Senator Richard Lugar
510 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Senator Lugar:

We are asking you to encourage the President to not respond to the bombing in London with more bombing and killing.

That type of response has not resulted in more security here at home nor in our ally Great Britain. Nor has it reflected a "culture of life" to which the President claims that he adheres.

If the President or you feel that there is no other response possible, that only heightens the urgent need for a Department of Peace in the United States Cabinet so that the alternative solutions can be swiftly developed.

In the past two weeks, the number of US dead has escalated to over l900 Coalition troops. The number of wounded is about 9 times that. The number of civilian deaths and wounded is estimated at over l00,000 and represents a horrible consequence of our unnecessary attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq. The list of the US military dead is found at http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2005.06.html. Our mailed version of this letter will include the printout from the past two weeks.

Ellyn Stecker and Peter Smith for the Michiana Peace and Justice Coalition