[Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division and the 18th Airborne Corps file onto an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in February 2022 at Fort Bragg, N.C., now Fort Liberty. The soldiers deployed to Europe following the Pentagon’s announcement of additional forces moving from the United States in support of NATO allies. (U.S. Army)]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

July 14, 2023

Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected] 

CODEPINK Condemns Biden’s Authorization to Deploy More Reservists to Europe

In the strongest possible terms, CODEPINK condemns President Biden’s decision to authorize US military leaders to deploy another 3,000 reservists to Europe in response to the Russia-Ukraine war. The president’s announcement follows the deployment of tens of thousands of US troops to Europe in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. It is not a coincidence that this decision was announced immediately after the NATO summit in Lithuania. [read our statement regarding NATO summit]

“You don’t need a fortune teller to predict the Biden administration is marching us into a direct war with Russia, a country of 143 million people, 185 different ethnicities and 6,000 nuclear warheads. This is reckless beyond belief,” said Marcy Winograd, coordinator of CODEPINK Congress and co-chair of the Peace in Ukraine Coalition. 

Rather than call for a ceasefire and diplomacy, the President prefers to escalate this conflict with tanks coated in depleted uranium, long range fighter jets, banned cluster munitions and now more US soldiers on standby in case the White House wants to send our youth to fight and die in Europe.

Biden’s latest decision, just like his decision to send banned cluster bombs to Ukraine, comes without debate in Congress, which has approved over $120 billion for the war, much of that for weapons manufacturers.  As Biden draws us closer and closer into a direct war with Russia, authorizing more U.S. reserves for the front lines, Congress—which has the sole power to declare war—must exercise its constitutional authority.

“Are we really going to sit idly by and watch as Biden plunges us into World War III? We call on Congress to take its constitutional responsibility seriously, and we invite the people of this country to join us in building a strong, anti-war movement before it’s too late,” says CODEPINK co-founder and author Medea Benjamin.

CODEPINK recommends young men, aged 18-25, file as conscientious objectors when registering with the Selective Service System.  Do not wait to be called up for battle on the front lines. Resist war now on religious or moral grounds.

###