Established
in
December 2002
to protest against the possibility of a U.S. invasion of Iraq, Win
Without War (WWW) is a coalition
of national organizations that seek to make American foreign policy
accountable to world opinion and multi-national consent. From its inception, WWW portrayed
itself as “a
mainstream, patriotic voice” speaking out against “the
disastrous policies of the Bush/Cheney Administration.” Jim
Wallis, Robert
Edgar, andMike Farrell were among those who helped publicly introduce the nascent coalition at a December 11 news
conference.
Once the Iraq War had gotten underway, WWW characterized it as a misguided, disastrous venture
that “has made America less safe by fueling terrorism in Iraq and
around the world.” By WWW's calculus, the war “hollowed out our military, diverted resources from the battle against al Qaeda and from homeland security, and deeply damaged our reputation abroad.”
WWW reserved particular scorn for the handful of American military personnel who
had participated in the much-publicized mistreatment of Iraqi
inmates at Abu Ghraib prison in early 2004. By WWW's telling, those events constituted “torture” and human-rights
violations.
In the spring of 2008, WWW implored Congressman John Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, to slash funding for the U.S. military presence in Iraq.
WWW endorsed
the
October 2, 2010 “March on Washington” organized by One
Nation Working Together,
an event whose purpose was to inspire “an intensive
voter-mobilization program for Election Day 2010.” For a list of
other notable
endorsers,
click here.
In October 2011,
WWW co-chair David
Cortrightpraised
President Barack
Obama's announcement that all U.S. troops in Iraq would return
home by the end of the year, as “a major step in the right direction
for our nation.” "We thank President Obama for
fulfilling his campaign pledge to end this war and bring home
American troops," Cortright said.
Today WWW seeks
to “promote a more progressive national security strategy” and
“aggressively
attac[k] right-wing distortion.” Toward those ends, the coalition's top
priorities are “to demilitarize U.S. policy in Afghanistan [and to] secure
America and its values by closing Guantanamo.” The coalition
also “oppose[s]
the militarization of our foreign policy”; is committed
to “countering terrorism and weapons proliferation”; and rejects
“the doctrine of unilateral military preemption” -- favoring
instead “international cooperation and enforceable international
law.”