After careful examination, OPW's board has decided that the SMART Security Plan will be a major part of OPW's program work over at least the next two years.

Please read the following Platform. If you agree with it, consider adding your signature to the SMART Security petition (PDF) and/or seeking the endorsement (PDF) of your organization.

THE PLATFORM FOR SMART SECURITY

1. Strengthen International Institutions and Support the Rule of Law to Prevent Acts of Terrorism and Future Wars.

• Increase support for multilateral diplomacy and international institutions like the United Nations; work collectively to eliminate terrorist networks and resolve international conflicts.
• Increase funding for humanitarian programs, which address the root causes of instability and terrorism, like hunger, illiteracy and unemployment.
• Reject unilateral preemptive war as a means of resolving international conflict; actively support institutions that can bring terrorists to justice, like the International Criminal Court.

2. Reduce the Threat and Stop the Spread of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction.

• Demonstrate global leadership by renouncing the first use of nuclear weapons, the development of new nuclear weapons ("mini nukes"), and the testing of nuclear weapons.
• Honor our international commitment to work for the elimination of nuclear weapons, while increasing funding to secure "loose" Russian nuclear weapons and material so they don’t fall into the hands of terrorists.
• Strengthen US commitment to international treaties like the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

3. Change Budget Priorities to Reflect SMART Security needs.

• Eliminate military spending on obsolete and unnecessary weapons systems and use those resources to strengthen local "emergency responders" (such as fire, police, and public health departments), as well as for meeting urgent domestic needs like health care, education, jobs, etc.
• Provide adequate peacekeeping and re-development funding in troubled nations like Afghanistan and Iraq to secure long-term peace and stability.
• Provide new investments in renewable and safe energy alternatives, which will reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and the growing threat of global warming.

Sample message to send to your congressional representatives (click here for contact information).

Will you support a smarter, more effective security policy for our country?

The Administration's reliance on unilateral military force as the primary instrument to address the heinous crime of terrorism and other global threats promises only to escalate the violence. It is already clear that civilians will bear the brunt of this broadening "war on terror." Without a serious change in our approach to building national and global security, more lives will be lost and billions of more dollars wasted on a failing policy.

I urge you to cosponsor H Con Res 158, legislation for a "Sensible, Multilateral American Response to Terrorism SMART) Security Platform for the 21st Century."

SMART Security offers a positive, practical, and cost-effective vision for U.S. security policy. It proposes building up international cooperation and reducing the proliferation of weapons. It promotes the rule of law and human rights. It seeks to address the root causes of deadly conflict. It proposes preventing atrocities before the killing has begun.

We need a smarter approach to keeping our country and world safe. Please cosponsor H Con Res 158, the SMART Security Resolution.