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.
COMMENTARY
IMMEDIATE UNCONDITIONAL WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN!
BUILD ANTI-WAR SOLDIERS AND SAILORS SOLIDARITY COMMITTEES –REV UP THE TROOP TRANSPORTS NOW!
If one has paid virtually daily attention to the news from and about Iraq over the last five years then one knows, as I do, that some weeks bring unrelentingly bad news. And the others are worst. This past week, the week of July 16, 2007, was one of those worst weeks. No, not because of any dramatic increase in casualty rates or horrific bombings but because there are unmistakable signals in the air from the American political/military establishment that the next step in Iraq is another troop ‘surge’ that in their language will finally stabilize the situation there. This is the famous Plan B that the Bush Administration is apparently taking under serious consideration and had previously scoffed at as unnecessary. And from their perspective why not.
This administration is already doomed to go down in history as a failure even by bourgeois standards. The Bush poll ratings can hardly get worst. Moreover, it is getting to be time in the now lame duck Bush presidency to spruce up his image for his place in history. So with nothing in particular to lost why not roll the dice one more time hoping that more troops, that is more American troops , will get the job done. Know this- the Bush cabal is committed, come hell or high water, to staying in Iraq at current or greater military levels until January 20, 2009. Make no mistake there. The real question is what are we going to do about it? The ball is in our court now. The headlines above indicate the slogans that I have propagandized for over the last year. (See also, August 2006 archives) They still retain their full force today. Below are a few comments on this week's developments.
As everyone knows by now the United States House of Representatives voted basically along party lines in favor of a resolution calling for quick withdrawal from Iraq. Over in the United States Senate that same basic resolution was defeated by pajama-clad Republican senators holding their party line. Okay, boys and girls fun’s fun but aside from the pajama party this so-called Democratic ‘pressure’ strategy on the Bush administration by repeated votes that cannot be overridden is getting a little tiresome. The Democrats were swept in last November, in part at least, on a wave of anti-war sentiment. I submit the parliamentary maneuvering of the past couple of months as prima facie evidence that the parliamentary road to ending the war is a bust. Seemingly the American people agree, at some level, in that a recent poll has place Congress’s approval rating at some 20 something percent, lower than Bush’s rating if that is possible. Even a political novice can recognize now that some other forces need to come into play to end this damn war. Those soldier and sailor committees cited above are desperately necessary right now. The slogan, not Bring the Troops Home but Troops Out Now-Rev Up the Troop Transports Now.
The most ominous news of the week concerns the maneuvering over the so-called report by General Petreaus in mid-September evaluating the military situation then as a result of the additional troops provided over the past period. Every bourgeois politician and his or her brother has been waiting breathlessly for this report in order to bail out, or at least decide what his or her political chances are for 2008. This is especially true since the interim report to the interim report issued in mid- July had to be ‘sexed-up’ to make it look like any progress was being made at all. But hold on. Now senior military commanders are hedging their bets and are arguing for ‘postponing’ the day of reckoning. Moreover, a less senior commander on the ground is blowing smoke about the summer of 2008 being the real target date when Iraqi troops will be ‘ready’ to take over. Christ, will this madness never end. Worst and this is from the top- the soon to be ignobly retired Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Marine General Peter Pace has signaled that there are ‘contingency’ plans afoot in case the situation in Iraq warrants another little ‘surge’. Take that statement seriously. Leading American military generals who have spent over thirty years in military service and who would rather fall on their swords than make a false bureaucratic move do not telegraph such news without a nod from their civilian superiors. Pay very careful attention over the next couple of months to who in the military is saying what about the military situation in Iraq. That is where the fight over the outlines of Plan B will come from.
Finally, there has been something of a resurgence of neo-conservative chatter about surrender and treason if America leaves the Iraqis in the lurch anytime soon. This sentiment has been expressed by my local nemesis Boston Globe Op/Ed contributor Jeff Jacoby. His argument is that somehow the decisive battle against Islamic fundamentalism is to be fought and decided in Iraq. Pulling out now ipso facto automatically means a victory for Al Qaeda. I have commented previously that such a stance would keep the American presence long enough so that his young sons and seemingly now his grandchildren would get a chance to fight there. The reality, however, is that these neo-cons are not prepared to shed their blood or their kin’s but are more than happy to let some other mother’s son or daughter die there. That question aside there is a core point that these neo-cons bring up that we of the left need to address.
Everyone from the lowliest neo-con to the most radical socialist revolutionary understands, or should understand, that we are in a life and death struggle against Islamic fundamentalism. Even from our staunch anti-imperialist prospective we, if and when we come to power, would have to address this question of politically, and if necessary, militarily defeating that movement. The distinction we need to draw is that we would do it differently. It seems to me, as the current British terrorist cases tend to bear out, that extensive police/intelligence work would be our first avenue. In the end, however, we will fight them arms in hand, if necessary. This thought is not etched in stone and bears both more study and additional comment. In the meantime- U.S. Troops Out of Iraq. Enough said.
THIS IS PART OF A SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THE 2006-2008 ELECTION CYCLE UNDER THE HEADLINE- FORGET THE DONKEYS, ELEPHANTS, GREENS-BUILD A WORKERS PARTY!
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