My Birthday Wish: Do More to End War

Dear Rep. Bishop, Sen. Hatch, and Sen. Bennett,

Today is my 40th birthday. I always make my charitable donations of the year on my birthday. It makes me feel good and that way I remember that I've contributed. This year, I have decided that I need to focus my donations towards ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I simply cannot believe that we are still involved in these wars today.

My husband and I had our first date at a peace rally in March 2003, just prior to the US invasion of Iraq, and after US bombs had been falling in Afghanistan for years already. Since then, I completed graduate school, we got married, we bought a house, I started a job, we brought two lovely children into this world -- a girl, now 5, and a boy, now 3. And war rages on? I recall conversations with my husband's elderly grandmother about how eager we both were for war to end so her grandson (our cousin) could return from service -- but that conversation took place back in the Bush administration and since then she has passed away. She never saw an end to either of these wars! Do you remember my friend and local hero Marshall Thompson who walked the entire state of Utah after returning from Iraq to call attention to the war and pay homage to the over 500 US soldiers who lost their lives in conflict? Let us each do more. While my family prospers, should I complain? Absolutely. It sickens me to think of the inequity of bombs landing amongst people with a great deal less wealth than we have. Meanwhile, here in the US we aren't even responsible enough to reduce our greedy consumption.

Now is the time to focus on ending war. Please make this your cause in the coming year. When will you bring the reality of the human and financial cost of these wars to the public? I am determined to do more personally, and I'm glad that today I'm sharing my dollars with like-minded organizations. Here are some worthy organizations that I have found:

Brave New Foundations: Rethink Afghanistan

Afghanistan World Foundation

Institute for Policy Studies

Just Foreign Policy

Friends Committee on National Legislation

I would sure appreciate some efforts among you law makers to reduce our spending on military actions abroad and to do more for diplomacy and humanitarian relief.

What will you do to bring about peace?

Sincerely,

Brynja Kohler

Logan, UT