- Joined
- Oct 30, 2002
- Messages
- 1,283
- Reaction score
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Dear Fellow American Students:
As we head into the November election season, many of us living and studying overseas have wondered about the best way to get involved in the campaign work at home. For those of us unable to work directly on campaigns, it seemed that the most valuable contribution we could make would be to share with voters back home our perspective as Americans living overseas. Having now lived outside of the US for at least one year of the Bush administration, we have a unique perspective on the effects of current US policy on the rest of the world.
The letter, in plain text below and attached as a PDF document, was written by a group of American students in Oxford. It expresses our concerns as young, involved Americans about the direction of current trends in our foreign policy and our desire for change. We are hoping to gather as many signatures of Americans studying in Britain as possible, and will then send this letter back to the US to be distributed to media outlets and organizations getting out the vote in swing states. To promote the letter in the US, we will be working closely with an organization called ?Safer Together,? a nonpartisan campaign working to deliver targeted messages about the Bush administration?s approach to foreign policy and the importance of restoring America?s relationships with the world. To learn more about ?Safer Together? go to http://www.safertogether04.org.
Our hope is that this letter will inform Americans at home about how our nation?s standing in the world has been affected by the Bush administration?s attitudes and actions. We need your help to make the impact of this letter as strong as possible. If you would like to add your name to this letter please
send the following information to meganDOTceronskyATgreenDOToxDOTacDOTuk by 11 pm on
FRIDAY JULY 2ND.
Name
Home State
University
Funding body/scholarship affiliation (optional)
If you voted for George Bush in 2000 or identify as a Republican, and would be willing to speak to members of the media about why you signed this letter, please include a note of that in your reply.
If you have any further questions write directly to Megan Ceronsky
(meganDOTceronskyATgreenDOToxDOTacDOTuk), Ulcca Joshi Hansen
(ulccaDOThansenATlinacreDOToxDOTacDOTuk) or Jeremy Heimans
(jeremyDOTheimansATpoliticsDOToxDOTacDOTuk).
---
28 June 2004
We write this letter as a group of young Americans ? Democrats, Republicans and Independents ? who have been given the opportunity to live and study abroad. Our perspective and concerns are rooted in the experience of living abroad at a time when it is increasingly difficult to explain the policies of our government to people who have traditionally been our most steadfast allies. We wish to express our deeply felt concerns about the ways in which the Bush administration?s approach to foreign policy is affecting our nation?s standing around the world. George Bush promised a humble foreign policy; some of us took him at his word and supported him in 2000. The Bush administration?s approach has been anything but humble. The last three years have demonstrated a widening gulf between the tone of President Bush?s campaign promises and the tone of his administration.
During the past three years we have witnessed a dramatic change in attitudes toward the United States. After September 11, many of us experienced an enormous outpouring of sympathy and support for the US in response to that tragedy. Less than three years later, our nation?s reputation in the world is at a historic low. After September 11, our friends and allies stood firmly beside us; today, they are increasingly skeptical of our intentions and fearful about the consequences of our country's actions. Here in the United Kingdom, we witnessed an unprecedented one million citizens gathering in London to protest the Bush adminstration?s policies.
Conversations with other students from around the world inevitably turn to criticisms of our government?s policies: a failure to listen to and work with other countries; misrepresentations of intelligence; pursuing war before other alternatives have been exhausted; evading of the Geneva Conventions, and torture and violations of human rights. We can debate these criticisms but we nevertheless find it increasingly difficult to defend America against accusations that our country has misused its power. We witness daily how decisions that reinforce a perception of American arrogance are undermining rather than strengthening America?s security goals and the safety of our citizens at home and abroad.
The United States cannot address the challenges of terrorism or solve other global problems by itself. Our country was given an exceptional opportunity after September 11 to marshal the support of the world and strengthen international organizations, but instead the actions of the Bush administration have been divisive and polarizing. The damage is not irreparable, as there is still a great deal of admiration and respect for our nation. However, a fundamental change must be made to the way our nation is led if we hope to restore the United States? global standing and make our nation and the world safer.
---
As of 11 pm tonight, we had a whopping 126 signatures?impressive for three days work in the off-term! We represent thirty-four states, seventeen institutions of higher learning in the U.K., and fifteen different funding bodies. Judging from the flow of responses there are folks who are still just hearing about or just remembering to sign on, so we?ve decided to extend the deadline to Friday, July 2nd, 11 pm, GMT, although press will probably start tomorrow (the 1st).
Finally, Dan Sreebny, Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. embassy in London, has expressed interest in meeting with some of us to discuss our experiences here, our views on how our friends and contacts perceive the U.S., and ideas for how embassy employees can best represent the U.S. in the U.K. If anyone would be interested in a meeting with Dan and some of his colleagues in London, Oxford, or perhaps Cambridge, please send either me or Dan (sreebnydATstateDOTgov) an e-mail.
