Repeal of the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force
By JACK JENKINS
July 7, 2021
FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2018, file photo, U.S. Army soldiers conduct a mortar exercise at a small coalition outpost in western Iraq near the border with Syria. As with most legislative victories, many organizations played a role in the 268-161 House vote to repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which originally authorized then-President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq. But few focused on the issue longer or more doggedly than the Friends Committee on National Legislation, which has toiled for years to stop what it describes as the “endless wars” launched by the United States. (AP Photo/Susannah George, File)
WASHINGTON (RNS) — As the U.S. House of Representatives began calling the roll last month to vote on a repeal of the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force, staffers at the Friends Committee on National Legislation couldn’t stop messaging each other.
According to Shoshana Abrams, a manager of advocacy teams at the FCNL, her colleagues began frantically chatting over Zoom as the votes trickled in. Meanwhile, members of FCNL’s volunteer network exchanged exuberant emails, their excitement peaking as they watched numbers tick up among a difficult-to-persuade demographic: Republicans.
“It was like: 20 Republicans! 47 Republicans!” Abrams said in an interview. “It was our team really seeing that their work was paying off.”
As with most legislative victories, many organizations played a role in the 268-161 House vote to repeal the 2002 AUMF, which originally authorized then-President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq. But few focused on the issue longer or more doggedly than the FCNL, which has toiled for years to stop what it describes as the “endless wars” launched by the United States. As the AUMF repeal effort moves to the Senate, activists are celebrating the culmination of decades of quiet — but persistent — faith-rooted advocacy.
“Peace is possible!” tweeted FCNL General Secretary Diane Randall after the vote.
___
This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story.
___
Founded in 1943, the Quaker group — whose tradition often refers to members as “friends” — has long taken an anti-war posture. It lobbied against conscription during World War II and launched a successful, decade-long campaign to defeat legislation in the 1950s that would have required military training for young men.
The group hasn’t let up since. Its headquarters still sits just across the street from Senate offices on Capitol Hill, often adorned with distinctive blue-and-white signs decrying war.
The anti-war theology of the Quakers, though, traces its roots back much further — to a 17th century letter sent by Quakers to King Charles II of England, according to Alicia McBride, FCNL’s director of Quaker leadership. The letter, now known as the “Peace Testimony,” condemned “all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatsoever.”
According to historians, Quaker communities largely maintained those beliefs when they arrived in what would become the United States. Adherents generally declined to participate in the American Revolution: Some of their governing bodies declared neutrality in the conflict, and the small number of Quakers who aided the fighting were often exiled from the community for violating the Peace Testimony.
FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2018, file photo, U.S. Army soldiers conduct a mortar exercise at a small coalition outpost in western Iraq near the border with Syria. As with most legislative victories, many organizations played a role in the 268-161 House vote to repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which originally authorized then-President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq. But few focused on the issue longer or more doggedly than the Friends Committee on National Legislation, which has toiled for years to stop what it describes as the “endless wars” launched by the United States. (AP Photo/Susannah George, File)
WASHINGTON (RNS) — As the U.S. House of Representatives began calling the roll last month to vote on a repeal of the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force, staffers at the Friends Committee on National Legislation couldn’t stop messaging each other.
According to Shoshana Abrams, a manager of advocacy teams at the FCNL, her colleagues began frantically chatting over Zoom as the votes trickled in. Meanwhile, members of FCNL’s volunteer network exchanged exuberant emails, their excitement peaking as they watched numbers tick up among a difficult-to-persuade demographic: Republicans.
“It was like: 20 Republicans! 47 Republicans!” Abrams said in an interview. “It was our team really seeing that their work was paying off.”
As with most legislative victories, many organizations played a role in the 268-161 House vote to repeal the 2002 AUMF, which originally authorized then-President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq. But few focused on the issue longer or more doggedly than the FCNL, which has toiled for years to stop what it describes as the “endless wars” launched by the United States. As the AUMF repeal effort moves to the Senate, activists are celebrating the culmination of decades of quiet — but persistent — faith-rooted advocacy.
“Peace is possible!” tweeted FCNL General Secretary Diane Randall after the vote.
___
This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story.
___
Founded in 1943, the Quaker group — whose tradition often refers to members as “friends” — has long taken an anti-war posture. It lobbied against conscription during World War II and launched a successful, decade-long campaign to defeat legislation in the 1950s that would have required military training for young men.
The group hasn’t let up since. Its headquarters still sits just across the street from Senate offices on Capitol Hill, often adorned with distinctive blue-and-white signs decrying war.
The anti-war theology of the Quakers, though, traces its roots back much further — to a 17th century letter sent by Quakers to King Charles II of England, according to Alicia McBride, FCNL’s director of Quaker leadership. The letter, now known as the “Peace Testimony,” condemned “all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatsoever.”
According to historians, Quaker communities largely maintained those beliefs when they arrived in what would become the United States. Adherents generally declined to participate in the American Revolution: Some of their governing bodies declared neutrality in the conflict, and the small number of Quakers who aided the fighting were often exiled from the community for violating the Peace Testimony.
No comments:
Post a Comment