*From The Archives -Obama-Immediate Uncondtional Withdrawal From Afghanistan- Gearing Up For The Fall Anti-War Season-An October 7 Anti-War Action

Click on title to link to site that has in the past covered the opposition to the Bush/Obama Afghan War policies. This site is linked for informational purposes only.

Below is information, recently received by e-mail, pertaining to some upcoming Fall 2009 actions planned by forces sympathetic to various United For Justice With Peace (UJP)organizations. I am passing it on for informational purposes only. I do not, make that definitely do not, agree with UJPs premises, slogans or strategy. The only agreement I have at this point is on the need to take to the streets to oppose the Obama war policies, including this latest round of escalations in troop numbers (as well as the projections of Afghan Commander General McCrystal for more troops). The time to give Obama a pass on his war policies is long over. Forward.


Peace NO War Network
http://www.PeaceNOWar.net
War is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate
Not in our Name! And another world is possible!

http://www.PeaceNoWar.net
e-mail: Info@PeaceNoWar.net
Tel: (213)403-0131

Please Join PeaceNoWar Listserv, send e-mail to: peacenowar-subscribe@lists.riseup.net


End the War in Afghanistan and Pakistan!
Change ≠ War!



President Barack Obama was elected on a platform of CHANGE and with hopes for diplomacy, not war! As the war in Iraq winds down, more troops have been sent to Afghanistan. Some in the Pentagon are calling for more!

Now, 54% of the people believe the Afghanistan war is a mistake. The peace movement is challenged to organize the hope for CHANGE into a movement to end the war in Afghanistan as one of the big steps towards addressing the crisis in our communities.

Our best interests and the interests of the Afghanistan people lie in the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces. With every bomb dropped and every civilian and military death, we are no closer to helping the Afghan people and the region to grapple with their problems. In fact, the U.S. presence is the biggest obstacle to doing so.


On October 7, the beginning of the 9th year of occupation and war in Afghanistan, we must mobilize nationwide a call for diplomacy, not war. Change ≠ War!

United For Peace and Justice is calling on the grassroots movements for peace and economic and social justice to gather in their cities and towns on October 7 for action, dialog, and reflection on the 8 years of death and dying in Afghanistan and now in Pakistan.

United For Peace and Justice is calling on its member groups across the country to initiate local actions or educational events in your community on October 7:

Teach-Ins on the costs, human and economic, of the occupation and war in Afghanistan and impact on the region.

Vigils, pickets and delegations to Congressional offices, as well as faxes, emails and calls.

Rallies, demonstrations, vigils and marches to bring the peace and justice message into the streets.

House parties to raise money for Afghanistan relief or other aid to the Afghan people.

Creative actions to highlight the devastating effects of the Drone air strikes.
In the month of October, many activities are being planned here and around the world. On October 5, a coalition led by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (NCNR) will have a procession to the White House, deliver a petition and hold a non-violent direct action in Washington, DC. It is urgent that we also bring our message to Washington and we hope you will join this initiative.

The Iraq Moratorium has called for local actions on October 17 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Vietnam War Moratorium. The Iraq Moratorium says, "Over 2 million people participated in thousands of communities [during the Vietnam War] and brought the anti-war movement into the political mainstream of American society. The lessons from that event in 1969 can help us strengthen the antiwar movement today."

On the 16th Anniversary Of The Iraq War-From The Archives- The Dog Days Of The American Anti-war Opposition

Commentary

Here is an unfair question. Who, recently, has been more committed to seeking the withdrawal of American and Allied troops from Iraq- the American anti-war movement or Sheik Sadr’s Madhi Army and his political apparatus in the mosques of Sadr City? Answer: These days it is clearly Sadr and his cohorts. Not only have Sadr’s forces borne the brunt of fighting against American and Iraqi governmental forces this spring but every Friday over the past several weeks after prayers they have gone into the streets to call for the American withdrawal. On the American anti-war side there has been the infinitely harder task of..... breathlessly waiting for the other shoe to drop- the election of non-Bush, presumably Obama, to get America out of its quagmire one way or another.

Yes, I know that this is an unfair comparison but hear me out on this. This street fight that the two supposedly anti-war democrats Obama and Clinton have just completed has taken all the political air out of domestic politics. Such silly things as fighting to deny war funding have taken a back seat to the pressing questions of Obama’s religious affiliation and , my favorite, what does Hillary want. Moreover, I have noted more than once that, historically, the traditional pro-Democratic outfits like United For Peace and Justice and 'progressive' coalitions of that ilk have taken cover when these democratic parliamentary campaigns are in full swing.

Goodness gracious, the Quakers, pacifists and home grown professional radical leftists of every persuasion would not want to spoil the chances of the liberal parliamentary types (read today-Democrats) by filling the air with people and chants denouncing these same do-nothings. Moreover, the much ballyhooed mid-term Congressional elections of 2006 which were suppose to usher in the Golden Age after the turnover to Democratic majorities proves my case rather than theirs. We should now instead be screaming bloody murder in the streets to get the troops withdrawn-over the political corpses of these same Democrats .

When I made the comparison between the activity of Sadr concerning American troops and the American anti-war movement I was, obviously, overdrawing the picture in his favor. Sadr and his pals have their own axes to grind and are responding to their fraction of the Shia base, especially on the national sovereignty question. With the very real likelihood that American bases will be in Iraq for that McCain- predicted 100 years there is no political capital to be lost by leading Iraqi opposition to that move and to opposing the desires of the other Shia faction led by the Malaki government.

