One Day of the Iraq War OR . . . . .

Are We Politicians or Citizens?

Howard Zinn
April 16, 2007

Howard Zinn is the author, most recently, of A Power Governments Cannot Suppress. This article was originally published in The Progressive.

As I write this, Congress is debating timetables for withdrawal from Iraq. In response to the Bush Administration’s “surge” of troops, and the Republicans’ refusal to limit our occupation, the Democrats are behaving with their customary timidity, proposing withdrawal, but only after a year, or eighteen months. And it seems they expect the anti-war movement to support them.

That was suggested in a recent message from MoveOn, which polled its members on the Democrat proposal, saying that progressives in Congress, “like many of us, don’t think the bill goes far enough, but see it as the first concrete step to ending the war.”

Ironically, and shockingly, the same bill appropriates $124 billion in more funds to carry the war. It’s as if, before the Civil War, abolitionists agreed to postpone the emancipation of the slaves for a year, or two years, or five years, and coupled this with an appropriation of funds to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act.

When a social movement adopts the compromises of legislators, it has forgotten its role, which is to push and challenge the politicians, not to fall in meekly behind them.
Read complete article

Opposing the Iraq Supplemental & Iran Threats | Institute for Policy Studies | 26 March 2007 | By Phyllis Bennis

The Congressional resolution passed last week gives Bush another $100 billion to continue the U.S. occupation of Iraq. That much is now guaranteed. The timelines and restrictions included in the bill – clearly responding to the strong public support for ending the war— were weakened almost to the disappearing point to allow the razor-thin vote. Very few of those toothless restrictions will likely make it into the final bill that must survive a super-majority in the Senate, a House-Senate conference committee, and a likely Bush veto.

But the effort to hold Congressmembers to their electoral mandate must be continued and ratcheted up, not abandoned, even as we look towards pressing alternative centers of power (city councils, state legislatures, mayors and governors, newspaper editorial boards, influential clergy, etc.) as instruments to pressure Congress from new directions.
Read complete article

In Washington: Congress debates war funding

Today, the House Appropriations Committee, under new leadership, will complete their work on approving an additional $100 billion for war. Then the entire House of Representatives will have a floor debate. This is a moment for the country to take another step toward peace.

Many groups and people from many walks of life are united in a simple message:

We want no further spending that keeps Iraqi civilians and U.S. troops in harm’s way. Instead, the U.S. should invest in diplomatic strategies, multilateralism, compensation for losses and injuries, and an Iraqi-led reconstruction. These are the first steps on what will be a difficult road to peace and stability in Iraq and the entire region.

Next week begins year five of the war and occupation of Iraq. Right now, we have a big moment to stand up for peace.

Please call your Representative today to ask him or her to replace the violence of the occupation with reconstruction. Also, insist on language that prevents the Bush Administration from attacking Iran without explicit Congressional approval. If we get the language impeding the Administration’s aggression toward Iran into the bill before it makes it to the House floor, we have a good chance to make a big statement.

Call your Representative today