As we begin the Memorial Day Weekend, we share a statement by one of our endorsed candidates #Shervin Azami, Candidate for US Congress CA32 — For far too long, United States foreign policy has been defined by interventionism, economic sanctions, overthrows, military occupations, and corporate looting of precious resources masquerading as diplomacy and democratization. Instead of promoting peace through humanitarian aid, conflict resolution, and multilateral diplomacy, these tools are deployed tangentially at best, or ridiculed and dismissed as “naïve” or akin to “appeasement” at worse. Our military-industrial complex has failed to produce a more peaceful or liberal world while triggering unspeakable suffering, death, and destruction for millions of people – from Iraq and Afghanistan to Iran, to Somalia, El Salvador, Yemen, and so on.

As the son of Iranian asylum seekers who fled religious persecution twenty-six years after our United States government deposed the only democratically elected leader in Iranian history, I am inherently an anti-imperialist. What I firmly believe is that here in the wealthiest nation in the world, poverty is a policy choice. Our legislators choose to allocate 52% of our annual discretionary budget to the Pentagon while 8 out of 10 Americans live paycheck to paycheck, 1 in 5 Americans have medical debt, and climate chaos is at our doorstep.

I am running for Congress to advocate for budgets that invest in us instead of endless wars – for guaranteed healthcare and housing, clean air and water, strong public schools in every neighborhood, and economic security for all. I am running to advocate for a new foreign policy grounded in the principles of public health, protection of human rights, and real diplomacy. That means policies like permanently re-entering the Iran Deal, ending our financing of the genocide in Yemen, stopping unconstitutional mass surveillance of civilians, and restoring congressional authority overuse of military force.

I am honored to have IADC’s endorsement for our race because of our shared values in protecting and empowering our communities, reducing unfettered military spending, and championing real peace and human rights at home and abroad.
Learn more about his campaign and #Vote for #ShervinAazami
https://shervin4congress.com/