Moreover, Sadr's ‘opposition’ to American imperialism has been spotty, at best- he brokered the stand down of the Mahdi Army that has permitted the Iraqi government (and the Americans) some breathing room in order to stabilize their regime (or, at least, stem the daily slaughter on the streets of Iraq). But, even more noteworthy than that is that while Sadr has been our objective ‘ally’, as they say, remember in the final analysis his brand of Islamic fundamentalism is committed to imposing some form of Islamic Republic on Iraq that is counterpoised to our fights. So, when I headlined this commentary 'in the dog days' I was not just talking out of my hat but also expressing our real quandary- except I am not in any quandary about the main task that we still face- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal From Iraq and Afghanistan of American/ Allied troops and their mercenaries!

On the 16th Anniversary Of The Iraq War-From The Archives- *AS WE APPROACH THE 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE IRAQ WAR...

Click on the title to link to an "Under The Hood" (Fort Hood G.I. Coffeehouse)Web site online article about the "Oleo Strut" Coffeehouse, an important development in the anti-Vietnam War struggle. Hats off to those bygone anti-war fighters.


IMMEDIATE UNCONDITIONAL WITHDRAWAL OF ALL U.S./ALLIED TROOPS AND THEIR MERCENARIES FROM IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN!

Yes, today is only March 1st and thus not really the 5th Anniversary of the start of the Iraq War but do we really need to wait until then to know that we will be in Iraq, in full force, come the 20th of the month? Hell, no. That said, this year we do not even have the ‘hope’ (or better said, the illusion) that this war is going to end any time soon. The latest maneuvers by Senate Majority leader Harry Reid only highlight that sad conclusion.

This week, the week of February 25, 2008, the Democratically-controlled Senate attempted to bring the question of funding for the war and some timetable proposals to the Senate floor. This time the Republican minority cynically permitted debate for its own purposes. Those purposes included letting presumptive Republican presidential nominee Arizona Senator John McCain and others tout the success of last year’s military surge strategy. However, at the end of the day the Republicans turned down any chances to vote on the issues presented. This is where Senate Minority Leader Reid had his finest hour. He knew, as he did last, year that he did not have the votes to pass any legislation. This, my friends, is the height of parliamentary cretinism.

However one may interpret Senator McCain’s remarks about an American presence in Iraq for 100 years today who can say that is an outlandish figure. Unless we do something about it. As for those prospects? My propaganda tactic of trying to link up the civilian anti-war movement with the rank and file soldiers in Iraq has proven thus far to be just that. Propaganda. Last year, better two years ago it made sense. Under today’s military and political conditions it gets us no closer to ending the war than any other potential anti-war strategy. We better go back to the basics. A little class struggle in these hard economic times, or at least propaganda for it, will go a long way. As I, and many, many others have said it is far easier getting out of war that into it. That said, we still need to get the hell out. Immediate Withdrawal of All U.S./Allied Troops and their mercenaries from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Below I have reposted, as much as it pains me, a comment I made as we approached last year's 4th Anniversary of the Iraq War. Damn.

COMMENTARY

WRITTEN ON MARCH 20, 2007 THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN INVASION AND OCCUPATION OF IRAQ.

This will be short and sweet for four years of war without an effective extra-parliamentary (or for that matter, parliamentary) opposition in an unpopular war led by an unpopular President speaks for itself. That said, the slogan Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal from Iraq by the United States and its rapidly dwindling coalition forces retains its validity. As does the fight for a straight no vote on the war budget. And, finally, as does the validity of the desperately necessary fight to form anti-war soldiers and sailors solidarity committees. Otherwise this time next year we will be writing about the fifth year of the war. Forward.

From The HistoMat Blog- Why Obama Was Shellacked

Sunday, November 14, 2010
Grace Lee Boggs on why Obama was shellacked

Two years ago, in the fall of 2008, over a million citizen activists of all ethnic groups, mostly young people, often accompanied by middle-aged or elderly independents, went door to door, urging voters to go to the polls and elect Barach Obama to the White House.

We/they did this because we believed and hoped that this charismatic black man could bring about the transformational changes we urgently need at this time on the clock of the world when the U.S. pursuit of unlimited economic growth has reached its social and ecological limits.

In 2010, despite the impassioned appeals of Barack, Michelle and Democratic Party stalwarts, many of us didn't even go to the polls ourselves on November 2, let alone urge others to do so, Ralph Nader estimates there were 28 million NoShows.

We need to probe the lessons of this experience, shared by many millions directly or indirectly.

The main lesson, I believe, is that the tremendous changes we now need and yearn for in our daily lives and in the direction of our country cannot come from those in power or by putting pressure on those in power.

We ourselves have to foreshadow or prefigure them from the ground up.

Civil and Voting rights for blacks didn't come from the White House or from masses demonstrating in front of the White House. They came after the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-6, the Freedom Rides in 1961, the 1963 Children's Crusade in Birmingham, Mississippi Freedom Summer and Freedom Schools, and the 1964 Selma to Montgomery March.

In other words, they came only after hundreds of thousands of black Americans and their white supporters had accepted the challenge and risks of ourselves making or becoming the changes we/they want to see in the world...
Full article here - see also this piece by Charlie Kimber. The struggle against Obama's and Cameron's imperialist war in Afghanistan continues this Saturday with a demonstration in London, Afghanistan: Time to Go
Labels: afghanistan, America, Barack Obama


posted by Snowball @ 6:53 PM 0 comments

* A Report And Photos Of The Boston Veterans For Peace Rally On Veterans Day 2010

Click on the headline to link to a United For Peace with Justice (UJP) entry for the Veterans For Peace contingent at the Boston Veterans Day parade.

