Just Foreign Policy

Campaigns

• @SpeakerPelosi: End the Saudi-Yemen war on NDAA

  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a historic opportunity to end the famine-causing Saudi war in Yemen. The House has passed the Adam Smith - Ro Khanna Yemen War Powers amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would end all U.S. participation in the war. The House and Senate have both passed the Sanders-Lee-Murphy Yemen War Powers Resolution. The House and Senate have both voted to cut off U.S. arms shipments to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for the war. All Speaker Pelosi has to do now to end the war is insist that the House-Senate conference on the National Defense Authorization Act include provisions to end the war that both the House and the Senate have voted for. Urge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to end the famine-causing Saudi war in Yemen by signing our petition.

  6,573 of 7,000 Signatures

  Created by Robert Naiman
• Congress: Stop UAE Arms Deal If UAE Refuses Ceasefire To Stop Yemen Famine

  The Trump Administration has notified Congress of a $2 billion arms deal with the United Arab Emirates. [1] Congress has thirty days to block the sale. This proposed arms deal gives Congress a unique opportunity to pressure the UAE. The UAE has been a key participant in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. [2] Indeed, the Washington Post has referred to the threatened attack by the Saudi-led coalition on the crucial Yemeni port of Hodeida as "a planned Emirati offensive." [3] The UN Special Envoy to Yemen has stated, "We are definitely, unequivocally against any military operation" at Hodeida, warning that such an operation would likely push Yemen into full-blown famine by cutting off the supply of food to northern Yemen through Hodeida. [4] If Congress approves the UAE arms deal without insisting that the UAE agree to a ceasefire at Hodeida to protect Yemen from famine, Congress could be signing the death warrants of millions of Yemenis who are in imminent danger of dying from starvation due to the Saudi-led war and blockade on Yemen. Urge Congress to introduce and support a resolution of disapproval against the UAE arms deal unless and until the UAE agrees to a famine-averting ceasefire at Hodeida by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/11/politics/us-2-billion-arms-sale-uae/ 2. http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-approves-2bn-missile-sale-uae-842404197 3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-weighs-deeper-involvement-in-yemen-war/2017/03/26/b81eecd8-0e49-11e7-9d5a-a83e627dc120_story.html 4. http://pocan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/bipartisan-group-of-16-lawmakers-threaten-to-block-us-military

  8,739 of 9,000 Signatures

  Created by Robert Naiman
• Put Elizabeth Warren on the Supreme Court

  For decades, the Supreme Court has been biased in favor of corporate and far-right interests. The Citizens United and Shelby County rulings — allowing billionaires and Big Business to spend literally unlimited amounts of money interfering with elections, and gutting essential civil rights protections in the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act — are just two recent examples of the court’s radical bias. The American people — and our cherished system of checks and balances between the branches of government — need and deserve a high court that is FAIR. We call on you to nominate former Harvard Law School professor and current United States Senator Elizabeth Warren to replace deceased Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.

  959 of 1,000 Signatures

  Created by Robert Naiman
• Protect Children in Military Detention

  Human Rights Watch has reported that Israeli security forces are abusing Palestinian children detained in the West Bank. "Israeli security forces are using unnecessary force in arresting and detaining children, in some cases beating them, and holding them in unsafe and abusive conditions," HRW said. [1] Minnesota Democratic Representative Betty McCollum is now circulating a letter to President Obama, urging him to appoint a Special Envoy for Palestinian Youth to travel to the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel to hear directly from Palestinian youth, human rights and legal experts, NGOs, and Palestinian and Israeli officials, including police and military leaders, about the conditions of children in military detention and what steps can be taken to guarantee the internationally-recognized human rights of these children. [2] Urge your Representative to support Rep. McCollum's letter by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/04/11/palestine-israeli-police-abusing-detained-children 2. http://fcnl.org/issues/middle_east/standing_up_for_human_rights_in_palestine/ For more information on the "No Way to Treat a Child" campaign, see: http://www.nowaytotreatachild.org/

