Confirmed and invited speakers

As the countdown to October 2nd continues, "Who Decides About War?" organizers are in the process of confirming our major presenters. Our early keynote speaker will be Morton Halperin; our second keynote will be Jeremy Scahill.

Confirmed speakers include:

Jean Athey, Peace Action, Montgomery County, MD
Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies
Leah Bolger, National Vice-President, Veterans for Peace
John Bonifaz, Attorney at Law
Elaine Brower, Military Families Speak Out
Rep. Michael Fisher, State Representative, Lincoln, Vermont
Bonnie Gorman, Military Families Speak Out, Boston
Mort Halperin, Senior Adviser, Open Society Institute, Keynote Speaker
Sen. Richard Madaleno, State Senator, Montgomery County, Maryland
Ben Manski, Esq., Executive Director, Liberty Tree
Geoff Millard, Chair of the Board of Directors, Iraq Veterans Against the War
John Nichols, Esq., The Nation magazine
Sen. Jamin Raskin, Professor of Law, American University
Caleb Rossiter, Professor, International Service, American University
Jeremy Scahill, author, Blackwater, Keynote Speaker
Benson Scotch, Senior Legal Counsel, Bring the Guard Home! It's the Law.
David Swanson, Founder, After Downing Street
Don Wallace, Professor, Georgetown Law School
Kevin Zeese, Esq., Co-Founder, Voters for Peace

Other invited speakers include prominent members of Congress, prominent War Powers experts and law professors, award-winning authors and journalists, and more -- so stay tuned!

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Georgetown Law School, October 2-3, 2009

We the People This engaging event gathered activists and academics, public officials and veterans, lawyers and military families. We used facilitated discussions, panel presentations, and workshops to accomplish two goals. First, to educate ourselves and each other about the issues involved, the state of the law, and alternatives. Second, to develop a statement of common principles leading to a more democratic, comprehensive, and durable national defense policy — one that will honor the Constitution and help keep the United States from entering into unnecessary wars.

For more information on the topics addressed at this conference, please see our background and the full schedule.

Please Contribute

Please contribute to help defray our organizing costs. Thank you very much!

Conveners

Convened by the national campaign to Bring the Guard Home! It's the Law and the Liberty Tree Foundation, with hosts National Lawyers Guild at Georgetown Law School, and in coordination with Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Democrats.com, and Institute for Policy Studies, as well as After Downing Street, CODEPINK, Iraq Veterans Against the War, National Coalition for Nonviolent Resistance, Peace Action USA, and Progressive Democrats of America.

Lead sponsors of "Guard Home" legislation include Rep. Fisher (VT) together with Sen. Davis (AK), Rep. Garballey (MA), Sen. Raskin (MD), Sen. Madaleno (MD), Rep. Hornstein (MN), Sen. Dibble (MN), Rep. Weed (NH), Rep. Begaye (NM), Sen. Cisneros (NM), Sen. Perkins (NY), Sen. Adams (NY), Rep. Shields (OR), Sen. Ferlo (PA), Rep. Cohen (PA), Rep. Segal (RI), Rep. Black (WI), Sen. Erpenbach (WI).

Background

This engaging event will bring together activists and academics, public officials and veterans, lawyers and military families. We will use facilitated discussions, panel presentations, and workshops to accomplish two goals. First, to educate ourselves and each other about the issues involved, the state of the law, and alternatives. Second, to develop a statement of common principles leading to a more democratic, comprehensive, and durable national defense policy — one that will honor the Constitution and help keep the United States from entering into unnecessary wars.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have revived and deepened longstanding questions about how and by whom war and peace should be decided under our Constitution and in faith with our democratic aspirations . . .

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