AND THE WAR GOES ON

COMMENTARY

THE ANTI-WAR STRATEGY IS NOT WORKING-BREAK WITH THE DEMOCRATS!

FORGET REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS AND GREENS! BUILD A WORKERS PARTY THAT FIGHTS FOR SOCIALISM!

Watching the daily maneuverings of the Congress on the question of the Iraq war and its funding is frankly painful even for those of us, like myself, who have had no illusions that this war could be settled by parliamentary means. Everyone knows by now that President Bush has vetoed the original Congressional Iraqi war budget bill. What may not be familiar is that, as is the nature of such proceedings, the Congress is getting ready to pull in its horns on the question of timetables and proceed to a piecemeal budgetary authorization. Jesus, even in the context of their own lame response to the war this is parliamentary cretinism at its extreme. Once again this writer will note, as he has on previous occasions, that this war will not be over as long as President Bush draws political breathe. Unless we do something to end it. Bush made his position clear long ago and damn it he is sticking to it. The Congress obviously is another matter. They are seemingly intent of giving him his way at the first obstacle. However that is not what concerns me today.

As noted above some anti-war militants have had no illusions about a parliamentary resolution to the war. Unfortunately there are not enough of us. That said, I have recently read two articles that shed a great deal of light on the why Bush is in the catbird seat and thus can ignore the mass of the anti-war movement. The first article concerns the anti-war strategy of the Internet-driven MoveOn. Org movement. While no one should, at this point, underestimate the power of the Internet one should not overrate it as a vehicle for social change either. Not when war is the subject. MoveOn’s strategy has been to work with parliamentary lobbyists, essentially behind the scenes, to ‘pressure’ Congress, particularly the Democrats, on the war funding bills. The trick here is that these lobbyists tend to have been former congressional doers and fixers. In short, now that they have gotten ‘religion’ on the war issue these lobbyists are working with their old bosses to ‘push’ them. Jesus,Iraq really will, as I have noted before, freeze over before that tactic ends anything.

The second article is related to the first on the issue of the war budget in that one of the few Democratic Congressmen who is today (and was yesterday) ready to vote down the Iraqi war budget on a straight vote has noted in an interview that the mass of politicians in this country are way behind ( I would add way, way behind) the people in their willingness to get the hell out of Iraq NOW. And that is the rub. What joins the two articles together is the point I have been making for the last few years. This war will not end NOW by parliamentary means. Any strategy that is predicated on that notion is doomed to failure. Hell, let us call a thing by its right name. On this issue if you do not get to the streets, the factories, offices and to the military bases (in order to get to the rank and file troops) you are in the wrong places. You have no strategy for immediate withdrawal. To the mass of the anti-war movement here is my little piece of wisdom. BREAK WITH THE DEMOCRATS! NOW!