WINDHAM – A Windham woman’s effort to convince national leaders to defund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has so far garnered the support of 17 state legislators, including two Windham Democrats, Sen. Bill Diamond and Rep. Mark Bryant.

Frustrated by the budget crunch on the national, state and local levels, Sally Breen, a longtime anti-war activist and a columnist for this newspaper, and several activist friends, are urging politicians to cut off funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and instead funnel the money into domestic programs.

With a federal Department of Defense budget approaching $700 billion annually, and citing the $915 billion already spent on the wars, Breen and several Maine activists are engaged in a three-month lobbying effort entitled, “Bring Our War $$ Home.”

The effort, which was conceived in Breen’s kitchen and inspired by a book she read by anti-war activist David Swanson, commenced Martin Luther King Day and will end Tax Day, April 15. With the gathered signatures, the group hopes to convince Maine’s Congressional representatives to veto additional war spending.

“Our plan has a specific goal, and that is to end the funding for the Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan wars,” Breen said. “And our objective is to put public pressure on (Democratic U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Michael Michaud) to veto all supplemental war funding bills and to become leaders in demanding the same principled position of their colleagues.”

To boost their cause, Breen has sought state legislators to sign a letter of support to be sent to Pingree and Michaud. (Breen’s group doesn’t mention Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.) Diamond and Bryant confirmed signing the document.

“First, my biggest concern is the war in Iraq. It shouldn’t have been started in the first place. There has been fighting over there for 1,000 years, and there will be fighting long after we leave,” Sen. Diamond said. “Secondly, it’s a very expensive proposition, both in terms of money and, more importantly, lives.”

Knowing the gloomy local and state budget picture, Rep. Bryant said he signed it, “because of the concern of spending all that money and taking away what we need here in the state.”

Breen said Diamond signed it in the State House when Breen was lobbying on behalf of a bill banning solitary confinement. Breen visited Bryant’s home in Windham for his signature.

While addressing the Windham Town Council last week, Breen also lobbied members to sign the statement and to call Rep. Pingree to voice opposition to war funding. Breen said none of the councilors signed the letter. By lobbying her town’s leaders at the start of the local budgeting season, Breen was hoping to convey to them the importance of global events on local decisions.

“If you are wondering how this affects the town of Windham, I ask you to consider what that same amount of money could have done for the town of Windham,” Breen said. “My first thought is that it would make it easier for tonight’s vote on the sewer system or that the school budget would not be under consideration for massive budget cuts and layoffs.”

Asked if she was surprised that President Obama is continuing to fund the wars at the same level President Bush did, Breen said, “Oh, I still love Obama. He’s getting a lot of pressure. It’s all about money and politics. I tell people, I’ve wasted all these years fighting nuclear weapons and war, when I should have really been fighting money and politics. It’s all about money and politics.”

At least one Windham councilor, Donna Chapman – who serves as the director of the New England chapter of Operation Homefront, a national service organization that helps stateside veterans and their families – wasn’t impressed with Breen’s petition drive.

“I had to bite my lip,” Chapman said of Breen’s presentation. “If we get rid of this budget, as she’s proposing, what happens to the people affected by that budget, how do we take care of the veterans who are under that budget? Where do they go?”

Chapman said the legislators’ signatures also send a negative message to deployed soldiers and families struggling with soldiers who have been killed or wounded in action.

“I think this is walking a fine line,” she said. “These guys are doing what’s called upon them to do. So, is this how we should support them? I think there must be a better way.”