Tonight, President Barack Obama will lay out his priorities for the nation in his first address to Congress. The president has a lot on his plate right now. One of the key questions for him is how to make good on his promises to end the killing in Afghanistan and initiate a new U.S. diplomatic initiative with Iran.
As you listen to the president's speech tonight, we hope you'll pay particular attention to how he answers two key questions.
When will the United States begin talking with Iran?
Iran's cooperation is essential to peace in Iraq, to stabilizing Afghanistan, to helping advance Israeli-Palestinian peace, and to rebuilding nuclear nonproliferation. The president has pledged to open diplomatic talks with Iran. The news that Iran is close to opening its first nuclear power plant makes the need for talks all the more urgent.
How will the United States help bring peace to Afghanistan?
Expanding the U.S. war isn't the answer. Instead, our government should expand U.S. diplomatic reach (including talks with the Taliban), invest in that country's long-term development, and provide aid for Afghan refugees, who with Iraqi refugees make up half the world's refugee population.
Take Action
Listen to the speech or read the text. Then write a letter to the editor http://action.fcnl.org/editor/obama_address/index.pl of your local newspaper in response. We've provided a sample letter that focuses on the two questions above.
To increase the chances that your letter will be published, you should submit it tonight or first thing tomorrow morning.
Background
FCNL calls for diplomacy with Iran http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=3511&issue_id=123
FCNL calls for New Strategy toward Afghanistan http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=3509&issue_id=32
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment