Moveon.org/Letters to the editor(local newspapers)

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Dear MoveOn member,
Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET, President Bush will speak to the nation about the war in Iraq in a televised address. Despite the car bombs and rising attacks, he's expected to offer no new policy—in fact, he's expected to say that we're making progress, that everything is going just fine.

Over the last week, we asked you to vote on whether we should work together in a major campaign to get Democrats and Republicans in Congress on board with a responsible exit plan. As of this morning, hundreds of thousands have voted and the results are clear: more than 83 percent said you were in. Together, we're ready to tell our leaders that it's time to come home.

One good first step is letters to the editor. Bush's speech tonight will be one of the major "tipping point" moments since the war began, and we can help make sure that no one buys his "stay the course" rhetoric. Politicians will be watching the letter-to-the-editor pages closely, and newspapers are likely to print letters on what will be the major story of the week. If we're able to push back hard enough, we can build a drumbeat for a real exit plan.

We've set up an online tool that makes submitting a letter easy. Tonight, you can watch President Bush's speech and then immediately go online and write a letter to the editor by clicking below. (We'll update our suggestion for the best thing to write about 30 minutes after his speech ends.)

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=764&zip=46268&id=5720-4640742-Y_i8408LRtOPJlBkPuOSaQ&t=2

You might have noticed that Republicans like Karl Rove, White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have tried to distract the country from Bush's disastrous Iraq policy by attacking MoveOn by name on TV. Rove was trying to put Democrats and MoveOn on the defensive, painting us as weak on security. But it didn't work—we held strong, and with your help we can make sure that the attack backfires. Lying about MoveOn can't solve Bush's problem—that he has no plan for Iraq.

And there is broad public support for a real plan. Two-thirds of the public say they would support elected leaders who stand up to President Bush and insist on a real plan to get out of Iraq. That makes sense: without an exit plan with a timeline, we'll be stuck in Iraq for years and years, exacerbating the problems there. As General John Abizaid, Commander of the U.S. Southern Command said last week testifying in front of the Senate, "too much of a footprint in the region creates more resistance." But, believe it or not, Bush and Rumsfeld reject the very suggestion of a timeline. Rumsfeld said on Sunday we could be in Iraq another 10 years. But their voices are the only ones being heard right now. That is why we all need to get a well-reasoned argument for an exit strategy with a timeline out there.

Please take just a couple of minutes to write your letter to the editor today.

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=764&zip=46268&id=5720-4640742-Y_i8408LRtOPJlBkPuOSaQ&t=3

Today's letters to the editor are just the beginning. We're also starting national television advertising and running an ad in The New York Times that carry this message: "It's time to come home. We went in the wrong way, let's come home the right way." With your help, we'll keep that going and expand the push into the cities where it will make the most difference. More on how to help do that tomorrow.

Public opinion has turned on President Bush's reckless war policy, but most leaders in Washington still aren't speaking out. That's why our work together is so important. Together, we can show the way toward a responsible exit plan and a more peaceful and secure world.

Thank you for all you do,

–Tom, Jennifer, Justin, Micayla and the MoveOn PAC Team
Tuesday, June 28th, 2005

P.S. Here are the points you can make in your letter or when you're talking to friends, family and colleagues.

It's time to start responsibly coming home from Iraq.

Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago. Things keep getting worse every week. More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded.
The U.S. occupation is fueling a growing insurgency. Our presence is exacerbating the problem. There are tens of thousands of insurgents backed by hundreds of thousands of supporters.
We got into this war based on lies—the wrong way. It's time to get out the right way. The first step is to realize that the Bush policy is out of touch with reality.
We need a real exit plan with a real timeline providing real accountability for our leaders. We need to turn control of the training of Iraqi forces and the rebuilding of Iraq to the international community. And we must renounce permanent military bases in Iraq because that angers the Iraqi people.
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