Anti-War
Dear Mr. President,
Thanks for your address to the nation. It's good to know you still want to talk to us after how we behaved in November.
Listen, can I be frank? Sending in 20,000 more troops just ain't gonna do the job. That will only bring the troop level back up to what it was last year. And we were losing the war last year! We've already had over a million troops serve some time in Iraq since 2003. Another few thousand is simply not enough to find those weapons of mass destruction! Er, I mean... bringing those responsible for 9/11 to justice! Um, scratch that. Try this -- BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE MIDDLE EAST! YES!!!
You've got to show some courage, dude! You've got to win this one! C'mon, you got Saddam! You hung 'im high! I loved watching the video of that -- just like the old wild west! The bad guy wore black! The hangmen were as crazy as the hangee! Lynch mobs rule!!!
Look, I have to admit I feel very sorry for the predicament you're in. As Ricky Bobby said, "If you're not first, you're last." And you being humiliated in front of the whole world does NONE of us Americans any good.
Thanks for your address to the nation. It's good to know you still want to talk to us after how we behaved in November.
Listen, can I be frank? Sending in 20,000 more troops just ain't gonna do the job. That will only bring the troop level back up to what it was last year. And we were losing the war last year! We've already had over a million troops serve some time in Iraq since 2003. Another few thousand is simply not enough to find those weapons of mass destruction! Er, I mean... bringing those responsible for 9/11 to justice! Um, scratch that. Try this -- BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE MIDDLE EAST! YES!!!
You've got to show some courage, dude! You've got to win this one! C'mon, you got Saddam! You hung 'im high! I loved watching the video of that -- just like the old wild west! The bad guy wore black! The hangmen were as crazy as the hangee! Lynch mobs rule!!!
Look, I have to admit I feel very sorry for the predicament you're in. As Ricky Bobby said, "If you're not first, you're last." And you being humiliated in front of the whole world does NONE of us Americans any good.
In November of 2006, after an October upsurge in violence in Iraq, the American people moved decisively to reject Republican rule, principally because of the conduct of the war. Democratic leaders well understand we regained control of the Congress because of the situation in Iraq. However, two months later, the Congress is still searching for a plan around which it can unite to hasten the end of US involvement in Iraq and the return home of 140,000 US troops.
There is a compelling need for a new direction in Iraq, one that recognizes the plight of the people of Iraq, the false and illegal basis of the United States war against Iraq, the realities on the ground which make a military resolution of the conflict unrealistic and the urgent responsibility of the United States, which caused the chaos, to use the process of diplomacy and international law to achieve stability in Iraq, a process which will establish peace and stability in Iraq allow our troops to return home with dignity.
There is a compelling need for a new direction in Iraq, one that recognizes the plight of the people of Iraq, the false and illegal basis of the United States war against Iraq, the realities on the ground which make a military resolution of the conflict unrealistic and the urgent responsibility of the United States, which caused the chaos, to use the process of diplomacy and international law to achieve stability in Iraq, a process which will establish peace and stability in Iraq allow our troops to return home with dignity.
Discontent with President Bush’s “New Way Forward in Iraq” is deep and wide across the U.S. and around the world. A big reason is his recent decision to deploy 21,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq. Opinion polls show that the American public’s approval of Bush’s job performance has plunged to a new low.
On this note of displeasure, we turn to the president’s call for the creation of new employment in Iraq. “To show that it is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs,” he said in his January 10 address.
Of course Iraqis out of work need to be on employers’ payrolls. Just ask Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, and Newt Gingrich, a former Congressman and current senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. In a January 12 Wall Street Journal op-ed, they estimate that Iraq has a 30 percent to 50 percent jobless rate, and suggest creating “an Iraqi Citizen Job Corps, along the lines of FDR's civilian conservation corps during the Great Depression.”
On this note of displeasure, we turn to the president’s call for the creation of new employment in Iraq. “To show that it is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs,” he said in his January 10 address.
Of course Iraqis out of work need to be on employers’ payrolls. Just ask Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, and Newt Gingrich, a former Congressman and current senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. In a January 12 Wall Street Journal op-ed, they estimate that Iraq has a 30 percent to 50 percent jobless rate, and suggest creating “an Iraqi Citizen Job Corps, along the lines of FDR's civilian conservation corps during the Great Depression.”
