Executive Director Margaret Melkonian was published in Newsday this weekend calling for no war in Syria:

Responses from our elected officials on Long Island were very disheartening and ignored, once again, the perilous consequences of U.S. military intervention. Entering into another war in the Middle East disregards the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan — that there is no military solution to end these civil wars, and that airstrikes will only fuel Arab anger and increase terrorist recruitment as their civilians are killed.

Rather than airstrikes, the United States should use our leverage and power for negotiations. A long-term political solution is required that includes the United Nations and all parties of the countries involved.

We cannot afford another decade of war; it will destroy our country and our democracy. This president was elected to end wars, not to start a new one in Syria.

Margaret Melkonian, Uniondale

Editor’s note: The writer is director of the Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives.

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/letters/letters-call-to-war-in-syria-not-examined-1.9298544