  8,494 of 9,000 Signatures

  Created by Robert Naiman
• Congress: Override Veto of Saudi 9/11 Bill

  On September 23, President Obama vetoed the bipartisan Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act [JASTA], setting up a veto override fight over whether 9/11 families will be allowed to sue the Saudi government over its alleged role in the 9/11 attacks. JASTA, which passed the House and Senate unanimously, makes no claim about the Saudi government's involvement in the attacks. It simply removes the Saudi government's legal immunity from lawsuits concerning terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both support JASTA. [1] Supporters of JASTA have charged that the Administration is simply trying to protect the U.S. government's too-cozy relationship with the Saudi government, which has recently come under long-overdue Congressional scrutiny. On September 21, 27 Senators voted to block a billion dollar arms deal with Saudi Arabia, with many citing Saudi use of U.S. weapons against civilians in the catastrophic Saudi war in Yemen. [2] House Members have introduced a companion bill to disapprove the Saudi arms deal, HJ Res 98. [3] On June 16, 204 Members of the House voted to bar the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. [4] Administration claims that the principle of sovereign immunity is in peril if JASTA becomes law are unserious. There are already exemptions to sovereign immunity in U.S. law, including for terrorism. (We will pass over the Administration's support of the TPP, which would allow brand-name pharmaceutical corporations to sue governments in corporate tribunals to block the introduction of cheaper generic drugs.) JASTA would simply expand the current terrorism exemption to sovereign immunity of existing U.S. law to countries like Saudi Arabia that are not on the State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism. [5] The State Department list results from opaque determinations that include issues besides terrorism. The Administration wants to maintain the unilateral power of the executive branch to give a government a pass on support of terrorism if the executive branch - especially the Pentagon and the CIA - perceives that government to be useful in other ways. The majority of Americans have no interest in maintaining this unilateral, unaccountable executive power. And if people in other countries want to sue U.S. officials over alleged U.S. support for terrorism in their countries, those families also deserve their day in court. If that prospect might be a deterrent to Pentagon and CIA adventurism overseas, the majority of Americans will shed no tears. Urge your Senators and Representative to vote to override the President's veto of JASTA by signing our petition. References: 1. https://news.vice.com/article/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-9-11-bill-sue-saudi-arabia-new-york-primary 2. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=114&session=2&vote=00145#position 3. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/congress-support-diplomacy?r_by=1135580 4. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2016/roll327.xml 5. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/296862-obama-vetoes-9-11-bill

  5,683 of 6,000 Signatures

  Created by Robert Naiman
• Congress: Stop using our tax dollars to illegally fund Saudi war crimes in Yemen

  UN investigators say Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have killed thousands of civilians in Yemen in airstrikes, tortured detainees, raped civilians and used child soldiers as young as 8, actions which are likely war crimes. Their report said Saudi and Emirati airstrikes had hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, jails, boats and medical facilities. They accused Saudi-UAE of routinely having failed to consult their own “no-strike list” of civilian sites in Yemen, including refugee camps and hospitals. The chair of the experts panel that produced the report said “there is little evidence of any attempt” by Saudi-UAE to minimize civilian casualties. [1] The UN report on Saudi-UAE war crimes in Yemen makes a mockery of claims by Defense Secretary James Mattis that the Pentagon is helping Saudi Arabia and the UAE reduce civilian casualties. On the contrary: by arming Saudi Arabia and the UAE, by refueling their warplanes during their bombing runs, by providing targeting intelligence, and by providing diplomatic protection for their war at the UN, the Pentagon is complicit in Saudi-UAE war crimes. But incredibly, Mattis insists that “we have not seen any callous disregard by the people we're working with,” and so the Pentagon “will continue to work with them." [2] Congress can stop this crime. In violation of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution, U.S. participation in Saudi Arabia’s Yemen war was never authorized by Congress. That means that under the War Powers Resolution, any Member of Congress can force a vote on ending the war, as Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy did in March. [3] Urge your Representative and Senators to force a vote on ending the war by signing our petition. References: 1. “War Crimes Report on Yemen Accuses Saudi Arabia and U.A.E.,” Nick Cumming-Bruce, New York Times, Aug. 28, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/world/middleeast/un-yemen-war-crimes.html 2. “US to Continue Backing Saudi Coalition in Yemen War,” Associated Press, Aug. 28, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/08/28/us/politics/ap-us-mattis.html 3. “Why Congress must vote on the United States’ role in Yemen,” Mike Lee, Bernie Sanders and Chris Murphy, Washington Post, February 28, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-congress-must-vote-on-the-united-states-role-in-yemen/2018/02/28/2ce853b4-1cc8-11e8-9de1-147dd2df3829_story.html

  9,684 of 10,000 Signatures

  Created by Robert R Naiman
• Back Gabbard bill to pressure Saudi Arabia on ties to Al Qaeda in Yemen

  Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's bipartisan bill H.R. 608, the Stop Arming Terrorists Act, would prohibit the use of U.S. funds to provide assistance to Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra, that is, Al Qaeda), and to countries supporting those organizations. The bill would require the Director of National Intelligence to make a periodic determination of whether Saudi Arabia is supporting Al Qaeda and report to Congress about it. [1] The bill's co-sponsors include Reps. Barbara Lee, Peter Welch, Walter Jones, Thomas Massie, and Ted Yoho. [2] President Trump is threatening to escalate U.S. support for the catastrophic Saudi war against the Houthis in Yemen. To stop this war, we must undermine Republican support for it. The biggest political vulnerability of the Saudi war in Yemen for Republicans is the fact that the war is strengthening Al Qaeda. Thus, the Saudi war in Yemen is directly threatening the security of the U.S. homeland. [3] Moreover, Saudi forces have fought alongside Al Qaeda in Yemen against the Houthis, [4] and working with al Qaeda has been an integral part of Saudi strategy in Yemen. [5] Building support for Rep. Gabbard's bill will help us raise the issue of Saudi support for Al Qaeda, and that will help us undermine U.S. support for the catastrophic Saudi war in Yemen. Urge your Representative to co-sponsor Rep. Gabbard's bill by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/608/text 2. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/608/cosponsors 3. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/25/the-u-s-backed-war-in-yemen-is-strengthening-al-qaeda.html 4. https://www.wsj.com/articles/al-qaeda-fights-on-same-side-as-saudi-backed-militias-in-yemen-1437087067; http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35630194 5. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/saudi_arabias_terrorist_allies_in_yemen.pdf