George W. Bush has an urge to surge. Like every junkie, he asks for just one more fix: let him inject just 21,000 more troops and that will win the war.
Been there. Done that. In 1965, Tom Paxton sang,
There's always a problem with giving a junkie another fix. It can only make things worse. Our maximum leader says that unless he gets to mainline another 21,000 troops, "Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons," and terrorists "would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people."
Excuse me, but didn't we hear that same promise in 2003? Nearly four years ago, on the eve of invasion, this same George Bush promised, "The terrorist threat to America and the world will be diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is disarmed."
Been there. Done that. In 1965, Tom Paxton sang,
-
Lyndon Johnson told the nation
Have no fear of escalation.
I am trying everyone to please.
Though it isn't really war,
We're sending 50,000 more
To help save Vietnam from the Vietnamese.
There's always a problem with giving a junkie another fix. It can only make things worse. Our maximum leader says that unless he gets to mainline another 21,000 troops, "Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons," and terrorists "would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people."
Excuse me, but didn't we hear that same promise in 2003? Nearly four years ago, on the eve of invasion, this same George Bush promised, "The terrorist threat to America and the world will be diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is disarmed."
Dennis J. Kucinich, Democratic Candidate for President of the United States
10th Annual Wall Street Project Conference
Sheraton New York & Towers, Monday, January 8, 2007
We are losing our nation to a philosophy of war and destruction. It is time for policies of peace and construction. It is time for the philosophy of peace, nonviolence and economic justice. This was the philosophy of Dr. King, Gandhi, Jesus, Fredrick Douglas, A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, Fannie Lou Hamer, Sojourner Truth, Cesar Chavez, and Jesse Jackson.
We are all united with the philosophy which birthed the New Deal, the New Frontier, the Great Society, the dreams of social and economic justice which could be called forth by those who were ready to stand up, to speak out, to march, to demand, to testify about the good news:
10th Annual Wall Street Project Conference
Sheraton New York & Towers, Monday, January 8, 2007
We are losing our nation to a philosophy of war and destruction. It is time for policies of peace and construction. It is time for the philosophy of peace, nonviolence and economic justice. This was the philosophy of Dr. King, Gandhi, Jesus, Fredrick Douglas, A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, Fannie Lou Hamer, Sojourner Truth, Cesar Chavez, and Jesse Jackson.
We are all united with the philosophy which birthed the New Deal, the New Frontier, the Great Society, the dreams of social and economic justice which could be called forth by those who were ready to stand up, to speak out, to march, to demand, to testify about the good news:
Passing the grim marker of 3,000 U.S. troops killed in Iraq briefly focused Americans’ attention on the war. But we live in a big country with lots of malls.
To be sure, the death of 3,000 soldiers is tragic and sickening, yet we are a nation of over 300 million and most families have not lost a loved one. Even with some 32,000 G.I.’s requiring medical evacuation for wounds, most Americans still do not personally know a casualty of this war.
But what if our fellow citizens were killed and wounded at the same rate as people in Iraq? Here’s the math.
Last fall the British medical journal “Lancet” published a study done by researchers from Johns Hopkins University estimating that the midrange number of Iraqis dead “as a consequence of the war” was about 2.5 percent of that country’s population, or roughly 655,000 people. Over 90% of those died from violence.
To be sure, the death of 3,000 soldiers is tragic and sickening, yet we are a nation of over 300 million and most families have not lost a loved one. Even with some 32,000 G.I.’s requiring medical evacuation for wounds, most Americans still do not personally know a casualty of this war.
But what if our fellow citizens were killed and wounded at the same rate as people in Iraq? Here’s the math.
Last fall the British medical journal “Lancet” published a study done by researchers from Johns Hopkins University estimating that the midrange number of Iraqis dead “as a consequence of the war” was about 2.5 percent of that country’s population, or roughly 655,000 people. Over 90% of those died from violence.
“Your constituents will no longer allow you to fund the warfare, to send our daughters and sons, or to participate in the death.”
On Friday, January 5, at 9:30 am, on the sidewalk in front of Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s office at 1 Maritime Plaza, members of the NW Ohio Peace Coalition will hold a news conference prior to delivering to her the 3,000 lights they held up along Summit, Jefferson, and Madison Streets on New Year’s Eve. The lights were displayed to memorialize the 3,000 U.S. troops killed in Iraq to that date.
