It's Time To Draw A Line In The Sand In Iraq
NOW IS THE TIME TO RALLY AROUND THE INITIATIVE TO GET OUT OF IRAQ
The most remarkable thing about the Petraeus coached testimony on the status of the failed occupation of Iraq was Republican senators using their hearing time to TESTIFY THEMSELVES about the good news and wonderful progress there. Why was he even there if only to have words put in his mouth, not just by the White House but by Congress itself? According to every impartial judge, like the GAO, the truth is that there has been NO reduction in violence and the situation continues to deteriorate.
OUT OF IRAQ ACTION PAGE:
http://www.usalone.com/out_of_iraq.php
But finally now, at least in the House, there is a growing movement to finally have Congress put its foot down and say no more. As of today, 81 members of the House of Representatives have signed on to a letter drafted by Out of Iraq Caucus Chairs Reps. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Maxine Waters (D-CA), to the White House, declaring that they will appropriate no more funds for this war except to redeploy and protect our troops.
This is the best opportunity we've had so far to rally around an initiative, to thank those who have already joined in, and to encourage all others to sign on as well.
There can be absolutely no doubt that when we speak out in sufficient numbers, Congress ACTS. This was proven yet again a small while back when a million people (many perhaps not even citizens) demonstrated against an immigration bill, and within 24 hours it was dead on arrival in the Senate. Who could witness that and seriously maintain that Congress won't listen to us? Any such thought is a insidious lie, promoted only by sad defeatists and those who would con us out of our own participatory democracy.
OUR VOICES DO COUNT WHEN WE USE THEM!
As demonstrated by the recent drop of the popularity of Congress ANOTHER 3 points to 11 percent (in a passively conducted poll), you are not alone in being dissatisfied or even angry about what's going on in Washington. At the rate they are going they may have a ZERO percent popularity rating by Christmas. But what most of the currently remaining 89 percent have NOT yet done is SPEAK OUT ACTIVELY to demand policy change. That is the only thing that moves Congress. They know how unhappy we are. They are just waiting for enough of us to tell them what to DO.
OUT OF IRAQ ACTION PAGE:
http://www.usalone.com/out_of_iraq.php
So even if you are already speaking out, and we are asking ALL of our participants to make it their particular mission to not only submit the action page in this alert, but please also use the friends section of that action page to invite everyone else you know to do the same thing. Only if we mobilize every possible voice can we expect Congress to comply with our demands, because until we MAKE that demand in larger numbers there is nothing for them to be expected to comply with.
Time and again we heard Democrats last week calling for Republicans to have the courage to vote for the end of the occupation. But where is THEIR courage to cut off funding, except for the purposes of ending an occupation that can never succeed? There is NO courage that does not come from us, from our voices telling them they have more to fear in the coming primary and general elections from an angry electorate, than they have to fear from being called a name by a cable news TV talking fluff head.
WE MUST SPEAK FOR THE TROOPS WHO CANNOT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
Is there anything more despicable than members of Congress stuffing words in the mouths of our troops who are NOT allowed to speak out for themselves? Have you ever heard the military expression, "Permission to speak freely, sir?" Our military personal are PUNISHED for speaking out against this insane war policy. They are demoted, fired or worse. The chance of a member of Congress coming within 100 miles of a dissenting soldier in Iraq is about nil. In fact, when they visit the green zone talking points are even distributed about the "good news", to be spoon fed to gullible visitors.
So first they gag our troops, and then a senator tries to tell us they're all just saying, "Let us win." But to the contrary we know that if they were allowed permission to speak freely, abused as they are by multiple successive deployments, many of them grossly misused National Guard volunteers, they would overwhelmingly say, "Get us the hell out of here already!"
And soldier or not, nothing excuses the self-serving complicity of General Petraeus. He is known by his fellow officers as a bootlicking, ladder climber, who has collected his mounting stars with his willingness to act as a political operative for the White House, to promote their lies no matter how disreputable.
So when George Bush gets on TV, and exploits the grief of the survivors of our dead troops to say we have to continue sacrificing more of them, he is trying to lay on their shoulders responsibility for being INVESTED in his own sick mission. The only people invested in this policy are those who voted for it, and continue to defend it so shamelessly. And milking a captive audience of suffering loved ones for cheers for yet more vengeful blood lust is beneath contempt, even for a pathological demagogue.
AT LEAST 40 SENATORS ARE BEYOND REDEMPTION ON IRAQ
Some had hoped that enough Republican senators would come to their senses by September to turn around the Iraq policy. But instead we have seen no movement despite the self-evident and inevitable failure of the "surge", which was never a military strategy in the first place, only a marketing scheme to lull the American public into another year of a doomed occupation.
It is clear that at least 40 Republican senators will vote lockstep to the bitter, desolate end, the football analogy equivalent of a "Hail Mary" pass. We strongly suspect that even those who side with the Democrats long enough to get votes up in the high 50s would NOT do so if they thought the vote might actually succeed, for example as we saw Warner suddenly turn tail this week and reject a measure he had previously supported.
OUT OF IRAQ ACTION PAGE:
http://www.usalone.com/out_of_iraq.php
What this means is that the only way to stop the endless and escalating blood flood anytime soon is by refusing to appropriate any more money EXCEPT to bring the troops home. That does not take 67 votes in the Senate or even 60. It only takes 41 votes there and a majority in the House. We must bring maximum pressure on the House this week to take a stand to stop the insanity. They are all facing reelection next year. They all must understand that failing we the people AGAIN will make primary challenges a determined certainty in the first instance, and right behind that jeopardy of their chances in the general election.
It is not our job to advocate for or against a particular candidate. That is YOUR job, when that time comes.
BUT IN THE MEANTIME, IF YOU LIKE KUCINICH ON THE ISSUES LET HIM KNOW
We would be remiss not to ask who other than Dennis Kucinich has shown more courage to speak out against the Iraq disaster before it even started? If you are asking yourself what you can do to encourage Dennis to continue to stand strong on the ISSUES, why not make a contribution, if you are so motivated.
DENNIS KUCINICH CONTRIBUTIONS:
http://www.usalone.com/donations_kucinich.php
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this message to everyone else you know.
usalone117b:171672
Powered by The People's Email Network Copyright 2007, Patent pending, All rights reserved
