Commentary
Immediate Withdrawal From Iraq and Afghanistan
Over the past several months I have noted, on more than one occasion, that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have gone beneath the newspaper fold. In fact, these days it is increasingly hard to find news about the situation in those locations anyplace in the first few pages of the major, much less, local newspapers. Even the alternate news sources such as Indy News have more space devoted to the latest rantings of the international 'conspiracies' devotees, valentine posts on Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and the long term fate of the ecosphere than Iraq or Afghanistan.
Yes, I know, American causalities are down, at least in Iraq. The insurgents in Iraq are on the ‘run’ due to the ‘surge’. The Bush/Petreaus military strategy in Iraq, at least for the short haul, has ‘worked’. But as Bush’s latest Middle East tour has made painfully clear the troops are not leaving Iraq or Afghanistan any time soon. This is unambiguous language that means a continuation of the status quo as long as his administration still draws breath or January 20, 2009, whichever comes first. Bush has even waffled on the assumed reduction to 140,000 troops by summer if the security situation requires a continued high presence. At this rate our grandchildren will be fighting there before they are through.
What gives? What gives is this. In 2007 the Democratically-controlled Congress made ‘mighty’ efforts to deny funds for the war in Iraq. In the process that Congress got beaten over the head with the hard reality that breaking off funding required more fortitude than the Democrats had stomach for. The 2008 political realities by that body are- and, you will love this- to fight to the bitter end to elect a veto-proof Congress. Or better yet, elect a Democrat for president. In short, the same old parliamentary strategies that failed last year and that will fail this year as we approach the FIFTH ANNIVERSARY of the Iraq War, having already passed the sixth in Afghanistan. I ask this question. Is it really necessary to permit these wars to continue until 2009 (and beyond) with such dead end strategies?
Here is a hard reality check for leftists today. Those of us who opposed the Iraq war from the beginning from an anti-imperialist perspective were always in a minority. Fair enough. Nevertheless we have let a golden opportunity to teach something about the god-awful nature of this society by not fighting for an anti-imperialist perspective in the anti-war movement. We let the congenital pacifists, ‘the do-gooders’, the faint of heart and, most importantly, the mainly Democratic parliamentary politicians take the high ground. And this is what has come to pass. I will take a few good anti-imperialist anti-warriors who know the real meaning of immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and know how to act on it. But, damn, we could use more.
Immediate Withdrawal From Iraq and Afghanistan
Over the past several months I have noted, on more than one occasion, that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have gone beneath the newspaper fold. In fact, these days it is increasingly hard to find news about the situation in those locations anyplace in the first few pages of the major, much less, local newspapers. Even the alternate news sources such as Indy News have more space devoted to the latest rantings of the international 'conspiracies' devotees, valentine posts on Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and the long term fate of the ecosphere than Iraq or Afghanistan.
Yes, I know, American causalities are down, at least in Iraq. The insurgents in Iraq are on the ‘run’ due to the ‘surge’. The Bush/Petreaus military strategy in Iraq, at least for the short haul, has ‘worked’. But as Bush’s latest Middle East tour has made painfully clear the troops are not leaving Iraq or Afghanistan any time soon. This is unambiguous language that means a continuation of the status quo as long as his administration still draws breath or January 20, 2009, whichever comes first. Bush has even waffled on the assumed reduction to 140,000 troops by summer if the security situation requires a continued high presence. At this rate our grandchildren will be fighting there before they are through.
What gives? What gives is this. In 2007 the Democratically-controlled Congress made ‘mighty’ efforts to deny funds for the war in Iraq. In the process that Congress got beaten over the head with the hard reality that breaking off funding required more fortitude than the Democrats had stomach for. The 2008 political realities by that body are- and, you will love this- to fight to the bitter end to elect a veto-proof Congress. Or better yet, elect a Democrat for president. In short, the same old parliamentary strategies that failed last year and that will fail this year as we approach the FIFTH ANNIVERSARY of the Iraq War, having already passed the sixth in Afghanistan. I ask this question. Is it really necessary to permit these wars to continue until 2009 (and beyond) with such dead end strategies?
Here is a hard reality check for leftists today. Those of us who opposed the Iraq war from the beginning from an anti-imperialist perspective were always in a minority. Fair enough. Nevertheless we have let a golden opportunity to teach something about the god-awful nature of this society by not fighting for an anti-imperialist perspective in the anti-war movement. We let the congenital pacifists, ‘the do-gooders’, the faint of heart and, most importantly, the mainly Democratic parliamentary politicians take the high ground. And this is what has come to pass. I will take a few good anti-imperialist anti-warriors who know the real meaning of immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and know how to act on it. But, damn, we could use more.
There still are IWW members around. Here in Minneapolis, they are young. They are trying to unionize Starbucks, and planning the demonstration at the GOP convention here.
ReplyDeleteOT: First copy your template to a word document. If you mess up, you can always go back to your old template.
I would if I were you, switch to a new blogger template. They come with a box where you can add links, and have them alphabetical.