Ending the Endless Wars

$6 Trillion on the War on Terror since 9/11

America's reputation around the world has been tarnished by our never-ending wars. Guantanamo Bay is a moral stain on our nation, and costs us $540 million each year. It must be closed.

Using drones is traumatizing an entire generation of children, teaching them to fear death from above by American missiles. We can be a better example for the world.

This is the 21st Century. We can do better.

In 1963, Dr. King offered a vision for Beyond Vietnam, the endless war that plagued America, and the need to move past indecision to action.

Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise, we must choose in this crucial moment of human history.

Our duty is to provide for the common defense

With US troops spread all across the planet, we have exceeded our constitutional mandate. Our founding fathers were so concerned about standing armies that Article 1, Section 8 requires that "no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years."

The budget for the US military, the single largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, dwarfs the next seven countries combined. We can do better in 2020.

Bring our soldiers home

Repeal the 2001 and 2002 AUMF (Authorization for Use of Military Force)
End U.S. military support for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen
Deescalate the Korean peninsula by downsizing our 80,000 troops in the region and ending the 70-year-old war
The US has over ten times the foreign military bases as the rest of the world combined. Bring the troops home

Be a better example in the world

End our use of sanctions, economic violence which kills tens of thousands of civilians around the world
Ban landmines
Ban lethal autonomous weapons
Free Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Reality Winner, and other whistleblowers.
Close Guantanamo Bay Military Prison
Reduce our nuclear stockpile

Phoenix Congress 2020