Levellers

Round-up: News on Iraq, War, & Peace

Yesterday, legal experts testified before Congress, saying that Congress DOES have the authority to stop the Iraq war. So, call, email, write your Congressperson and Senators and demand that they do so!

GOP leaders now fear that the war in Iraq could hurt Republicans for many years to come. This explains why GOP Senators cannot decide which non-binding resolution to support–since they want to seem loyal to the president and the troops and yet distance themselves from the president at the same time. (Democrats had similar problems following 9/11. No matter how disastrous Bush’s policies appeared to them, they knew that disagreement looked unpatriotic. That bind hurt them in 2002 and 2004, until opposition to the war became overwhelming.)
This is also why Republicans’ best hope for the White House in 2008 may be Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), decorated Vietnam Vet, conservative on both abortion and fiscal policies, but the fiercest GOP critic of the war. He could probably beat Hillary since she is so wishy-washy on the war, the biggest issue of our time. No other GOP candidate so far could beat ANYONE on the Democratic side.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), has introduced legislation for a phased withdrawal from Iraq that would have all U.S. troops out by March 2008. That is much less radical than the 6 month withdrawal proposed by Reps. Lynne Woolsey (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Barbara Lee (D-CA), but it might have a better chance of getting approval by both houses of congress–perhaps even in large enough numbers to override a veto. It also strengthens Obama’s credentials with peace voters since it is now one of the strongest positions by a Democratic political candidate: Sens. Clinton(D-NY) and Biden (D-NJ) have only proposed capping troop levels with no timetable for withdrawal; Former Sen. Edwards (D-NC) has proposed an immediate withdrawal of 500,000 troops, but has set no deadline for the remainder. Two proposals by Dem. candidates do go further: Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) wants a quick phased withdrawal that gets all troops out by the end of 2007. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has proposed a 6-month withdrawal similar to the Woolsey plan, but that is coupled with actions for a regional peace.

Meanwhile, Europeans believe Bush is planning to invade Iran. I say they have good reason for such fears. See the arguments for this view here, here, and here. I am especially persuaded by the reasoning of Scott Ritter, who writes the article in the last link. Ritter, you may remember, is the highly decorated U.S. Marine, a veteran of the first Gulf War, who was head of weapons inspections under the Clinton admin. and who completely poked holes in the U.S. case for invading Iraq this time around. The media teamed up with the Bush admin. to try to discredit Ritter, but everything he said has proven correct. We should listen to him now. (And he’d make a great National Security Advisor for any Democratic president who wants a cabinet different from the usual hacks.)

Congressional Switchboard: 1-800-839-5276 or 202-224-3121. Call and demand an exit from Iraq. Call every day until Congress does something.

January 31, 2007 Posted by Michael Westmoreland-White | Iraq, just peacemaking, U.S. politics | 6 Comments