  7,982 of 8,000 Signatures

  Created by Robert Naiman
• .@AndersonCooper: Justify #DemDebate Claim About Nicaragua

  During the first Democratic presidential debate, CNN journalist Anderson Cooper challenged Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders about his supposed “electability” issues in this way: “The question is really about electability here, and that’s what I’m trying to get at. You — the — the Republican attack ad against you in a general election — it writes itself. You supported the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. You honeymooned in the Soviet Union. And just this weekend, you said you’re not a capitalist. Doesn’t — doesn’t that ad write itself?” [1] Anderson Cooper is showing his pro-Empire bias by trying to re-write the history of U.S. foreign policy in Nicaragua on the side of the Empire. Millions of Americans “supported the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.” In 1979, the Sandinista National Liberation Front overthrew the US government-installed Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua, promising to address Nicaragua’s extreme poverty and the lack of basic government services like education and health care for the majority of the population. In 1982, Nicaragua was recognized by the World Health Organization as the third world country that had made the most progress in health care. Under the Reagan Administration, the CIA organized a terrorist army (the “Contras”) to attack the Nicaraguan government. Millions of Americans participated in a solidarity movement to oppose US military intervention in Nicaragua, including public radio host Ira Glass [2], actors Ed Asner, Mike Farrell and Diane Ladd, civil rights leader Julian Bond [3] and engineer Ben Linder, who was killed in a terrorist attack by the CIA’s army. [4] The US-Nicaragua solidarity movement succeeded in passing the Boland Amendment in Congress, cutting off US funding to the CIA’s terrorist army, which led the Reagan Administration to try to fund the Contras illegally through arms sales to Iran. When this illegal arrangement was exposed, it became the Iran-Contra scandal. [5] Challenge Anderson Cooper to provide evidence for his unsubstantiated claim that having opposed the CIA’s illegal war against Nicaragua in the 1980s is a political liability in the United States today by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/14/us/politics/democratic-debate-transcript.html 2. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/378/transcript 3. http://www.csmonitor.com/1984/1123/112357.html 4. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/09/23/in-search-of-ben-linders-killers 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boland_Amendment

  13,002 of 15,000 Signatures

  Created by Robert Naiman
• Pass the Drone Strike Transparency Bill

  The Senate Intelligence Committee has taken an important step by passing an intelligence authorization which would, for the first time, require the Administration to publicly report on civilian casualties from U.S. drone strikes. The Administration should support this provision, and Congress should pass this drone strike transparency provision into law. Sarah Knuckey, Director of the Project on Extrajudicial Executions at New York University School of Law and a Special Advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, calls this provision "an important step toward improving transparency," and notes that "Various U.N. officials, foreign governments, a broad range of civil society, and many others, including former U.S. Department of State Legal Advisor Harold Koh ... have called for the publication of such basic information." This provision could be offered as an amendment in the Senate to the National Defense Authorization Act. It could be offered in the House as an amendment on the intelligence authorization, or as a freestanding bill. Help us move Congress and the President to support this provision by signing our petition. [Text of the provision can be found here: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1470.]

  17,609 of 20,000 Signatures

  Created by Robert Naiman
• Hillary: Help Jeff Sachs Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline

  The recent State Department environmental impact statement for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline was widely interpreted as signaling a greater likelihood that the pipeline would be approved by the Obama administration later this year. The proposed pipeline would facilitate the mass extraction and use of oil from Canada's tar sands, harming the climate much more than the same amount of conventional oil. As development economist Jeffrey Sachs has noted [1], if we don’t keep some of the world's oil, gas, and coal reserves under the ground, we’re going to wreck the planet. The State Department’s environmental review didn’t even consider how helping to exploit Canada’s tar sands could fit inside a plan for limiting the extraction and use of fossil fuels to a level that doesn’t cause catastrophic climate change. [2] It just assumed that the Canadian tar sands are going to be fully exploited no matter what. We have a key strategic opportunity now to turn this around. Because it is widely assumed that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee for President in 2016, if she comes out against approval of the Keystone XL pipeline now, it will galvanize opposition to the pipeline among Democrats, and make it much less likely that President Obama will approve it. Urge Hillary to join Jeff Sachs in lobbying President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline by signing our petition. References: 1. "Keystone: The Pipeline to Disaster," Jeffrey Sachs, Huffington Post, February 3, 2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-sachs/keystone-the-pipeline-to_b_4716229.html 2. "Kerry’s State Department Ignored Obama’s Climate Action Plan," Steve Kretzmann, Oil Change International, February 17, 2014, http://priceofoil.org/2014/02/17/kerrys-state-department-ignored-obamas-climate-action-plan/

  17,130 of 20,000 Signatures

  Created by Robert Naiman