Markin comment: This entry goes along with my remarks in my separate entry on this event today. Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Iraq and Afghanistan!

*From "The Black Is Back" Blog-Black is Back Response to the Drawing Down of US Troops in Iraq

Click on the headline to link to a Black Is Back blog entry (via Boston Indy Media) on the U.S. troop draw down in Iraq

*From The "SteveLendmanBlog"- On The American Afghan Atrocities

Click on the headline to link to a "SteveLendmanBlog" entry concerning the inevitable question of American military atrocities in Afghanistan.

Markin comment:

The American imperial military machine has never left a small footprint whenever it has gone into action- from the Spanish-American War forward. The best way to curb that, in the short term, is Obama-Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied troops From Iraq and Afghanistan! And build those anti-war soldiers and sailors solidarity committees that I have spoken of previously. Then watch out!

*Up Close And Personal- Afghan Commander Westmoreland (Oops!) McChrystal Sees The Light At The End Of The Tunnel, Part 2

Click on title to link to a National Public Radio (NPR)/WBUR, December 10, 2009 story/interview about Afghan commander General McChrystal's take on prospects for "victory" in Afghanistan.

Markin comment:

Here's MY take on this one, again. Obama- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Afghanistan (And Iraq)!

*"The Washington Post"- Afghan Public Opinion Poll- A Guest Commentary- My Question:"Where Have All The Protesters Gone?

Click on title to link a "The Washington Post" article, dated October 21, 2009, analyzing the results of a poll conducted on the Obama Afghan War policy.

Markin comment:

If the results of this poll represent some kind of true sense of where American citizens are on the question of a possible Afghan troop escalation and those divisions, pro and con, are, as indicated, strongly held then I want to know where the Bush era protesters are. They certainly weren't out at recent anti-war rallies. I guess they are cell-phoning, text-messaging or blogging their opposition in. Meanwhile we have our work cut out for us. Obama-No to troop escalation! Troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq!

*Under The Spell Of Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row"-On Obama's Nobel 'Peace' Prize

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Bob Dylan performing his 1960s classic "Desolation Row".

Markin comment:

Every once in a while, and today is one of them, I NEED to listen to or read the lyrics to what is probably my most listened to Bob Dylan song. After news about American imperial chief Obama's winning the Nobel Peace Prize (an award also won by Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter and Al Gore among others which tells the tale)for some fluff about peace when he is getting ready to pull the hammer on troop escalation in Afghanistan has put me in a surreal frame of mind. But just to show I am still on top- Nobel Peace "Poster Child" Obama- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan (And Iraq Too)!


Desolation Row

They're selling postcards of the hanging
They're painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town
Here comes the blind commissioner
They've got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants
And the riot squad they're restless
They need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight
From Desolation Row

Cinderella, she seems so easy
"It takes one to know one," she smiles
And puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette Davis style
And in comes Romeo, he's moaning
"You Belong to Me I Believe"
And someone says," You're in the wrong place, my friend
You better leave"
And the only sound that's left
After the ambulances go
Is Cinderella sweeping up
On Desolation Row

Now the moon is almost hidden
The stars are beginning to hide
The fortunetelling lady
Has even taken all her things inside
All except for Cain and Abel
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain
And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing
He's getting ready for the show
He's going to the carnival tonight
On Desolation Row

Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window
For her I feel so afraid
On her twenty-second birthday
She already is an old maid

To her, death is quite romantic
She wears an iron vest
Her profession's her religion
Her sin is her lifelessness
And though her eyes are fixed upon
Noah's great rainbow
She spends her time peeking
Into Desolation Row

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
With his memories in a trunk
Passed this way an hour ago
With his friend, a jealous monk
He looked so immaculately frightful
As he bummed a cigarette
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Now you would not think to look at him
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
On Desolation Row

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world
Inside of a leather cup
But all his sexless patients
They're trying to blow it up
Now his nurse, some local loser
She's in charge of the cyanide hole
And she also keeps the cards that read
"Have Mercy on His Soul"
They all play on penny whistles
You can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row

Across the street they've nailed the curtains
They're getting ready for the feast
The Phantom of the Opera
A perfect image of a priest
They're spoonfeeding Casanova
To get him to feel more assured
Then they'll kill him with self-confidence
After poisoning him with words

And the Phantom's shouting to skinny girls
"Get Outa Here If You Don't Know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To Desolation Row"

Now at midnight all the agents
And the superhuman crew
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
Then they bring them to the factory
Where the heart-attack machine
Is strapped across their shoulders
And then the kerosene
Is brought down from the castles
By insurance men who go
Check to see that nobody is escaping
To Desolation Row

Praise be to Nero's Neptune
The Titanic sails at dawn
And everybody's shouting
"Which Side Are You On?"
And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
Fighting in the captain's tower
While calypso singers laugh at them
And fishermen hold flowers
Between the windows of the sea
Where lovely mermaids flow
And nobody has to think too much
About Desolation Row

Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the door knob broke)
When you asked how I was doing
Was that some kind of joke?
All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they're quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name
Right now I can't read too good
Don't send me no more letters no
Not unless you mail them
From Desolation Row

Copyright ©1965; renewed 1993 Special Rider Music

*Eight Year Is Enough-Obama- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan

Click on title to link to National Public Radio's report on September 3, 2009about the growing opposition to Obama's Afghan war policy. This is a repost from that entry. Today, October 7, 2009, marks the eight anniversary of the effective American occupation of Afghanistan. Well,boys and girls, the time for Obamian illusions is over. It is time to settle up. The streets are not for dreaming now. Get the poster boards, the old bed sheets, magic markers, paint and cell phones ready. "Obama-Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan ((And Iraq And Pakistan Too!)"

