The Stop Iran War Campaign Enters the Next Phase

[Tom Rinaldo]

Today Jon Soltz is blogging live at kos, right now. If you don't know who Jon Soltz is, here is his personal Bio blurb taken from kos:

"I'm Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran and chairman of VoteVets.org, a non-profit political organization dedicated to veterans advocacy. We're most known for our hard hitting political ads that show what it really means to support the troops."

Here is the direct link to Jon Solt blogging live at kos. Go there now, say Hi to Jon, ask him your questions, and offer him your encouragement, and then come back and read the rest of this OP for this thread:
http://www.dailykos.com/user/Jon%20Soltz/diary

Yesterday Wes Clark posted a Diary at Huffington Post called "The Danger of Silence"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gen-wesley-clark/the-danger-of-silence_b_42865.html

It accompanied the release of a new video by the stopIRanWar.com campaign. General Clark introduced it this way:

"Silence.

That is what worries me. With every passing day that the administration won't talk to Iran, we come closer to an Iranian nuclear weapon, and the time at which the decision must be made whether or not the administration will use its military option.

In today's video blog, Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org, and I discuss the serious consequences of using military force against Iran -- the impact on our men and women in uniform, U.S. influence in the region, and the stability of the Middle East."

Here is the link to that video:
http://www.stopiranwar.com/?page_id=16

You will notice that this video is a powerful tool for mobilizing opposition to the next war with Iran from across a very broad spectrum of voters. If you know anyone who has a yellow ribbon on their car, please make sure they watch this video. Get them the link, it's your patriotic duty!

The stopIranWar.com website also now has down loadable materials that we all can use to bring this campaign off of the web and onto the streets, including:

StopIranWar.com petitions that you can use in taking the campaign to the streets
StopIranWar.com T-Shirt Transfers complete with front, back, and sleeve images
StopIranWar.com signage for windows, cubes, and vehicles
StopIranWar.com doorhangers - yes, you can now go door-to-door in your neighborhood or apartment complex
StopIranWar.com postcards - a great way to reach your offline family and friends

Here is the direct link where all of these supplies can be downloaded from stopIranWar.com:
http://www.stopiranwar.com/?page_id=18

[CrazyOrangeCat]

1. kick it up, people . . .

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. Thanks for that appeal. Because Jon is blooging live right now...

...it really is important to keep this thread kicked, so people will see it in time to ask him questions live if they want. This is the guy behind the amazing Body Armor ads in 2006, and the heart stopper: Because of Iraq. I think this is his first ever kos blog, so it would be great if folks went and talked to him. I have to leave the house right now so I can't help keep this thread kicked any more from this moment out unfortunately.

[FrenchieCat]

3. K&R

:kick:

[EFerrari]

4. kick

[FrenchieCat]

5. Was just watching CNN in where Former Isreali PM Bibi was referring to Iran

as the Germany of 2007, but that this time the world can't wait too long to act. Said that Iran is not an Isreali problem, it is a problem of all.

CNN called this a "developing" story.....

[Jai4WKC08]

6. It's probably too late

To catch Jon in the live blog. Don't know whether he plans to come back to the thread later.

But one thing he said I found particularly interesting was in response to a question on whether they will make any TV ads. You should remember that Jon's VoteVets.org made some of the most outstanding (and effective) ads of the 2006 election, and they've recently made a great one against the escalation. If you missed any of these, a YouTube search for "VoteVets" will bring them all up.

Anyway, Jon implied they were considering ads, and it really depends on how much money they can raise. And large number of signatures helps get big donor money to make ads.

So please, if you haven't signed up, do it. Pass it along to your friends. Order the buttons, print off the flyers. Get the word out. Americans don't know how close we are to another war. We need to let them know BEFORE it's too late.

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. Exactly. If we get enough signatures, they can go national with Ads

Here is the reply Jon gave to the question about whether VoteVets.org will produce some ads on Iran:

"That depends on our support. Right now are going to keep blogging but the more signatures we have on the petition the more leverage we have to show major donors that this is real issues moving Americans. We would love to do that, but we need to push the issue first and if things fall into place, we would love to take a larger role in the debate."

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. Want some hard hitting media ads about stopping a war with Iran?

Help pass on this petition. It's that simple.

[Generator]

9. That is amazing, thanks.

War with Iran is my biggest worry in the world.

[Tom Rinaldo]

10. It probably is mine also, but even if it wasn't, if it happens we're screwed

I don't care if someone thinks that the odds of an Amreican attack on Iran, or an attack by Israel with American Support, is one in two or one in two hundred, IF it happens the world as we now know it forever changes. Iran would not roll over and play dead, they would make sure that Americans shared in the pain. The Iranian people would not rise up against the religious conservatives as a result, they would rally behind Iranian nationalism.

Forget any thought of curbing future American defense spending, our security expenses would soar. Forget economic growth, oil prices would go through the roof. Forget universal heath care, we won't be able to afford the programs for the poor that we currently fund. The aftermath from our invasion of Iraq is just a hint of what is to come if we attack Iran.

I simply do not understand any anti-war activist on Democratic Underground or anywhere else who is willing to sit back now and allow our conflict with Iran simply to play out anyway that fate would have it, without doing everything that is in our power to prevent this war.