As we head into the November election season, many of us living and studying overseas have wondered about the best way to get involved in the campaign work at home. For those of us unable to work directly on campaigns, it seemed that the most valuable contribution we could make would be to share with voters back home our perspective as Americans living overseas. Having now lived outside of the US for at least one year of the Bush administration, we have a unique perspective on the effects of current US policy on the rest of the world.
The letter, in plain text below and attached as a PDF document, was written by a group of American students in Oxford. It expresses our concerns as young, involved Americans about the direction of current trends in our foreign policy and our desire for change. We are hoping to gather as many signatures of Americans studying in Britain as possible, and will then send this letter back to the US to be distributed to media outlets and organizations getting out the vote in swing states. To promote the letter in the US, we will be working closely with an organization called ?Safer Together,? a nonpartisan campaign working to deliver targeted messages about the Bush administration?s approach to foreign policy and the importance of restoring America?s relationships with the world. To learn more about ?Safer Together? go to http://www.safertogether04.org.
Our hope is that this letter will inform Americans at home about how our nation?s standing in the world has been affected by the Bush administration?s attitudes and actions. We need your help to make the impact of this letter as strong as possible. If you would like to add your name to this letter please
send the following information to meganDOTceronskyATgreenDOToxDOTacDOTuk by 11 pm on
FRIDAY JULY 2ND.
Name
Home State
University
Funding body/scholarship affiliation (optional)
If you voted for George Bush in 2000 or identify as a Republican, and would be willing to speak to members of the media about why you signed this letter, please include a note of that in your reply.
If you have any further questions write directly to Megan Ceronsky
(meganDOTceronskyATgreenDOToxDOTacDOTuk), Ulcca Joshi Hansen
(ulccaDOThansenATlinacreDOToxDOTacDOTuk) or Jeremy Heimans
(jeremyDOTheimansATpoliticsDOToxDOTacDOTuk).
---
28 June 2004
We write this letter as a group of young Americans ? Democrats, Republicans and Independents ? who have been given the opportunity to live and study abroad. Our perspective and concerns are rooted in the experience of living abroad at a time when it is increasingly difficult to explain the policies of our government to people who have traditionally been our most steadfast allies. We wish to express our deeply felt concerns about the ways in which the Bush administration?s approach to foreign policy is affecting our nation?s standing around the world. George Bush promised a humble foreign policy; some of us took him at his word and supported him in 2000. The Bush administration?s approach has been anything but humble. The last three years have demonstrated a widening gulf between the tone of President Bush?s campaign promises and the tone of his administration.
During the past three years we have witnessed a dramatic change in attitudes toward the United States. After September 11, many of us experienced an enormous outpouring of sympathy and support for the US in response to that tragedy. Less than three years later, our nation?s reputation in the world is at a historic low. After September 11, our friends and allies stood firmly beside us; today, they are increasingly skeptical of our intentions and fearful about the consequences of our country's actions. Here in the United Kingdom, we witnessed an unprecedented one million citizens gathering in London to protest the Bush adminstration?s policies.
Conversations with other students from around the world inevitably turn to criticisms of our government?s policies: a failure to listen to and work with other countries; misrepresentations of intelligence; pursuing war before other alternatives have been exhausted; evading of the Geneva Conventions, and torture and violations of human rights. We can debate these criticisms but we nevertheless find it increasingly difficult to defend America against accusations that our country has misused its power. We witness daily how decisions that reinforce a perception of American arrogance are undermining rather than strengthening America?s security goals and the safety of our citizens at home and abroad.
The United States cannot address the challenges of terrorism or solve other global problems by itself. Our country was given an exceptional opportunity after September 11 to marshal the support of the world and strengthen international organizations, but instead the actions of the Bush administration have been divisive and polarizing. The damage is not irreparable, as there is still a great deal of admiration and respect for our nation. However, a fundamental change must be made to the way our nation is led if we hope to restore the United States? global standing and make our nation and the world safer.
---
As of 11 pm tonight, we had a whopping 126 signatures?impressive for three days work in the off-term! We represent thirty-four states, seventeen institutions of higher learning in the U.K., and fifteen different funding bodies. Judging from the flow of responses there are folks who are still just hearing about or just remembering to sign on, so we?ve decided to extend the deadline to Friday, July 2nd, 11 pm, GMT, although press will probably start tomorrow (the 1st).
Finally, Dan Sreebny, Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. embassy in London, has expressed interest in meeting with some of us to discuss our experiences here, our views on how our friends and contacts perceive the U.S., and ideas for how embassy employees can best represent the U.S. in the U.K. If anyone would be interested in a meeting with Dan and some of his colleagues in London, Oxford, or perhaps Cambridge, please send either me or Dan (sreebnydATstateDOTgov) an e-mail.
