An Alternative to War and a Just Transition to a Sustainable
Demilitarized and Equitable New Economy
[model resolution]
Whereas, the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) adopted in 2001 for
Afghanistan and in 2002 for Iraq have been used as an open-ended license for never ending war
and U.S. military intervention anywhere in the world; and
Whereas, President Obama requested a new AUMF more than six months after initiating
military action against the so-called Islamic State (also known as ISIS, ISIL or IS) that will only
prolong U.S. military involvement in civil wars and that will deepen and extend these conflicts,
producing another Mideast quagmire; and
Whereas, U.S. military intervention has nowhere eliminated targeted terrorist groups, and
instead has provoked popular resentment against the U.S. and its allies that has actually made
recruitment by these groups more successful; and
Whereas, a predominantly military response does not address but rather deepens the
underlying social, economic and political conditions that foster such groups, and military efforts
to disperse and destroy them have actually spread their influence throughout the region and
attracted new combatants from other parts of the world; and
Whereas, military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and elsewhere have led, not to
peace and stability, but rather to escalation and prolonging of conflict, suffering, death and
destruction, and recruitment of ever more people into radical terrorist organizations; and
Whereas, these conditions can only be addressed by political not military means; and
Whereas, without question we support the legitimate use of security required to protect our
country and its people from terrorist attacks from domestic and international sources, but
there are also effective alternatives to the use of military force to deal with terrorism and the
threat of terrorism which include:

A serious commitment to a sustained patient multilateral diplomatic initiatives;

Use of the hundreds of billions of dollars now squandered on an ineffective
counterproductive military strategy to fund massive humanitarian aid through the
United Nations to relieve the suffering of internally displaced people and refugees in
surrounding states, and to make investments in education, housing, healthcare and
infrastructure that raise their living standards and reduce unemployment;

An international commitment to freeze ISIS assets and cut off its access to international
financial, oil, wheat and stolen antiquities markets;

Serious pressure on Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to
end all financial, arms and political support for extremists and to interrupt the flow of
foreign fighters to the region;

A strictly enforced universal arms embargo in the region;

Pressure on the Iraqi and Syrian governments to open governance and political
participation to all religious, ethnic, tribal and political constituencies and isolate Islamic
State and other terrorist groups through genuine inclusion of Sunni tribes and former
Ba’athist military officers, as well as Kurds, Turkmen and other religious and ethnic
minorities in governance of the Iraqi state, and revival of the secular tradition in Iraq
that the U.S. occupation did much to destroy; and

Application of well established and proven criminal justice investigative methods and
prosecutorial strategies to pursue extremists and respond to terrorist threats outside of
Iraq and Syria; and
Whereas, real national security should be determined not by the size of our military, power of
its weapons or fear it can instill in other countries, but rather should be judged by the welfare
of the American people and the respect our nation earns in the international community; and
Whereas, hundreds of billions of dollars being misspent by the Pentagon could be used to meet
the urgent needs of the American people for good jobs at living wages, rehabilitation of public
infrastructure, construction of energy efficient mass transportation and sustainable energy
generation, quality universal (single-payer) healthcare, debt-free education, affordable housing,
high quality elder and child care, repair of our frayed social safety net, and to meet the
challenge of global warming; and
Whereas, all of humanity is threatened if global warming and climate change continue
unchecked and the Pentagon is the largest consumer of fossil fuels and largest emitter of CO2
pollutants on the planet; and war itself is a source of widespread environmental devastation;
and
Whereas, resources now devoted to militarism and war could be better spent developing and
installing energy efficient sustainable alternatives to end our reliance on fossil fuels, which
would also create tens of millions of new living wage jobs; and
Whereas, our country should lead the world in a just transition to a more sustainable,
demilitarized and equitable economy that provides a decent standard of living for all; therefore
Be it resolved that, ________________________ opposes the adoption of a new Authorization
for the Use of Military Force and calls for the repeal of the 2001 and 2002 authorizations; and
Be it further resolved that, the _______________________calls for the pursuit of alternatives
to the use of military force that have a greater prospect of success:
Be it further resolved, that the U.S. should demilitarize what the AFL-CIO Executive Council
correctly describes as a “militarized foreign policy” that operates in the interests of
multinational corporations and the military-industrial complex; and
Be It further resolved, that ___________________________ has actively endorsed and
supported the program of US Labor Against the War (USLAW) to end wars, demilitarize U.S.
foreign policy and put our nation on a path to a sustainable, demilitarized and just new
economy; and
Be it further resolved, that __________________________ reaffirms its support for USLAW
and the immediate withdrawal of all of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and a U.S. foreign
policy that seeks global economic and social justice, not the use of military force, and pursues
government policies that meet human needs and rather than cater to corporate greed; and
Be it finally resolved, that ____________________________ will communicate this resolution
to its members, President Obama, the state Congressional and Senate delegations, its parent
union, local labor councils, the AFL-CIO and other labor bodies with a request for concurrence
and appropriate action.