engaging in some grassroots diplomacy in Shiraz, Iran

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m going to say that now would be a good time to engage in serious diplomacy with Iran.

A new report from the IAEA has reinvigorated calls for harsh action against Iran. While the conclusions of the report point to the possibility that Iran wants to have a nuclear weapons capability, it’s still not clear that they have make a definitive decision to build a bomb. The key point, as the Arms Control Association points out, is that “it remains apparent that a nuclear-armed Iran is still not imminent nor is it inevitable.”

The frenzy to influence the super committee and their deficit reduction proposal is in full swing.

Kicking it off with a bang, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) held a press conference yesterday to present the letter he wrote to the 12 members of the super committee: “Freeze the Nukes, Fund the Future.” The letter has been signed by 65 Representatives who agree with Rep. Markey that substantial cuts to the bloated nuclear weapons budget must be part of the plan to reduce the deficit.

The letter begins:

In the next few weeks, the deficit “super committee” will develop a deficit reduction plan that could set the direction of the federal budget for the next decade. There are 12 people in the room making those decisions, and they need to hear from you.

Click here to tell the super committee to support a plan that ends the wars, cuts wasteful military and nuclear spending and protects alternatives to war. You will be redirected to their public comment page, where you can fill out your information and personalize the sample message.

In the next few weeks, the “super committee” will decide on a plan that could shape the federal budget for the next decade. We are mobilizing our supporters to contact the super committee and counteract the major push from the defense industry.

We sent the letter below to super committee members to clearly outline the balanced security budget Peace Action West’s supporters would like to see. You can tell the super committee that you support these priorities by clicking here.

On behalf of Peace Action West’s 50,000 supporters, I am writing to urge you to produce deficit reduction recommendations that make Americans more secure by balancing our security budget and preserving domestic programs that contribute to security and prosperity at home.

On September 24, 1996, President Clinton signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which would ban any signatory nation from exploding nuclear weapons.

The problem is that 15 years later, the Senate has yet to ratify the treaty. And without the full backing of the United States, the treaty has languished, with progress in other countries stalled as well.

But now, President Obama is testing the waters for a possible push to finally ratify the treaty, and set the stage for a global ban on nuclear explosions. After our recent victory in making the first reductions to the US and Russian nuclear arsenals in decades, momentum is on our side.