FOR RELEASE: September 11, 2014

CONTACT: Stephanie Niedringhaus, 202-347-9797 x224, sniedringhaus@networklobby.org

Washington DC: NETWORK today released the following statement regarding President Obama’s speech last evening:

Today, we hear the voices of our sisters and brothers caught in the path of ISIL’s genocidal actions, and we are horrified by their firsthand accounts of what they are enduring. We agree with President Obama that ISIL poses a severe threat to people throughout that region, and that the killings and brutality must stop.

We cannot ignore ISIL’s brutality, and we hear a moral call to respond. We also continue to believe that the true way forward to a permanent peace is through diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. We applaud the administration for its work in those areas and call for even stronger efforts.

We also understand that we need some kind of immediate response to save countless lives now threatened. This response should be narrow and specific rather than actions that would lead to more violence.

We are encouraged by the fact that the Iraqis are forming an inclusive government, something we have called for. We hope that further U.S. actions will focus on a multinational approach to achieving peace. Limited military actions may help in the immediate crisis, but military power is ultimately not the solution.  As always, humanitarian and diplomatic actions are, by far, the most effective ways to achieve a lasting peace.

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