Open Letter from CODEPINK'S Medea Benjamin

Dear Ben,

As Congress reconvenes today, CODEPINK is not wasting any time. We will be in the office of Speaker John Boenher with a simple message: The best way to cut the deficit is to end the wars and bring our war dollars home. Please call 202-224-3121 and email your rep with the same message NOW!

The number one issue on the minds of the American people and this new Congress is our ailing economy. Everywhere one hears calls-particularly from the Tea Party-for slashing government spending.

But where should that money come? Not from social security, Medicare and programs shielding people from the ravages of the economic crisis. The only logical sector to cut is the military budget.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan-and the expanding attacks in Pakistan -- helped plunge us into this financial crisis and have not made us any safer at home. The U.S. will spend more on the war in Afghanistan this year, adjusting for inflation, than we spent on the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War COMBINED. The United States also spends nearly as much on military power as every other country in the world combined, plus we maintain troops at more than 800 bases around the world-often antagonizing the local people and making us targets for terrorist attacks.

We can't afford these wars. We can't afford the bases sprawled all over the world. We can't afford the bloated military budget. It's critical for you to send a message to your congressperson-ASAP. Call 202-224-3121 or email. Tell your rep that it's time to bring our war dollars home.

Thank you for helping bring peace, justice and sanity to 2011!
Janet, Jean, Joan, Jodie, Kristen, Lisa, Farida, Medea, Nancy, Rae, and Tighe