October 9, 2009- In light of Obama's ward of the Nobel "Peace" Prize this post should take on added significance. There is also a high level White House meeting of all levels of the American political/military establishment today. Do not,despite keeping his eyes on the prize, rule out an Obama troop escalation in Afghanistan. So much for "peace".
******

Every once in a while (more frequently than I would like) old Pete Seeger's song about his World War II adventures that served as a parable for President Lyndon Johnson and his constant Vietnam escalations, "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy” just seems appropriate. This is one of those occasions. Just switch "Big Poppy" for "Big Muddy" and you will have it just about right.

"Waist Deep In The Big Muddy"-Pete Seeger

It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place.
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him.
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.

We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.

Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.

Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!

*The Echo Of Vietnam, The Echo Of Iraq, A Voice Of Afghanistan on Obama's War Policy- A Radio Discussion

Click on title to link to an interesting discussion on National Public Radio's (NPR)"On Point" talk show, September 21, 2009, hosted by Tom Ashbrook about General Stanley McChrystal's 'private' report, as summarized by Bob Woodward's story in the "Washington Post", asking for more troops in Afghanistan

Markin comment:

The guests included Daniel Ellsberg, a governmental opposition voice of the Vietnam era and 'leaker' of "The Pentagon Papers", Lawrence Wilkerson a severe governmental critical of the Bush II Iraq War while deputy to the State Department's Colin Powell, and George Packer of "The New Yorker" magazine and a knowledgeable source about the inner workings of the current American Afghan war policy. They painted a grim picture of the future, at best. That, however is not our problem. Our problem is to get people into the streets under the banner of -"Obama- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan (And Iraq)!. The way things are quickly coming to a head we had better get to it fast.

*A Candid Assessment Of The Afghan Debacle By One Of Their Own-Joint Chief Chairman Mullen's View-Ouch !

Click on title to link to recent interview with Joint Chief Of Staff Chairman Mullen for "the real deal" on the situation in Afghanistan (Brian Bender, "Boston Globe", August 26, 2009). Of course, this information has become increasingly apparent for about a year now. Moreover, as an underling to Commander-in-Chief Obama Mullen will salute and say "What next, sir? We have a better idea in every way- Obama, sir (optional),Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Alled Troops!

*Political Potpourri- John Kerry’s Afghan War Hearings and The Latest On The Gay Marriage Front

Click On Title To link To April 22, 2009 Farrah Stockman Boston Globe Article On The Massachusetts Senator John Kerry-led Afghan War Hearings Mentioned Below. This Article Is Priceless In Exposing The Now Threadbare Anti-War Credentials Of The Former Democratic Party Presidential Nominee. Plus There Is A Photo Of A Youthful John Kerry During His 1971 Anti-war Moment. Also Priceless.

Commentary

Sometimes political happenings of interest to the radical public and to this blogger are not enough to warrant extensive full commentary but nevertheless warrant a word or two. That in the case here on the Afghan war front and the various doings on the gay marriage rights front.

John Kerry Refurbishes His War Credentials

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the unsuccessful 2004 Democratic Party nominee for President, former contender (at least in his own mind) for a Secretary of Stateship in the Obama Administration and now Chairman of The Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently (April 23, 2009) chaired hearings on the “progress” of the Afghan war. In the buildup to that event the media (at least the local media in Boston) recognized that these hearings were being held very close to the 38th Anniversary of the then private citizen and Vietnam Veterans Against The War (VVAW) leader Kerry’s testimony against that war before this same committee in 1971.

As I have mentioned previously in this space this mania for “celebrating” every small event in the political and social universe has gotten out of hand. Especially the commemoration of this event, considering that Kerry’ testimony given in 1971 was pretty late in the game and after there had been a virtual mutiny in the American army over Vietnam War policy, although it retained a certain power to focus some issues even then. I deny no man or woman, including myself, his or her day in the sun but enough is enough. I have, on occasion, “celebrated” various landmark anniversaries of importance to me but I at least have had the propriety to separate them by five or ten year periods. Whoever heard of making a big deal out of a 38th Anniversary of anything (wedding anniversaries excluded, of course)?

But enough of that. The real import of these hearings is to, once again, confirm that while John Kerry may have earned his political spurs as an Vietnam anti-warrior when it comes to the perceived interests of late (witness his positive vote on Bush’s Iraq War policy) of the American imperium he is “ready for duty”. All the more so when it is a “liberal’s” war under aegis of the liberal Obama Administration. The argument all along in Democratic Party circles, made clear last year in the various Democratic primary debates with the partial exception of Congressman Kucinich, has been that the Bush “Iraq follies” were taking the focus and resources away from the “real” war in Afghanistan. Nothing in the Kerry hearings, including the selection of the appropriate pro-war military advocates to second the Obama administration policy was “off message” from that view.

