The Steering Committee of the Friends of the Constitution condemn the possibility of United States military intervention into the civil war in Syria.

The letter printed below expresses our views and was emailed Sept. 3 to our Washington Congressional Delegation.

We urge your readers to contact Senator Maria Cantwell( 202-224-344), Senator Patty Murray (202-224-262) and Representative Rick Larsen (202-225-2605) and to express their opposition to another unconstitutional and reckless war of choice:                                                                                                                   Dear Senator Cantwell, Senator Murray;

We, the Steering Committee of the “Friends of the Constitution”, write to you as concerned citizens who have supported you in the past. We are not one-issue citizens. However, the clamor for another war of our choice, and more killing and destruction, no matter how limited, is of paramount importance to us.

A vote authorizing President Obama to take military action against Syria will lead us to actively oppose your future reelection.

The sovereign nation of Syria is in the midst of a civil war. The tragic loss of life of both combatants and civilians, and the terrible destruction of population centers, demand a humanitarian and diplomatic response by all concerned governments.

The civil war does not pose any threat to the United States. The military involvement of this nation in the Syrian conflict would be an unconstitutional, reckless, and shameful decision.

However, in defiance of the United Nations Charter, the wishes of the majority of the American citizenry, the majority of the world’s people and governments, and without credible justification, President Obama, and his administrative spoke-persons, have sided with the insurgents and against the government of Syria.

President Obama has asked Congress to authorize the use of military force against the Syrian government based on the unconfirmed claim that the Syrian government used toxic gas as a weapon against “its own people”. President Obama earlier, unilaterally and foolishly, declared the use of gas a “red line” that required United States military intervention.

We recall all too well the lies and deceit that resulted in the unconstitutional, undeclared, and unnecessary wars of choice in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the disastrous intervention in the Libyan civil war.

We citizens live with the sorrow of the decade-long results of United States wars of choice: thousands of combatants, and civilian men women and children, killed, maimed, and wounded; emotional trauma beyond imagination among the survivors; destroyed infrastructure; continued violence pitting neighbor against neighbor; a countryside contaminated with unexploded munitions and depleted uranium.

In addition, we suffer the loss of the moral and ethical standing of the United States throughout the world, and the ever-expanding recruitment of people who are willing to express their hatred for the United States.

Enough.

Abide by your oath of office or “We the People” will secure the leadership that the United States Constitution and United Nations Charter promise and which we strive to attain.

— Steering Committee, Friends of the Constitution, Friday Harbor Chapter