[Marxism] More US Legislators for Withdrawal from Iraq

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The deepening division among the powers that be over the
Iraq war is beginning to make itself felt among those in
the legislative arena. The national legislature of the US
gave Bush and company a virtual blank check for invading
Afghanistan and Iraq, but the wars are coming unstuck as
the numbers of dead US soldiers escalates. Discussion and
debate over US policy on Iraq are more and more necessary.

The more debate there is, the more legitimate it becomes
to mobilize to raise the alternative to the conquest and
occupation of Iraq, which is withdrawal from that country.

In a way some of the deepest and most significant voices
in the anti-war struggle now come from those like Walter
Jones, that conservative legislator who made his national
reputation by calling for "French Fries" to be re-dubbed
"Freedom Fries" because of French opposition to Washington
and its course in Iraq.

Today's edition of Pacifica Radio's DEMOCRACY NOW provides
a glimpse of the wide range of anti-war sentiment which is
growing daily even within the world of the military as well
as among the Gold Star families.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/19/1441247

Parallelling the discussion given on Democracy NOW, Mumia
Abu-Jamal, reporting live from Pennsylvania's Death Row,
provides an additional perspective on Cindy Sheehan's act
of democratic rebellion. It's but four minutes long yet it
provides the keys to reaching out and mobilizing a broad
new layer into action against the war for the first time:

http://www.prisonradio.org/audio/mumia/2005maj/Aug05/8-16-05TheMammB.mp3

Discussion, debate and disagreement on US foreign policy
toward Iraq can only be good for the Cuban Revolution as
it also helps open up possible avenues for debate over US
policy toward the island, also in overdue need of change.

All out for a vigorous and united protest September 24th.

Let's all join with Cindy Sheehan who's pointing the way
to reach out to a new and broader public than ever.


Walter Lippmann, CubaNews
http://www.walterlippmann
=========================================================

More US Legislators for Withdrawal from Iraq

Washington, Aug 19 (Prensa Latina) Some 50 US congressmen will
co-sponsor a resolution urging US President George W. Bush to
announce a schedule for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq,
Republican representative Walter Jones announced.

I think people have understood what we have been doing, said the
legislator, who presented the draft last June together with another
three colleagues from the House.

The proposal urges Bush to start evacuating US troops from October 1,
2006.

Besides Jones, other initial sponsors are Texas Republican Ron Paul,
and Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Neil Abercrombie, from Ohio and
Hawai, respectively.

The deputy said there are five conservatives among supporters of the
new initiative.

There has been an increasing wave of criticism over Bush's handling
of conflict in Iraq, where more than 1,860 US troops have been
killed.

At least 54 percent of the US people think the US aggression of Iraq
was a mistake, according to results of Gallup survey conducted just a
few days ago.

mh/rma/rob


http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-hayden16aug16,1,74185
41.story
An exit strategy for Iraq now
By Tom Hayden
TOM HAYDEN is a former state senator and the author of "Street Wars"
(Dimensions, 2004).

August 16, 2005

PRESIDENT BUSH HAS so far fended off Cindy Sheehan, a grieving mother
demanding to know the "noble purpose" of her son's death in Iraq.
However, Bush has been forced to address the existence of the antiwar
constituency for perhaps the first time, if only to distort and
discredit its message of "troops out now." It is the right moment for
the peace movement to turn its slogan into a strategy.

The rallying cry of "out now" expresses the belief that the Iraq war
is not worth another minute in lost lives, lost honor, lost taxes,
lost allies. But its very simplicity makes the demand easy to ignore
or dismiss.

Meanwhile, the administration focuses on the appearance of progress
in Iraq (thus its desperate interest in an Iraqi constitution, any
constitution). It may well order a token withdrawal of troops to
pacify peace sentiment through the 2006 congressional elections.
Then, as with Vietnam in 1969, the war is likely to continue.

Those who have been proved right in opposing this war deserve a
hearing alongside the military and national security "experts" who
have dominated commentary since the March 2003 invasion. It is time
to explain "out now" and for peace advocates to propose exit
strategies of their own. Otherwise, both political parties will be
stuck with the mind-set that an exit is possible only after
"stability," meaning a military victory years from now (if ever).

Peace movement advocates have lobbied successfully for members of
Congress to hold Capitol Hill forums in mid-September to explore exit
strategies. Here is a starting point that is being discussed in peace
circles. It is based on deciding now to get out of Iraq and outlining
how to do it. The basis of the plan is a shift from a military model
to a conflict-resolution model, then to a peace process that ends in
a negotiated political settlement alongside a U.S. withdrawal. The
main themes are these:

First, as confidence-building measures, Washington should declare
that it has no interest in permanent military bases or the control of
Iraqi oil. It must immediately announce goals for ending the
occupation and bringing all our troops home - in months, not years,
beginning with an initial gesture by the end of this year.

Second, the U.S. should request that the United Nations, or a body
blessed by the U.N., monitor the process of military disengagement
and de-escalation, and take the lead in organizing a peaceful
reconstruction effort.

Third, the president should appoint a peace envoy, independent of the
occupation authorities, to begin an entirely different mission in
Iraq. The envoy should encourage and cooperate in peace talks with
Iraqi groups opposed to the occupation, including insurgents, to
explore a political settlement.

Already 82 members of the Iraqi National Assembly have signed a
public letter calling for "the departure of the occupation." A former
minister in the Iraqi interim government, Aiham Alsammarae, is
talking with 11 insurgent groups about a transition to politics. Even
the militant Shiites led by Muqtada Sadr have shown interest in the
political process by collecting a million signatures for American
withdrawal. Surveys earlier this year showed that 69% of Iraqi
Shiites and more than 75% of Sunnis favored a near-term U.S.
withdrawal.

Neither the Bush administration nor the news media have shown
interest in these voices, perhaps because they undercut the argument
that we are fighting to save Iraqis from each other. By most
accounts, the U.S. military presence has attracted and enlarged the
hard-core jihadist forces. The course we are on also contributes to
incipient civil war because of subsidies and training for Shiite and
Kurdish forces against the estranged Sunnis. It was not enough to
invite a handful of Sunnis into the constitutional talks.

Any settlement proposal must guarantee a troop withdrawal and new
efforts at reconstruction. A successful peace process will guarantee
representation for the Iraqi opposition in a final governing
arrangement. It will encourage power-sharing arrangements in economic
and energy development as well as governance. The handing over of the
Iraqi economy to private and mostly U.S. interests will by definition
end with the occupation.

These are plausible steps toward conflict resolution. Perhaps Cindy
Sheehan's moral stance will awaken courage among politicians who
openly or privately deplore the fabricated origins of the war but
cannot bring themselves to be honest about the war itself.

NOTE FROM WALTER:
Tom Hayden discussed his proposal on Democracy NOW this week also:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/16/1326257



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