Re: Daily Kos Flakking for Kerry, but the Gap Grows Wider between Kerry and Rank-and-File Dems

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

> Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
> > the problem of "Anybody But Bush" Democrats
>
> So what's your alternative? Nader? He wants what you've rejected in
> the past - a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops, their replacement by
> an international force under a UN mandate, and internationally
> supervised elections. That's a long way from the unconditional,
> immediate:
>
> > * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/>
>
> slogan you have in your sig file.
>
> Doug

About a month ago, I put down ten desiderata for 2004-5:

Of course, it is best if Ralph Nader, receiving the Green Party
endorsement and getting on the ballots in all states, wins the
presidential election outright, but short of such a miracle, what
would be beneficial for anti-occupation and other social movements?
Here's a short list. . . .
<http://montages.blogspot.com/2004/04/us-elections-2004.html>.

About "an international force under a UN mandate," the coalition on
whose steering committee I'm sitting is advancing the following
position:

> UFPJ Position on Ending the Occupation of Iraq
>
> 1.  Bring the U.S. troops home now.
>
> 2.  Iraqi sovereignty must be reestablished immediately.
>
> 3.  The Iraqi people, not foreigners, should make the decisions
> about the future of their country, including security.  Iraqis
> should decide the structure of their economy and control Iraq's
> reconstruction. The corporate invasion of Iraq must be ended and the
> privatizations laws passed under the occupation repealed. Labor and
> human rights should also be guaranteed.
>
> 4.  The United States should pay for the reconstruction of and
> reparations  to Iraq, in accordance with international law.
>
> 5.  The United Nations and other international organizations should
> refuse to endorse or collaborate with the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
> But once the U.S. ends its occupation, if representative sectors of
> Iraqi society invite it, the UN, backed by other international
> bodies such as the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic
> Conference, should help the Iraqis establish mechanisms through
> which to choose their own leaders and reclaim sovereign control of
> their own country.

I believe that the fifth point is unnecessary, and so did six other
steering committee members when we voted on it at the beginning of
this month (which was the second time that the vote on the same
question came up), but the majority felt that they wanted to include
it, so there it is.

I didn't make a big deal about the fifth point this time around (as
opposed to the last time when the question came up, around the end of
last year), because, by now, it hardly matters, because it is clear
that the Coalition of the _Really_ Willing to Fight, with or without
the UN, will remain the US and the UK alone.  The remaining nations
in the Coalition of the Willing to Show Up will mainly play symbolic
roles, and no or few nations which have yet to participate in the
occupation will join Americans, with or without the UN.
--
Yoshie

* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/>
* Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/>
* Calendars of Events in Columbus:
<http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>,
<http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/>
* Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/>
* Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio>
* Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>