Dear Supporter,

It's been a hot July here at the Peace Action national office, but we're proud to share with you this news from across our network! Catch up to all that's been going on with this month's edition of the Action Alert Network E-newsletter, including a report-back from our Northeast regional retreat in New England.

Thanks to folks like you signing and spreading the word, we've received over 3,000 signatures on our petition to save Social Security and Medicare and cut the Pentagon budget! There's still time to gather more signatures! Use this easy online form to invite your friends to sign too!

Meanwhile, our petition to save Social Security and Medicare is still going strong. Sign today to make your voice heard in the deficit debate!

Humbly for Peace,

Kevin Martin
Executive Director
Peace Action

Getting Fired up in the White Mountains: Northeast Regional Retreat

Nearly one-half of people polled now think the US can make major cuts in defense spending without putting the country in danger, according to a 7/18/11 Rasmussen Poll.  What will it take to translate that sentiment into policy change? Movement-building and a stronger, bolder Peace Action.

In the rush of activities and mobilizations, organizers rarely get the opportunity to step back and explore ways to improve our practice. Read More

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Aug 6 & 9: Hiroshima & Nagasaki Commemorations

Every year around August 6 and 9, Peace Action and its grassroots network of chapters and affiliates host and participate in activities to commemorate the anniversaries of the 1945 nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.

This year, the tradition will continue with festivals, candle-lighting and other creative remembrances of those who lost their lives or were injured during these attacks. Peace Action will reach out to local communities to stress the importance of building the movement for zero nuclear weapons at the local, national and international levels. We want to make sure that nuclear weapons are never used again. Read More

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Four More Years – of the Afghanistan War? Not On Our Watch!

When I first heard a report of President Obama’s decision to remove only 5,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan this year (which turned out to be only half what he announced June 22, with another 23,000 troops to leave by September, 2012), my first thought was “did he forget a zero?” The decision was disappointing but not surprising. Remember, candidate Obama promised to escalate the Afghanistan war (which he did, twice), and as president, he has committed himself to “winning” it (whatever that means, I’m reminded of the pacifist Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin’s quote, “You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake”).

Moreover, the military has consistently and effectively influenced the president’s decisions on the war, with former Secretary of War Robert Gates, Generals David Petraeus, Stanley McChrystal and others constantly speaking in public and to the media “setting policy,” which the president has enabled (Truman or Eisenhower would doubtless have fired them for that). Read More

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"It is eating everybody else's lunch."

"The military budget is not on the table.  The military budget is at the table - and it is eating everybody else's lunch."

That's what Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) said during the House of Representatives debate on an amendment to cut military spending. The debate rages on in Washington on raising the debt ceiling. Some on the Right are holding the debt ceiling hostage by demanding that cuts in Medicare, Social Security and other essential human services be cut. We have to make sure the Pentagon budget stays on the table.

Sign the petition to cut the Pentagon's budget. Read More

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