As 2004 comes to a close, I'm writing to thank you for you support of Veterans for Common Sense and for all we have accomplished together.
 
Veterans for Common Sense was established in the fall of 2002 in order to bring the common sense voices of veterans to the debate over whether to go to war with Iraq.  In the two years since, we have found there is a tremendous demand for a progressive, nonpartisan veterans' organization that address concerns of national security and civil liberties.  We now have over 12,000 members in the United States, and our membership continues to grow every day.
 
Thanks to the generous support of people like you, Veterans for Common Sense now has a full time staff and is working hard to make a difference.  In the last two years we have fielded hundreds of media interviews on television, radio and print, and we are reminding America that the values we fought – and sometimes died – for, remain based in the common sense principles described by Thomas Paine over two centuries ago.
 
We still have a long way to go.  When Veterans for Common Sense was launched, our primary concern was the rush to war with Iraq.  Now that war is a reality, untold thousands have died in Iraq, and our priority must be to find effective means of bringing that war to an end as soon as possible.

We do not believe that being "against the war" is enough.  The United States must live up to its obligations under international law. Instead, our focus is identifying practical policy changes which will actually help bring the war to an end, and accomplish two key goals: a free and secure Iraq, and to bring our troops home.  That means working with experts on Iraq, military affairs, public health and other areas to identify the key problems and focus on solutions.

What are some of the solutions we believe could make a difference in Iraq? 

- Political participation through all levels of Iraqi society, so that no one has an excuse for political violence. 

- Reducing mortality in Iraq, especially from violence and U.S. military actions which harm civilians. 

- Changing the flow of reconstruction money so that it flows directly into the hands of Iraqis, instead of U.S. corporations.

- Addressing the crushing jobs crisis in Iraq, which leaves millions of young men unemployed and angry.

- Removing the U.S. veto power over the interim Iraqi government, so that Iraq can truly be considered a sovereign state. 

- Pressuring the United States to allow the Iraqi government to reactivate the Iraqi national army instead of trying to create a security force the U.S. can control.

Much of our work in 2005 will be focused in these areas.

Ultimately, the conflict in Iraq is not a military problem and will not have a military solution.  The key priority for our work will be ensuring that U.S. policy-makers understand this.

This year we will continue to focus on the war in Iraq, civil liberties and human rights issues, and the other key areas defined in our Common Sense Principles for Positive Security, which we developed with your help earlier this year. You can read them here:

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm?&Page=Module&ModuleTitle=Common%20Sense%20Principles%20for%20Positive%20Security

In an effort to allow greater grassroots participation, we will soon create and publish a local affiliate structure for Veterans for Common Sense, so that those who of you who want to find more ways to get involved can do so.  We need your feedback and support to ensure our work continues. If you are interested in launching a local chapter of Veterans for Common Sense, please let me know by emailing charles@veteransforcommonsense.org.

In 2004 we accomplished a lot, thanks to your participation and support. Some of these accomplishments include:

- Our joint lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations (including the Center for Constitutional Rights, Veterans for Peace, Physicians for Human Rights and the ACLU) to force the government to release documents related to torture at abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. This lawsuit resulted in the release last week of an internal FBI memo citing a secret Presidential executive order authorizing extreme interrogation measures.
 
- Our upcoming advertisements in the Washington Metro system opposing the nomination of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General of the United States.
 
- The publication of our Guide for Returning Veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

None of this would have been possible without your support and involvement. We intend to continue and expand on this work in 2005, with our focus on positive solutions in Iraq, and a renewed call for an independent investigation into prison abuses and violations of the Geneva Conventions that goes further than the courts-martial of a few low-ranking enlisted soldiers. 

Finally, as always, our work will focus on how best to support the troops.  In recent months, we've been disturbed by a growing trend of hostility toward the troops, including a significant number of emails received by our office which argue that all of those serving in Iraq are war criminals.  We reject these arguments.  Ultimately, the devastating cost of the war will most directly be felt by Iraqi civilians and U.S. troops, many of whom will return home after multiple tours in Iraq with their lives damaged beyond repair.  Our society owes those men and women a chance to come home and return to normal lives with their families. In many cases, that transition will be difficult or impossible, due to injuries both seen and unseen.  We hope you will join us in saying "Welcome Home" to those who return and doing everything we can to help them.
 
If you supported Veterans for Common Sense in 2004, I thank you. If not, please consider taking this last opportunity in 2004 to make a tax-deductible gift for our work.  You can give online at:

https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=3422

or send a check to:

Veterans for Common Sense
1101 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003

Once again, I’d like to thank you for your generous support.

Sincerely,

Charles Sheehan-Miles
Executive Director
 
P.S. Because our IRS fiscal sponsor, EPIC (http://www.epic-usa.org ), is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, your gift is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

P.P.S. You can make an even bigger difference by considering a small monthly gift to Veterans for Common Sense.  Monthly gifts can be set up online at https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=3422