Accompanying the lights will be a letter (below), written by Peggy Daly-Masternak and authorized by the NWOPC steering committee, explaining the significance of the 875-foot strand of bulbs.
On Friday, January 5, at 9:30 am, on the sidewalk in front of Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s office at 1 Maritime Plaza, members of the NW Ohio Peace Coalition will hold a news conference prior to delivering to her the 3,000 lights they held up along Summit, Jefferson, and Madison Streets on New Year’s Eve. The lights were displayed to memorialize the 3,000 U.S. troops killed in Iraq to that date.
Accompanying the lights will be a letter (below), written by Peggy Daly-Masternak and authorized by the NWOPC steering committee, explaining the significance of the 875-foot strand of bulbs.
On New Year’s Eve, from 6 to 7 pm, dozens of Toledoans will mark the terrible total of U.S. deaths in Iraq by silently holding 3,000 lights on Summit St., between Jefferson and Madison.
"We hold three thousand lights to give that number a visual impact but how can anyone visualize tens of thousands of wounded and the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis?" asked Mary Anthony, a Toledo member of Military Families Speak Out. Her son will return to Iraq in February for his second deployment.
Anthony added that "This New Year, the NW Ohio Peace Coalition and peace activists all over the country resolve to escalate our demands on Congress to end the occupation of Iraq and bring the troops home now. And that means Congress must cut off funding for this war."
When Representative Marcy Kaptur’s returns to her Toledo office, members of NWOPC will take the 3,000 lights to her asking that she take them to Washington with this message: "This is what 3,000 looks like. Bring our troops home. Stop the deaths. Stop the funding!"
"We hold three thousand lights to give that number a visual impact but how can anyone visualize tens of thousands of wounded and the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis?" asked Mary Anthony, a Toledo member of Military Families Speak Out. Her son will return to Iraq in February for his second deployment.
Anthony added that "This New Year, the NW Ohio Peace Coalition and peace activists all over the country resolve to escalate our demands on Congress to end the occupation of Iraq and bring the troops home now. And that means Congress must cut off funding for this war."
When Representative Marcy Kaptur’s returns to her Toledo office, members of NWOPC will take the 3,000 lights to her asking that she take them to Washington with this message: "This is what 3,000 looks like. Bring our troops home. Stop the deaths. Stop the funding!"
After nearly four years of war I’d wager that a few million Americans have held a candle at a vigil, carried a sign at a rally, passed out a flyer, forwarded an email to friends, or gone to a demonstration in a distant city. If you, Dear Reader, are one of these stout souls, this letter is to you.
But first, may I ask a favor? For the rest of this letter please forget that at least once during these years of protest you no doubt mourned that “only the choir” participated. The choir – people who actually do something for peace – is precisely who I’m writing to.
No doubt it’s frustrating that, except for a few grand occasions, “only the choir” shows up. But consider this: of the millions of women in the U.S. at the time, relatively few became active suffragists with the staying power to eventually get votes for women. Of the millions of workers suffering from the Great Depression, relatively few answered the call to sit down in the auto factories to win recognition for unions. Of the millions of blacks bearing the weight of segregation, relatively few sat down at lunch counters.
But first, may I ask a favor? For the rest of this letter please forget that at least once during these years of protest you no doubt mourned that “only the choir” participated. The choir – people who actually do something for peace – is precisely who I’m writing to.
No doubt it’s frustrating that, except for a few grand occasions, “only the choir” shows up. But consider this: of the millions of women in the U.S. at the time, relatively few became active suffragists with the staying power to eventually get votes for women. Of the millions of workers suffering from the Great Depression, relatively few answered the call to sit down in the auto factories to win recognition for unions. Of the millions of blacks bearing the weight of segregation, relatively few sat down at lunch counters.
Washington - This photo of condemned Iraqi ex-strongman Saddam Hussein amid exotic weapons of mass destruction, taken just before the liberation of Iraq, was released Saturday by the White House. Proclaiming that the long-awaited evidence of Saddam's deadly weaponry was now irrefutable, Presidential spokesman Tony Snow displayed the picture of Saddam with bow and arrows [read the original NY Times article] at a special briefing for the Washington press corp.