In short, it is full steam ahead with Obama’s recently announced troop escalations now fully endorsed by the Democrat Party- controlled Senate. What is more problematic though is the state of the opposition to this Obamian war policy. The hearings themselves were lightly attended by anti-war activists, reflecting in part the partisan divide over “bad” Iraq and “good” Afghan policies in bourgeois politics and a general feeling that Obama should have his way, for now, on his policy decisions. Other than the hard-core pacifists of the American Friends Service Committee ilk, some leftist professors, mainly not well to the general public yet, and the usual coterie of “reds’, anti-imperialists and assorted anti militarists, including this writer, the political opposition at this point is negligible.

What appears to be shaping up in regard to the Obama Afghan War policy though is, unlike the rapid massive, if transient, buildup to the Bush Iraq war policy, a small but growing opposition similar to the trajectory of the opposition to the Vietnam War. If one wants to take a trip down “memory lane” on that score then Senator Kerry’s hearings are closer to the Fulbright Senate Vietnam War hearings of 1966 where the outcome was to placate the Lyndon Johnson administration on its war policy. Not a good event for anyone with liberal pretensions to be compared to and not something that an anti-warrior would want to be remembered for. But that is Senator Kerry’s problem. That is also President Obama’s problem. Our problem is to fight for a NO vote of the war appropriations. And it is never out of order, in fair weather or foul, to call for- Obama- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of U.S./Allied Troops From Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fits and Starts On The Gay Marriage Front

Most of the news over the past year on the, mainly legal and legislative, fight for the democratic right of gays and lesbians to marry just like the rest of us has been positive, excepting that serious initiative reversal in California last November. Over the past few weeks the news has been hot and heavy and this week was no exception. A key court victory in the “heartland”, Iowa. A legislative veto override in Vermont. Now, this week, the Connecticut legislature has given its imprimatur to the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision by changing any statutes that conflict with that court’s verdict. Maine and New York legislative bodies are both giving serious and heated attention to the issue. New York would be a key victory similar in impact to the California court’s decision.

I have only one comment to make here concerning these glad tidings. I do not know, and am not privy to, any inside information about the various legislative and political strategies of the gay and lesbian pro-marriage rights movement. I have heard, and the trends seem to confirm this, that at least part of the strategy is to make New England a gay marriage rights bastion. That seems to be proceeding nicely. What this brings to mind are the ebbs and flows of the slavery abolition movement and its historic center in the Northeastern United States in the 1830’s and 1840’s. Thus it seems appropriate that the leading role in the gay marriage rights started in New England. Here is the point though. Until the Georgias, Alabamas and Mississippis are “conquered”, places where gays and lesbians desperately need such rights, there will always be a sense of a “hollow” victory with each new announcement. Full Marriage Rights For Gays And Lesbians Everywhere!

The Slippery Slope To Escalation In Vietnam (Oops!), Sorry, Afghanistan

Click on title to link to "The Boston Globe" article of March 27, 2009 detailing Obama's Afghan troop escalation plans.

Commentary

Anyone who has caught today’s , Friday March 27, 2009, headlines is aware that the Democratic Party-run Obama government has called for some 4,000 additional troops for Afghanistan and what they, euphemistically, call civilian support teams in order to bolster the sagging regime of “Mayor of Kabul” Karzai. Those numbers are in addition to the 17,000 extras already committed by the Obama regime in February. Does the word escalation seem appropriate here?

One of the problems of having gone through the Vietnam experience in my youth (including periods of lukewarm support under John F. Kennedy, a hands off attitude in the early Lyndon B. Johnson years and then full-bore opposition under the late Johnson, Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford regimes) is a tendency to view today’s American imperial policy in the same by-the-numbers approach as I took as a result of observing the Vietnam War as it unfolded. There are differences, some of them hugely so, between Vietnam and Afghanistan. Just as, I have previously noted in this space, there are differences between Vietnam and the recently “completed” Iraq War (Hey, I’m just going by what the media tells me is going on. They wouldn’t lead us astray, would they?)

But, I keep getting this eerie feeling in the back of my neck every time I hear, or see, anything concerning Afghanistan coming out of this new Obama administration. They appear clueless, yet are determined to forge ahead with this policy that can only lead to the same kind of quagmire than Vietnam and Iraq turned into. That is where the analogies to Vietnam do connect up. In this regard, I have recently been re-reading Kennedy/Johnson War Secretary Robert Strange (that’s his middle name, folk, I didn’t make it up and didn’t need to) McNamara’s memoirs, written in 1995, of his central role in the development of Vietnam policy, “In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam”.

Obviously McNamara put his own ‘spin’ on his personal role in order to absolve himself (a little) before history. That is to be expected. What comes through crystal clear, however, because in the final analysis McNamara still doesn’t get it, is that when you’re the number one imperial power all the decisions you make are suppose to fall into place for your benefit because you represent the “good guys”. Regardless of what you do, or do not, know about the internal workings of the situation at hand. That is why I have that eerie, very eerie, feeling about this Obama war policy.

This continual escalation, moreover, bears closer watching because as I have said since the Obama election, when push comes to shove, he has decided to stake his place in history on Afghanistan. He is running full steam ahead on his well-publicized campaign promises. So, for all those who have given Obama a pass on his war aims, mainly because he isn’t George Bush. For all of those who did not go out in the streets on March 19th and protest the Iraq/Afghan Obama war policy on the 6th anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. For all of those who have forgotten the lessons of Vietnam, or are not aware of them. Remember the fate of Robert Strange McNamara. And to be on the safe side call now for-Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of All U.S./Allied Troops From Iraq and Afghanistan! And Hands Off Pakistan while we are at it.

