This past weekend, FOR and Interfaith Peace-Builders (IFPB) held a successful advocacy training event on Capitol Hill in Washington, where two dozen participants came together and walked the halls of Congress to call for an end to military intervention and aid in the Middle East, Latin America, and at home. We met with staff from 20 offices of U.S. Senators and Representatives, encouraging each of those political leaders to choose peace at a time when the White House -- and many in Congress -- continue to default to war.

Cosponsored by IFPB, this event also drew leaders from several other peace and justice organizations. Bill Galvin and Andrew Gorby from the Center on Conscience & War (CCW) spoke about conscientious objection and supporting people in the military resisting deployment to combat zones, as did TruthOut columnist Geoff Millard, the DC chapter chair of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), who as a wounded vet also addressed the issue of our terrible lack of support for the medical needs that former soldiers have. Also providing expertise on the "state of the Hill" related to difficult conversations towards international peace issues were Shervin Boloorian of the Union of Concerned Scientists (former legislative coordinator of National Iranian American Council) and Ann Vaughan of the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

The program participants included folks from as far away as Illinois, Florida, and Vermont, and included people who are participating in FOR peace delegations to Iran, young college-age graduates of the youth-focused Peacemaker Training Institutes, and members of FOR Local Groups in hotspots of activism like Louisville, kentucky. It was a great mix of people -- and many spoke to the way that the training event gave them new skills, as they had never done such advocacy work in Congress before.

More will come in the next few days related to our meetings in Congress. I met with staffers from the offices of four Senators -- Clinton and Schumer from New York, and Dole and Burr from North Carolina. I will have much more to say after following up with each of their offices about our conversations on preventing war with Iran.