you,
Your Name
Your Number
Your Address
Your Email
In-Depth Sample Letter (please handwrite yours)
If, during the course of your research, you discover that, say, your respective
congressperson voted against the Dept. of Defense appropriations bill for 2008 or the Iraq War resolution, like Representative Lewis of GA, or against the Military Commissions Act of 2006, like Senator Feingold of WI, or have cosponsored an impeachment resolution, like Representative Clay of Montana, then it is a good idea to acknowledge and thank them for this this when you call and write them. They would be asked to, perhaps, do something different than those who have not been voting “on our side.” Therefore, we have created some more in-depth spiels and a letter for this situation.
Here's an example that's only slightly different from the regular sample letter:
Dear Representative (or Senator) _______:
Greetings. My name is ______ ________, and I’m writing you about 3 very important things to me, and, I hope, to you as well:
1. The war in Iraq
2. The Bill of Rights in America
3. Impeachment of Vice President Cheney and President Bush
Please seriously consider the facts, as I know you will also consider the requests:
The war in Iraq is an illegal “war of aggression” because the United States did not invade Iraq in self-defense, as we were tricked into believing, nor as a result of a UN Security Council resolution allowing us to do so. The UN Charter is an agreement of the United States, and is therefore the “supreme law of the land” according to Article VI, Clause 2 of our Constitution, so the war is not only illegal by international standards, but by our own. This is the crime that many Nazis were punished for after WWII, and I refuse to allow my leaders to get away with it either.
The war in Iraq is also quite counterproductive, seeing as it’s increasing the threat of terrorism instead of lessening it. Research fellows at the Center for Law and Security at the NYU School of Law have found that the Iraq war has generated a sevenfold increase in the number of yearly fatal jihadist attacks. NIEs, the NIC, the CIA, and other intelligence agencies outside of America have concluded similar findings, either before or since the invasion, about the war in Iraq increasing terrorism.
The war in Iraq is also wrong. Although some supported it because they believed it to be the right thing to do, the Bush administration has ulterior motives, and whoever becomes president in 2008 may have those same motives. The war, quite simply, was not about fighting terrorism or helping the Iraqi people, but about money and power. Contractors have made incredible profits by rebuilding Iraq after it’s destruction. Oil companies now have access via permanent bases in Iraq to the oil resources of the country, and the US is in a strategic position to threaten other countries, such as Iran. We owe it to our soldiers to end this war, to ensure that they are sent to war ONLY for defense, and NOT used as cannon fodder for the profits and increased power of others.
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 has virtually stripped Americans of our 5th and 6th amendment rights to due process and fair trials. It gives the executive branch almost exclusive power to detain people by labeling them “unlawful enemy combatants,” deny the protections of habeas corpus and the Geneva Conventions, remove the right to speedy, public trials, notice of charges, no hearsay evidence and no evidence under coercion, bar the courts from jurisdiction, restrict detainees from bringing charges against US personnel for abuse, and interpret the meaning of the Geneva Conventions. We don’t know whether the law is being abused, but I would rather be certain that it is not instead of TRUSTING that it is not, for our government was built on suspicion, which is probably a large reason why we have lasted so long.
VP Cheney and President Bush must be impeached for High Crimes and Misdemeanors so that the rule of law is upheld and future leaders will know that they will be held accountable for their crimes if they choose to follow in the footsteps of this administration. These men have authorized spying on Americans without warrant; lied to the American people and the Congress about WMDs and terrorist ties in Iraq; detained people indefinitely and authorized cruel treatment; and attempted to subvert the rule of law via signing statements and other actions. Impeachment is NOT about political games; it’s about standing up for American values, responsibility, and true representation.
If you, Representative (or Senator) _______, have any questions about the factual basis of my conclusions and assertions, or if you’d just like more information, please visit contact me or visit www.makeyourcall.org. In conclusion, though, I have a few requests for you:
1. Author one or more resolutions to Stop the War that will
a. Bring all troops home NOW
b. Stop funding the war and
c. Create a Peace Plan for Iraq that does not involve Coalition troops but that does involve US funding for reconstruction and peacekeepers via an outside agency.
2. Restore the Bill of Rights by authoring a resolution to
a. Repeal the Military Commissions Act of 2006
(if they’re a Senator, ask them to support conviction when impeachment resolutions pass through the House, as well as urge their colleagues in the House and Senate to cosponsor or support the said impeachment resolutions as well, but if they’re a representative,)
3. Impeach Bush and Cheney by
a. Cosponsoring and urging your colleagues to cosponsor impeachment resolutions in the House for Bush and Cheney put fourth by Kucinich and Wexler
I thank you for the leadership on the issue of (whatever it was) in the past when you (voted against the war, etc, whatever they did) and I look forward to your cooperation with the will of your constituents, which is also the will of America in general, and the majority of the world. Please continue to be a leader by following my requests.
Thank you,
Your Name
Your Number
Your Address
Your Email