As the nation gears up for "limited" military action in Iraq and Syria against ISIS (ISIL) we are looking at a likelihood of being once again sucked into a black hole of perpetual war. War has never worked as a lasting means of peace and, in fact, more often exacerbates the problems at enormous costs of lives (military and civilian), treasure, and deepened resentments. Waging all-out peace is the idea whose time has long since come. Let's do things differently, smarter for a positive change. Hezbollah won the hearts of the people in Lebanon not through war but through building hospitals and providing for people's needs. Surely we can do even more, and save lives, save money, and build bridges while we do.

John McCain was wrong in the lead-up to the Iraq War, about the Surge in Iraq, the Surge in Afghanistan, wrong on Libya, the GI Bill and even Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. He’s also, unsurprisingly, wrong about arming the Syrian rebels. VoteVets cannot support sending arms to Syrian rebels that many reports continue to suggest are still fighting alongside some of the same groups we fought against in Iraq, and are even reportedly entering into truces with ISIS. The United States has spent $25 billion to train and equip Iraqi Security forces which were overrun by ISIS earlier this year. $500 million in arms and training to a less effective force only guarantees, at best, a stalemate that is passed to the next president. Or, worse, potentially obligate even more U.S. forces in the region at a later date. Or worst of all, a chance that Syrian rebels who enter into deals with ISIS share our arms with them, who then use our own arms in their campaign of brutal terror. John McCain has been dangerously wrong about so much, and Americans have paid the price in lives and treasure. He’s wrong about arming the Syrian conflict, as well. It’s time to stand up to John McCain, and tell Congress to, as well. Sign our petition.

This is vital before engaging in another war

I feel the people's voice is ignored! I walk a path of Peace. I want my government to walk this path with me. Our military service people are just that-- people! We have sacrificed enough of them. President Obama, would you send your daughter to Iraq? A bomb is a weapon of mass destruction. Would you have a bomb fall on Washington? Thankfully we did not bomb Syria, even though thousands of innocent people were dying. How can we now consider continuing to bomb Iraq because two journalists were beheaded? The mandate by the president for war is neither logical nor warranted. I did not vote for a president who was going to send us back into war. I voted for a president who would end the terror and bring our veterans home. Enough is enough! We cannot afford more war. Build peace at home. Build peace in Florida and Ferguson Missouri. War in Iraq is not the answer. We have learned this at a high cost in the last thirteen years. Aggression is not the answer. America, take care of our own very big wounds that our government has caused to our nation. Let us not bring more death and sorrow to our planet.

Many more people suffer and die in the U.S. due to domestic policies that neglect the immediate need to improve infrastructure, bolster security and crime prevention and reduce poverty and long-term unemployment than those that die from terrorist groups. I strongly believe we need to redirect our attention and resources to focus on the needs of the American people first and show global leadership by example rather than promoting a financially and emotionally damaging state of perpetual war.

My family has many veterans who have been physically and psychologically harmed by the recent wars, and they already are not receiving proper care. Please don't make it worse.

I am concerned about the open-ended nature of this action. We need more than the decision by the executive branch before we again commit resources to a military action in the Middle East. The track record of the US in these types of interventions is disastrous, for both the US and the Middle East. It is time the American people through their elected officials become active participants in these decisions.

The world keeps doing the same actions to try to react to wars and terrorism in efforts to stop or contain them – with only minimal success. The old ways of responding to international problems and terrorism are not working. The only way to control wayward nations or groups that continue to create situations that result in military actions that cause death, destruction, and skyrocketing costs to the world’s peoples is to develop and enforce the World Peace Plan (WPP) outlined above. Note that we currently have been slowly evolving toward approaching international problems through coalitions, but we need to develop a permanent framework for all such action coalitions that include all the nations (not just one or two principle nations) and not have to reinvent a coalition for every separate issue that appears in the world. Success of such interventions will only develop over time as rogue nation/group after rogue nation/group is contained or wiped out through use of these coalitions. Once rogue leaders come to recognize that they will not be able to circumvent the international World Peace Plan (coalition), they will cease to invade other countries, thus reducing/removing major threats to world peace. In other words, peace will not magically and instantaneously appear, but the WPP will provide standard enforceable responses that will, over time, result in a more peaceful planet.

I am terrified that Congress is ignoring their responsibility to decide this urgent issue for our safety. And it apalls me that they don't want a vote because of the upcoming election. They must do their job!

I am a citizen journalist who has reported from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the West Bank. I am writing a book about my experiences and blogging at www.LivingLargeInLimbo.com. I am appalled that the President is moving toward military reengagement without a full, public airing of the non-military options. While I applaud the humanitarian aid the U.S. has provided for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, I’m not convinced more troops in Iraq, more weapons to Syria’s rebels, and more air strikes will wipe out ISIS or avoid increased military intervention. I’ve met the people whose lives and families are shattered by my country’s rush to war. Let’s prevent more casualties on America’s conscience!

I am affected by this issue every day because the services of the people are cut to pay for this expensive NATO operation. This money can rebuild our infrastructure, provide a state of the art learning environment for our children, fund university education, provide free health care, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid benefits, provide funds to restore our parks and recreation areas, and most of all, provide alternative thinking about how to resolve conflicts in our world. That's why I started this petition to ABOLISH NATO!

As stated, Obama's recklessness unnecessarily subjects the entire world to the real possibility of nuclear war. We demand that Obama stop escalating the situation toward war, and begin honest negotiations and diplomacy with Russia.