War and Law — and Obama
 

          On the occasion of the 90^th anniversary of the World War I Armistice, WALL sent the letter below, addressed to Barack Obama. The topic: war and peace and law — and what President Obama will change.
 

          Do you want him to fulfill his peace promises and go beyond them? Tell him!

          President Barack Obama may be contacted through:

U.S. mail:  The White House, Washington, DC 20500.

Telephone: 202-456-1414

Fax: 202-456-2461

E-mail: use form at WhiteHouse.gov.

           Afterward, feel free to share your vision with WALL too.

War and Law League (WALL)

P.O. Box 42-7237, San Francisco, CA 94142

warandlaw@yahoo.com / www.warandlaw.org

Tel. (415) 564-2083 or (415) 738-8298

Nov. 11, 2008, Veterans Day
 

The Hon. Barack Obama, president-elect
 

Dear Mr. President-Elect:
 

          What we liked most about your candidacy was your promise of change in U.S. foreign relations, notably:
 

• Talking to Iran without preconditions. The recent Iranian letter to you opens the door.
   
• Withdrawing forces from Iraq within 16 months to end that war and occupation.
   

          And in August 2007 — when U.S. warplanes killed 91 Afghan civilians, including 61 children — your scorn for “air-raiding villages and killing civilians” gave hope that you would end the bombings. They violate The Hague Convention and customary international law.
 

          As an organization dedicated to carrying out the rule of law in U.S. foreign affairs, the War and Law League also hopes you will seek:
 

• Overall settlement of the Afghan war. Begun as a supposed hunt for Bin Laden, it has been a seven-year series of war crimes.
   
• An end to executive acts of war, like Bush’s attacks on Pakistan and Syria.
   
• A global treaty aiming at the abolition of nuclear weapons.
   

          The attacks on those nations are unconstitutional, because Congress never declared war on any of them. They also breach U.S. treaties prohibiting aggressive war.
 

          The goal of abolishing all nuclear weapons is envisioned by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which the U.S. is a party.
 

          Ninety years after the armistice ending the "War to End Wars," dare we hope for such change?

 

          Yours respectfully,

Jeannette Hassberg (coordinator), Paul W. Lovinger (secretary), Dolores Rodriguez (treasurer), Harry A. Scott, Grace Teresi, Ken Wachter, Marcy Berry — Executive Board