Toolkit for petitioning (printable .pdf format):
•Petition to Keep Oregon's National Guard from Deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan
•Current list of supporters (last updated 8/31/08)
•Draft resolution/legislation (last updated 7/1/08)
•Frequently Asked Questions List (6/27/08)

(optional:)
•Authorizations for Use of Military Force
(2002 & 2001)
•Previous Oregon resolutions and letters

Back to Campaign to Bring the Troops Home page

CAMPAIGN TO KEEP OREGON'S NATIONAL GUARD
FROM DEPLOYMENT IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

The effort will include urging resolutions and legislation which the state of Oregon can use to challenge the federalization of the Guard. The main issues are that the Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) for the invasion of Iraq (October, 2002) and the "war on terror" (September 18, 2001) have no provisions to end those conflicts. Furthermore, the Iraq AUMF refers to the "national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and (2) enforc[ing] all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions regarding Iraq." It also references the regime of Saddam Hussein being in possession of weapons of mass destruction, harboring Al Quaida members responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks, and enforcing UN resolutions against that regime, reasons which were never or are no longer valid. Click to read a draft resolution / piece of legislation . To help out, you can download a petition and send us the lists you gather 10 at a time.

Groups working on this effort include Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom-Portland, War Resisters League-Portland, Center for Intercultural Organizing, Community Alliance of Lane County, Portland Peaceful Response Coalition, Code Pink Portland, Women in Black, Metanoia Peace Community, Oregon Action, Portland Jobs with Justice Veterans for Peace (chapters in Porland, Corvallis, Bandon and Grants Pass) and Military Families Speak Out-Oregon. Click here for a full list of supporting organizations and community leaders (42 groups, 3 individuals as of 8/31/08).

Efforts in 2008-09 will likely include signature gathering, letter writing, educating elected officials on the local, state and national level on the issue, public visibility, and more.

You can read our Frequently Asked Questions List for more information.

There is a national effort being coordinated out of the Liberty Tree in Wisconsin called "Bring the Guard Home! (it's the law)" which focuses on the 2002 AUMF for Iraq. We are working in conjunction with them and have adopted the language they put forward as templates for legislation and resolutions that have been introduced in the legislatures of Vermont and New Jersey (as of June, 2008). Because our efforts also include the 2001 AUMF and the troops in Afghanistan, we have adopted different language in our proposed resolution/legislation and for the overall Oregon campaign.

More information, including a detailed FAQ, can be found on the Cities for Progress website.

This effort follows Oregon's statewide resolutions from 2007, City Council Resolutions in Corvallis, Portland and Eugene, and letters from 67 Oregon elected officials to Congress (September, 2007) and 89 members of Congress (including two from Oregon) to the President urging the troops be brought home. Click for a packet of these previous Oregon resolutions and letters

On August 3, 2008, the Oregonian ran an article about the upcoming deployment called "A Mission from Hell" in which Governor Ted Kulongoski stated "Everybody is worried about the continual deployment of the Guard... I think sometimes we're asking too much of these kids and their families." Following this, 20 of the supporting organizations co-signed a letter to the Governor explaining that the Guard would not have to be deployed if the Legislature gives him the power to declare the Authorizations for Use of Military Force invalid. (Several other organizations have signed onto the letter since it was sent.) At least two letters to the editor responding to the article appeared in subsequent papers.