ON ENDING U.S. MILITARIZED FOREIGN POLICY

WHEREAS, the AFL-CIO national executive council declared in August 2011 that American troops must be brought home from Iraq and Afghanistan and that “the militarization of our foreign policy has proven to be a costly mistake. It is time to invest at home”; and

WHEREAS, the recent wars and occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq are not an anomaly: In the years since the Vietnam War, the United States has engaged in bombings, command operations or proxy wars in Angola, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Libya, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Somalia, Yemen and Yugoslavia, among others.  In addition, the U.S. maintains a permanent military presence worldwide, military personnel in 156 countries and bases in 63 countries; and

WHEREAS, genuine national security requires a well-educated, healthy, fully employed workforce earning living wages that provide a decent standard of living, and a modern, efficient infrastructure to facilitate economic and social activity; and

WHEREAS, excessive federal military spending takes resources away from vital social functions such as education, healthcare, veterans’ benefits, and maintenance and development of infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, it is in the interest of working people throughout the United States to end the militarization of U.S. foreign policy and redirect money in the federal budget to meet urgent human needs:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers will concur with the AFL-CIO national executive committee, which declared in August 2011: “The militarization of our foreign policy has proven to be a costly mistake. It is time to invest at home,” and that the AFT call for funds freed by reductions in military and national security spending to be reallocated to many urgent human needs; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT call for U.S. foreign policy regarding international conflicts to be guided by strategies that prioritize the needs of working people everywhere and the use of negotiation and diplomatic means over military deployment, whether in Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Ukraine or other “hot spots” as they may emerge; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will engage members in the long-term political process required to create the conditions for a demilitarized U.S. foreign policy and the redirection of federal funds to urgent human needs and that the AFT officers will bring these proposals to the AFT executive council for appropriate action; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT officers will report no less than once a year what steps the union leadership has taken to implement this resolution.