Vote NO (With Both Hands) On The Obama Afghan War Budget

Commentary

Today the gloves can come off. This is the first ‘wake-up’ call in the fight against President Obama’s slippery road to escalation in Afghanistan. Get ready. I also note that some leftist intellectuals share my concern. They have already taken out a half page ad in the “New York Review of Books” entitled “Not This Time” (dated February 26, 2009, page 35) calling for, among other things, withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan. While I might disagree with the thrust of the letter to the President as a tactic I stand in solidarity with their call for withdrawal. Below is a proposal for a more concrete form of opposition.


Down With The Afghan War- Down With The Afghan War Budget- For Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of American/Allied Troops From Afghanistan (and Central Asia)! Hands Off Pakistan!

Praise be. Finally we can get down to brass tacks on this Obamian imperial presidency. As regular readers of this space will know last fall in the American presidential elections, as befits an anti-capitalist labor militant, I called for a NO vote on Obama, McCain, Nader (“Independent”?) and McKinney (Green) as an expression of opposition to the pro-capitalist parties, large and small. I at the same time, nevertheless, recognized that the immense popularity of the Obama victory would give him, if not from me, then from the masses of youth, blacks, Hispanics and old time ‘soft’ lefties from my “Generation of ‘68”, a protracted “honeymoon”. That possibility seemed all the more likely as the wreckage of the truly obscene and incompetent Bush administration, an administration that even by loose bourgeois political standards was a disaster, came to light after he left office. But now, as if to mock the wisdom of the political gods, even that supposedly protracted “honeymoon” is to go by the boards, at least for thoughtful political types.

Why is that honeymoon over? Well the money season, especially the military money season, is upon us as the political calendar churns on. That means, in practical terms, also money for Obama’s Afghan war funding. Politics is about careful selection of issues and timing. That little nugget of political wisdom is true whether you, like Obama, have been empowered by a 600 million dollar plus electoral campaign or, like me, are out in the “wilderness” as a left-wing political propagandist with a budget of six dollars. Obviously, thoughtful militants, and I like to include myself in that category, have been frustrated over the past few weeks looking for a cutting edge issue in order to gain some political leverage.

After the aura of the Inauguration festivities dissipated what did we have for an edge? The muffed Obama Cabinet selections? That was a yawner, except for ‘insiders’ and truly desperate political junkies. The fight around the bailout of capitalism by the ‘second-handout’ governmental actions generically called the “stimulus package”? Frankly, there is no leverage in those issues for leftists today. Sure we can furtively rail about the “bum of the month” club now known as Wall Street but that is tempered as an issue by some of the ‘goodies’ in the package that might actually help working people. Times are desperate enough that we cannot get a reasonable hearing on that one, at present. But now, with military appropriations coming up over the next few weeks, we have a banner to fight under.

And, moreover, we apparently are not alone here, at least among those few left-wing parliamentary Democrats that fought a losing battle against the various Bush Administration Iraq/Afghan war appropriations. Very early on in the fight against the Iraq war build-up I noted that, on the parliamentary playing field, the only serious question is YES or NO on war appropriations in the fight against any particular imperialist war move. That is as true today as it was then. I do not know where ex-Democratic presidential contender Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, one of the few consistent “anti-war horses” (excuse the turn of phrase) on Iraq/Afghan war appropriations stands on opposition to Afghan war appropriations now but fellow “anti-war horse” Massachusetts Congressman James McGovern has, according to a recent article from the Associated Press (“Antiwar lawmakers wary of adding troops in Afghanistan” by Anna Flaherty, dated February 9, 2009), some ‘jitters’ about where things are heading there.

Well, Congressman McGovern here is the ‘skinny’. President Obama has already authorized an ‘intermediate’ troop escalation with more planned. He, moreover, has very publicly declared that Afghanistan, come hell or high water, is his signature war and has made Afghan policy a high priority. I have argued previously my belief that Obama intends to stake his administration, if not his place in history, on Afghanistan. In short, although he has proven he can raise fantastic sums of money for himself, since he is not going to pay for it personally he is coming to you looking for the loot. As the beginning of anti-war political wisdom therefore-“just say NO”. No money. Nada. I would urge every anti-war militant to sent e-mails, letters (does anyone do that anymore?) or call your representative and tell them the same thing. But here is the real anti-war ‘skinny’. Let’s get ready to, once again, go back into the streets and shout (and shout at least as loudly as we did at the unlamented Bush), Obama- Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All American/Allied Troops From Afghanistan!

Note: In my introduction to this entry I noted that some leftist intellectuals shared my concern about Obama’s slippery slope in Afghanistan. I also noted that they have already taken out a half page ad in the “New York Review of Books” entitled “Not This Time” (dated February 26, 2009, page 35) calling for, among other things, withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan. I placed myself in solidarity with that call, if not the tactic of the letter to the President. What I noticed in reading the list of signatories is that outside a few old hardened “soft lefties”, like the very fine ‘magical realism’ writer Russell Banks and academic radical gadfly Howard Zinn, there were not the usual heavyweight academic lefties that usually sign these things. While a fair number of such types, like Norman Mailer, have passed away recently and some of the names that I did not recognize are just beginning their letter signing careers I have a funny feeling that in the academy Obama is being given that protracted “honeymoon” I mentioned above. This is not a good sign.

