[Marxism] Cindy Sheehan: Whose War?

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Whose War? 
Cindy Sheehan

"I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only
those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans
of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more
desolation. War is hell."

-William Tecumseh Sherman

Article I, section 8, clause 11 of the US Constitution says that
Congress has the enumerated power of "declaring war" and clause 12
says that Congress has the enumerated power to "raise and support
armies." Some argue that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are
not wars because Congress did not declare war in either case, but
calling something a "war" or an "illegal occupation" is merely an
exercise in semantics, because people are dying just like it's a war.

Why, after all these years and all the proof that these military
excursions were based on deliberately false information, does the US
still have troops on the ground in the Middle East? Where does the
responsibility lie in bringing our troops home? Which federal agency
or branch of the government is now covered in the most gore? And
whose war is it anyway?

Frankly, the why part of the question seems obvious. There is still
money to be made by the Military Industrial Complex (MIC). Cheney's
company Halliburton and the Oil-garchy are realizing enormous profits
while ordinary citizens are paying a heavy price at the pump and for
other consumer goods that rely on petroleum to be delivered to the
stores. Oh, is that everything? I think it is. Blood is being poured
into the bank accounts of the ruling elite while it is being drained
out of our soldiers, families and communities.

There is no indication from the arrogantly evil Executive Branch
(that has now been co-opted by the most corrupt and criminal
administration in US history) that they are seeking an end to the
obscene occupations. Their buddies are profiting and that's good
enough for them. While the Bush Crime Family planned a wedding for
May, many families not of the Bush economic stratosphere or legendary
ignominy, are planning funerals.

Instead of working overtime to see which party can exploit US troops
better and harder than the other, (their pretend opposition and
political playacting is exactly like watching pretend wrestling on TV
where two "foes" spit epithets at each other and then fake-wrestle
for a faker prize) Pelosi, et al, should be burning the midnight oil
to craft a humane solution to the problem that has become the
Democrats' as much as the Republicans'. Instead of putting provisions
for extended "timelines" or tying "guns and butter" (the very phrase
makes me want to vomit at the sheer callousness), Pelosi must use her
enumerated power to end these illegal occupations. It would be a lot
less work to tell BushCo to use the money that has already been
borrowed from China to start bringing our troops home (not redeploy
to Iran or Pakistan) and if BushCo does not, and then it is truly a
Republican conflict.

Iraq and Afghanistan are Democratic and Republican mistakes. To cater
to "Blue Dog Dems" over the will of the American public, or to
incredibly blame the people of Iraq for not having the guts to come
to a peaceful political solution is abominable, but how does these
occupations belong to "We the People?"

First of all, we allow "anti-war" groups like MoveOn.org to set the
dialogue and discourse. MoveOn.org is not so much "anti-war" as they
are "pro-Democrat." Tactics that MoveOn.org found outrageous under
the Republican Congress, they find "frustrating" but understandable
under Democratic leadership. The "anti-war" issue is non-partisan in
its scope by the very name "anti-war." The Democrats are responsible
for every war in the last 108 years, excluding the two Bush wars and
the Reagan Grenada farce. Democrats are responsible for dropping, not
one, but two atomic bombs on the innocent citizens of Japan.
Democrats deserve no slack, and should be given none.

Secondly, during elections the "anti-war" movement loses its focus
and works for candidates that promise peace or change, but previous
actions, votes, or rhetoric do not match the campaign rhetoric. From
Obliteration to Redeployment to Hundred Years, none of the duopoly
candidates are promising anything different than BushCo. After almost
eight years of two-party collaboration that has undermined freedom,
democracy, peace and prosperity, one would think that the US
electorate would have developed some kind of sophistication regarding
the throttlehold of sameness that the Republicrats or Demopublicans
offer.

We have a clear choice instead of the "lesser of two evils" politics.
There are at least two candidates for President that present a clear
alternative to violence and corporate oppression: Cynthia McKinney
(Green Party and Power to the People Party) and Ralph Nader (Ind.).

Do you want someone who is a smidgeon less evil at the helm of our
country, or do you want someone who is committed to true peace and
true mastery over the corporations and true environmental integrity?

The choice is yours. Stand up courageously and cast your vote for the
person that more closely matches your ideologies and beatitudes, or
hold your nose with one hand and push the button for one of the
corporate tools with the other.

I personally know that war is a living hell that is constantly
present and my pain can only begin to touch in a small way the misery
of the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. Our nation's leaders who are
misguided and led in the wrong direction of their master, the War
Machine, have no idea, for the most part, of this devastation. They
have no business being trusted with the public trust and 95% of them
should be sent packing back to their homes if not imprisoned for war
crimes. It is up to "We the People" to exercise our sovereignty to
finally bring peace and prosperity back to "We the People."

Whose war is it? It belongs to us all and it is up to us all to have
a hand in ending it.

www.CindyforCongress.org

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=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un ParaÃso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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