From One President to Another

The following is an open letter from President of the UUA, Bill Sinkford, to the President of the United States, George Bush. I am very proud of this response to Bush's latest announcement of an increase of troop levels:

January 11, 2007

Dear Mr. President,

Your decision to increase the US military forces in Iraq by 21,500 additional troops stunningly disregards the wishes of the American people, the advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group.

Since March 2003, more than 3,000 Americans have been killed in Iraq , and more than 47,000 have been wounded. You don't want us to see them, but flag-draped coffins arrive daily at Dover Air Force Base. Yes, better body armor might save more lives, but only at very high costs, the greatest being mangled bodies and diminished futures. Even those of our soldiers without physical wounds are hurting; witnessing the meaningless suffering of countless Iraqis is leaving them with spiritual wounds that may never heal. We must not inflict these fates upon one more soldier without strong evidence that sending more troops will lessen the carnage in Baghdad 's streets and increase our safety at home. I ask you today, Mr. President, where is the evidence for this?

Your policies have betrayed the trust of thousands of patriotic Americans who volunteered in good faith to serve our country. Four years of a failed war has robbed us of beloved brothers, wives, sons, and daughters. And yet you ask us to order our troops to endure more bloodshed and to inflict more harm on a broken country. My son served honorably as a soldier in Afghanistan during the early stages of that war, and so I know how much courage and dedication our troops embody. If we ask them to risk death daily, we had better have a just and sound reason for that request. Their willingness to lay down their lives is a sacred trust. I implore you not to betray that trust any further.

Yes, Mr. President, we do need a change of policy in Iraq . But do we need to escalate our troop levels? The Iraq Study Group says No . Do we need to put more troops in harm's way? Three out of four of Americans say No . Do we need to spend more, fight harder, sacrifice more American lives, and kill more Iraqi citizens in order to secure peace in their country and in our own? People of conscience the world over say No!

And yet you would have the American people give our blessing to all of these ill-advised plans. As a religious leader, as a father of a former soldier, and as a concerned American, I am compelled to ask -- To what end? The whole world is asking this question and unless you can answer it, America will continue to lose credibility with the international community. In the months leading up to the war, I posed a number of questions that I felt needed to be answered, questions regarding your plans for acting in partnership with the international community in any diplomatic and military efforts and your plans for ending the proposed war. These questions were not answered when the US invaded Iraq in 2003, and they remain unanswered today.

Therefore, I cannot lend my support as more brave and loyal Americans are sent down a failed path with failed tactics.

As you risk the lives of our men and women in uniform on a mission that is completely contrary to the will of the American people, it is our democratic duty to make our voices heard. It is time to say NO!

Sincerely,

Rev. William G. Sinkford