From The Archives- The Struggle Against The Iraq War At The Base

Commentary

From The Archives- on the struggle in the lead up to the Iraq War in 2002

IT IS DESPERATELY NECESSARY TO WIN THIS BATTLE AGAINST BUSH’S WAR DRIVE….AND THE FIGHT BEYOND

Make no mistake Bush intends to go to war in Iraq despite the rational objection of the anti-war peoples of the world. We have, however, in rather short order been able to build an anti-war movement of massive proportions through shear determination. Now is the time to draw the lessons from the past about how to continue build this movement and lead it to political power so that we can end war once and for all. If we fail we may not soon have another chance. The following program can serve as a basis for such a change.


FOUR POINT PROGRAM FOR AN EFFECTIVE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT

1. .TURN THE ANTIWAR MOVEMENT INTO AN ANTI-IMPERIALIST MOVEMENT- THE MAIN ENEMY IS AT HOME

One of the lessons drawn from the Vietnam anti-war movement was to demonstrate that the actions of the American government were not just a result of bad policies but were endemic to the nature of capitalism in the modern era. If we do not draw that same analysis now and bring it to those who can at least see that something is desperately wrong with this system then we never will. The pacifist mood of the masses while commendable is mainly unformed and directionless. We must draw the lessons of history. In that regard the lessons of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the only successful anti-war movement in history, must be absorbed. We must make our own the slogans stated by Karl Liebknecht the German socialist in voting against war credits to the German government in World War I. The main enemy is at home. Not one penny, not one person for this war.

2. STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE. DEFEND IRAQ AGAINST IMPERIALIST ATTACK.

The disparity between the mightiest military power the world has ever known and semi-colonial Iraq is apparent. It is the duty of every internationalist to understand that in the coming war we must stand in solidarity with the Iraqi people. The main danger to the peoples of the world today is not Saddam but the American government and its allies. We give no political support to Saddam and call for the people of Iraq to overthrow him. However, when war starts we must defend the Iraqi people DESPITE Saddam.

3. SUPPORT AND INITIATE ACTIONS THAT UNDERMINE U.S. AGGRESSION AGAINST IRAQ.

All actions to now, mainly demonstrations, against an invasion are helpful, However, as the anti-war movement against Vietnam demonstrated these actions are not enough. It is necessary in your schools, labor unions, workplaces and in your activist groups to raise the question of concretely stopping the war. Call for student strikes, political strikes, labor strikes and other actions such as “hot-cargoing" military goods. Develop actions that undermine the government’s ability to carry out their war plans. Speak to soldiers and their families about actions to stop their participation in the war effort.

4. BREAK WITH THE DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN PARTIES. FIGHT FOR A WORKERS PARTY.

The essential unity of the traditional parties in this country the Republicans and Democrats on the question of Iraq and other social questions makes it clear that they do not represent the fundamental interests of working people and minorities in this country. We must build our own party centered on the workers and minorities of this country to fight against imperialism abroad and for a workers government at home

BRING THESE IDEAS TO YOUR SCHOOL, YOUR WORKPLACE, YOUR UNION AND YOUR ACTIVIST GROUPS-------FORWARD

CONTACT: THE BOSTON COMMITTEE FOR AN ANTI-IMPERIALIST UNITED FRONT

LABOR DONATED

Anti-War Political Realities- American Iraq Troop Withdrawals

Commentary

Over the past couple of months, as the tenure of the Bush Administration has started to wind down it has attempted to put a better face on its legacy than historians are likely to give it (and frankly than it deserves), there has been some movement on the question of a timetable or ‘time horizon’ for American troop withdrawal from Iraq. Part of this reflects the ‘successes' of the troop surge of January 2007 which the Bush Administration is happy to gloat over. It also reflects the political realities on the ground in Iraq as the Al-Maliki government has stabilized and, responding to its base, has argued for a timetable in order to enhance it own political power and credibility. The net effect of all of this maneuvering is that there appears to be something like general agreement, as of today at least, that American combat troops will be withdrawn by 2010 and all troops will be out by 2013. Sadly, and this is the real subject of today’s commentary, the American (and world) Iraq anti-war movement had virtually no impact on these developments. Not the parliamentary opposition (which I had expected little of, in any case) nor the street opposition.


Over the past five years or so I have gone back and forth over the comparisons between the American war of my youth in Vietnam in the 1960’and the American war now in Iraq of my old age. A couple of years ago I was arguing for a close comparison. As events have unfolded over the past couple of years though, I have backed away somewhat from those comparisons. Mainly, this reflects the hard political fact that the Iraqi anti-war movement of which I am a member has had virtually no impact on the pace or, for that matter, the fact of American troop withdrawal from Iraq. While there have been extravagant claims made for the impact of the American (and world) Vietnam anti-war movement in affecting governmental policy and troop withdrawals that movement did have some impact. Of course, it did not hurt that the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese Liberation Front took high casualties, had a plan like the Tet offensive of 1968 and were steadfastly determined to win against the odds. The same cannot be said for the forces on the ground in Iraq.

Moreover, the international Iraq anti-war movement has been, frankly, weird in another way. The greatest burst of fervor and determination on the streets was before this war began in 2003. Since then, despite sporadic mass demonstration of marginal political significance, there seems to be a tacit assumption that that was all that could be done and that once the war started the political landscape changed. In contrast, during Vietnam (up to a point) the opposition got stronger and more furious. Today, we anti-war militants should reflect on the implicit strategy this time that has consumed the bulk of the movement- keep it off the streets and in narrow parliamentary forms. If that is the lesson taken from the Vietnam anti-war movement no wonder we have been mired down in over five years of forlorn opposition. It is time to go back to the anti-war history books. Pronto. Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal of All American/Allied Troops and Their Mercenaries from Iraq and Afghanistan!

