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Action Alert
WHEN: Call and email NOW as Biden will reportedly announce his cabinet choices as early as Thanksgiving. Biden's nominees, to pass muster, must be approved by a majority of the Senate. OTHERS UNDER CONSIDERATION BY BIDEN:Senator Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island, Senate Armed Services Committee) Reed was one of 23 US senators to vote against H.J. Resolution 114, which authorized President George W. Bush to use force against Iraq in 2002. In 2018, Reed was one of a few Democrats to support U.S. backing of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. By 2019 he reversed his position, saying that he wanted to end U.S. support for the coalition. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-ILL, Disabled Iraq War Vet, Thai) In 2006, Duckworth called on Congress to audit the estimated $437 billion spent on overseas military and foreign aid since September 11, 2001. On September 30, 2006, Duckworth gave the Democratic Party's response to President George W. Bush's weekly radio address. In it, she was critical of Bush's strategy for the Iraq War. In October 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Duckworth agreed with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the British Army chief, that the presence of coalition troops was exacerbating the conflict in Iraq. Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security (African American) "War" must be regarded as a finite, extraordinary and unnatural state of affairs. War permits one man-if he is a "privileged belligerent," consistent with the laws of war-to kill another. War violates the natural order of things, in which children bury their parents; in war parents bury their children. In its 12th year, we must not accept the current conflict, and all that it entails, as the "new normal." "Peace must be regarded as the norm toward which the human race continually strives." Oxford Union, Nov. 2012 Other names to consider: Tom Countryman, Board Chair, Arms Control Association; Congressman Ro Khanna (House Armed Services Committee; introduced amendment to end US support for Saudi war on Yemen.) Please share the links below with Senators, on social media & with like-minded organizers: Will Michele Flournoy be the Angel of Death for the American Empire? Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies. Common Dreams. 9/22/2020 https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/22/will-michele-flournoy-be-angel-death-american-empire Progressives Slam Biden's Foreign Policy Team https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/biden-trump-war-military/ Tim Shorrock. The Nation. 9/21/20 Democrats are walking a fine line on the election's main foreign policy issue: China. Akbar Shahid Ahmed. Huffington Post. 8/22/20 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/biden-china-foreign-policy_n_5f403019c5b697824f987e15 How to Prevent a War in Asia by Flournoy (Foreign Affairs, June 18, 2020) https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-06-18/how-prevent-war-asia "...if the U.S. military had the capability to credibly threaten to sink all of China's military vessels, submarines, and merchant ships in the South China Sea within 72 hours, Chinese leaders might think twice before, say, launching a blockade or invasion of Taiwan; they would have to wonder whether it was worth putting their entire fleet at risk." Flournoy "Washington needs to clarify-and consistently demonstrate-its commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, making clear who and what it is willing to defend. It must deploy more senior officials and additional military forces to the region, to underscore its enduring presence, strengthen its relationships, and counterbalance China's influence. It should conduct more regular military exercises with allies and partners in the region, both to demonstrate capabilities it has already and to accelerate the development of new ones." Flournoy Hudson Institute Interview (March 27, 2020) Flournoy interviewed by Rebeccah Heinrichs https://www.hudson.org/research/15863-transcript-america-s-role-in-the-world-amid-a-pandemic-a-discussion-with-former-under-secretary-of-defense-mich-le-flournoy "I'd like to see us reevaluate to say, "Let's focus on getting counter drone capability into the hands of our partners in that region as an urgent matter." That's going to do a lot more for Saudi confidence, for Emirati confidence, for others, Qatari confidence, than sending another 10,000 soldiers. So I think we need to really think about how we deter and how we posture. And then to allow to free up some of those resources to eventually be refocused on the Pacific." Background on Flournoy (Wikipedia) Michele Angelique Flournoy (born December 14, 1960) is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy under President Clinton and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy under President Obama, serving as a principal advisor to U.S. Secretaries of Defense Robert Gates and Leon Panetta from February 2009 to February 2012.[1] During her tenure in the Clinton administration, Flournoy was the principal author of the May 1997 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), which advocated the unilateral use of military power in defense of US interests.[2] While serving in the Obama administration, Flournoy crafted the administration's policy of counter-insurgency in Afghanistan[3] and helped persuade President Obama to intervene militarily in Libya.[4] After leaving the Obama White House, Flournoy joined the Boston Consulting Group as a senior advisor, overseeing the development of $32 million in military contracts.[7][8] In 2018, she joined the board of Booz Allen Hamilton, a publicly traded consulting firm with military contracts and cyber security expertise.[9] She is currently the co-founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors Flournoy Quote: "We're trying to recognize that warfare may come in a lot of different flavors in the future," she told the New York Times. (July 3 2009) Please share this email with your social media networks and followers, urging them to take action, as well. For more on Biden's cabinet choices, read "Meet the Contenders for Biden's Cabinet" (Politico, 11/7/20). https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/07/joe-biden-cabinet-picks-possible-choices-433431 |