The Victory Caucus has joined with a coalition of other pro-victory groups to sponsor the Stand by the Mission petition below. We ask that you add your signature to the petition so that we can demonstrate to Congress and the world that the American public is committed to victory.

Stand by the American Mission in Iraq

Iraq is now the central front in the War on Terrorism - not because Americans want it to be but because America's enemies have said so and made it so. Al-Qaeda and Iranian-backed militias are determined to drive the United States out of Iraq. Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups would then use that country as a safe haven from which they can mount attacks on the U.S., its interests and allies.

We recognize that the U.S. involvement in Iraq has divided Americans and that our leaders have made mistakes. We also recognize the cost of this war, not only in financial terms but, more importantly, in the loss of more than 3,000 of our bravest men and women. The issue, however, is not how or why U.S. forces became engaged in Iraq but, rather, what is happening there now and what would happen if we were to leave too soon.

Today, U.S. forces are making real and significant progress. We are driving al-Qaeda out of key strongholds, recruiting Iraqis to join the fight, and training them to defend themselves.General Petraeus and the new U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, will report to Congress in mid-September on the American effort. We urge our nation's leaders to:

Recognize the importance of fighting and defeating al-Qaeda, wherever they can be found, not least in Iraq;
Consider the testimony of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker with an open mind and without regard for partisan politics;
Recognize the significant threat to U.S. national security that a hasty retreat or a made-in-Washington timetable for withdrawal from Iraq would generate; and
Listen to the U.S. service members who willingly sacrifice to protect our country and who do not want defeat legislated in Washington so long as American troops are on the battlefield.

America has a chance to strike a serious blow against terrorism and the ideologies that drive terrorism. By contrast, the defeat of the United States would embolden terrorists, making the world a more dangerous place for Americans and consigning the people of Iraq and the Middle East to a perilous future.

We urge you to support our troops by giving them the resources and time they need to successfully complete their mission.

More Information

In addition to signing the petition, we urge you to contact members of Congress directly. Call 1-877-222-8001 to be patched through directly to your members of Congress.

Would you like to host a copy of the petition on your website or blog? Visit http://victorycaucus.com/hostthepetition to find out how.

What Cliff May over at the Corner has to say about the petition:

Moving Against MoveOn [Cliff May]

Partly in response to MoveOn.org’s slander of Gen. David Petraeus as a traitor (yes, that’s what they said: Webster’s New World Dictionary defines “betray” as “to help the enemy … to be a traitor") there is now a grassroots petition supporting General Petraeus and his troops.

The petition was started by a group of leading veteran and military family organizations including Vets for Freedom, Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, Military Families Voice of Victory, and Gathering of Eagles.

The groups involved in this effort are calling on TV and radio talk show hosts, columnists and bloggers to join the effort by talking, writing and blogging about the Internet petition to their audiences, putting a copy of the petition or a link to the Internet petition on their Web sites, and sending messages to their email lists directing recipients to the Internet petition.

A copy of the petition can be found (and signed) here.
If you want to host the petition on a Web site or blog, please contact nz@victorycaucus.com.

Who is the petition with all the names attached going to be sent to? I cannot find that information (but have only briefly looked). Who is collecting all the names and printing out the digital verification/authentication?

I am for this petition but really want to make sure that someone is going to send it to someone that can actually make a difference. It is easy to “start” an internet petition. But it takes time (lots of it) and paper and $$$ to get names collated and the paper printed with the electronic signatures of all those who “e-signed” it. More often than not, these things just set out there and are more of an effort to “spread the word” than to “Redress Grievances” from “We the People.”

Know what I mean?

Thanks.

Well I wouldn't knock "spreading the word". Truly I could not tell you the exact methods of how this petition is going to be used. I have no part in it other than having signed it and posted it on FR. I guess I am just spreading the word. If you will go back to my post of Cliff May's(stand up guy) comments on the petition you will find that it "was started by a group of leading veteran and military family organizations including Vets for Freedom, Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, Military Families Voice of Victory, and Gathering of Eagles". Gathering of Eagles should be a group familiar to most freepers. I don't doubt their seriousness or effectiveness in spreading the word to our elected officials in order to avoid the grievous harm an early withdrawal from Iraq will cause.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.