Hands Off Iran!

Commentary

U.S. Out Of Iraq And Afghanistan Now! Hands Off Iran!

Correct me if I am wrong but I smell gunpowder in the air these days and it is not clear who is getting ready to ignite the fuse. No, I am not talking about any old wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hell, those efforts are old hat and, according to the putative Republican presidential candidate John McCain , at least in Iraq, will last about 100 years-so it is way too early to even worry about ending that little beauty. I assume by his lights we are to let our great- grandchildren end it. Moreover, President Bush is playing the eternal optimist on Iraq, a role that he has perfected to a tee in his disastrous presidency, by being authoritatively reported as saying that it would only take forty years to straighten out things there. His scenario would permit our grandchildren to conclude the war. Again, that is music for the future. Nothing to get nervous about now, right? What exercises me today though is that little recent buildup of talk pointing toward some off-the-wall adventure aimed at Iran either by American imperialism itself or, I believe, more probably by air strikes from the American surrogate in the area, Israel.

I have been harping on Iran, off and on, for a couple of years now ever since reading Seymour Hersh’s informative April 2006 article in the New Yorker (and later additions and updates to the core of that argument by Hersh and others). Nothing since that time has led me to believe that the White House, the American military or Israel has given up the dream of smashing Iran’s future capacities to develop nuclear weapons. Capacities, by the way, even some hostile conservative critics have recognized that Iran needs in order to defend itself in an increasingly hostile world, especially as it remains in the cross hairs of American imperialism.

Certainly it was not the little ‘diplomatic’ maneuver over the weekend of July 19th where a high ranking American diplomat actually sat in on the six nation talks, despite previous American disdain for such efforts, on the question of what the international response to Iran’s alleged nuclear buildup should be. And certainly it was not any rhetoric on the part of the cowboys who control the inner sanctum in Washington about trying to find non-lethal ways to curb Iran. The minute they start with that talk in Washington, hold onto your wallets- you are about to be fleeced.

The events of the past several weeks have brought my concerns into some focus. Israel’s air strikes against a target in Syria, the American drumbeat campaign to denigrate any finding that Iran is not within striking distance of being capable of making at least one nuclear bomb and, of course, the defiant, if comical, attempt of Iran to saber rattle with the testing of short-range missiles. Six months, for a Bush Administration that has nothing to lose, is a long time in politics, a long time to prepare and launch surgical attacks and a long time to create an American ‘public opinion’ committed to nipping Iran’s buildup in the bud. Every militant leftist in the world, while holding his or her nose at the political regime in Tehran, better prepare now to defend Iran’s right to have nuclear weapons in this crazy old world. That said, we better dust off those old posters- U.S. Hands Off Iran- And Keep Them Off!

Obama- One Step Forward, Three Steps Back

Commentary

Break With The Republicans, Democrats, Greens and Ralph Nader- Build A Workers Party!

I have purposefully attempted to stay on the sidelines, way on the sidelines, of this misbegotten 2008 presidential campaign season after I realized early this spring that it was just a more technologically sophisticated version of previous garden variety efforts, like the Gore 2000 and Dean 2004 campaigns. Apparently I am not alone in this as a recent poll, taken after the hoopla raised by the media and the hard-core partisans of the party nominating processes was over, indicated that the bulk of the electorate felt the same way, generally. Nevertheless I do have to break my relative silence here to make a small comment on the benighted Obama campaign and what it has turned into.

Having had no illusions that Obama and his Democratic Party have anything to offer in terms of positively addressing the pressing political, social and economic issues of the day I have had nothing to cry about (although I remain appreciative of the wind that Obama himself has generated among the young which can only help radicals in the end). However, Obama's dramatic post-Hillary headlong spin toward the ‘center’ of American politics, has apparently left others feeling betrayed. Given his vote on enhanced governmental wiretapping-eavesdropping, his votes for the war budgets funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his call for stepped-up troop deployment to Afghanistan, his new stance on the timing of ending tax cuts for the rich topped off by his ‘benign neglect’ of part of his core constituency, blacks, that has even Jesse Jackson, Senior up in arms there is little wonder that there is a feeling of ‘betrayal’ in left Demo-land.

However, there has been no betrayal by Obama or the Democratic Party. Despite the chagrin of the young, who can be forgiven a little naiveté, the Democratic Party and bourgeois politics are not about serious change but about winning electoral combinations. I was tipped off that some of the idealistic elements in the Obama campaign were in uproar over his wiretapping vote. I therefore went, based on that tip, to his social networking site to see for myself the gnashing of teeth. Damn, it is all there. The sense of betrayal, the desire to get the money contributed to the campaign back, the disgust with bourgeois political maneuvering. Be still my heart.

What I did not see was any sense (as yet) that it is necessary to break out of the capitalist-inspired politics of the day and fight for a workers party (or for that matter, even an ‘independent’ party a la Ralph Nader). Well, that is our job. Earlier this year I mentioned, when I was in the heat of my bourgeois political observation period, that the swirl that Obama was producing was similar (although, I think, maybe on an even greater scale) to the effect on the young that of John F. Kennedy's campaign had in my youth. I mentioned that the earlier Kennedy swirl itself was not decisive but that in response to the press of events started then it later created the youth/socialist movement of the 1960’s. I posed the question in that commentary, jokingly, After Obama-us. I now think our turn may come sooner than I expected.