[North-NV-Greens] Fwd: Groups Preparing New Push Against Iraq War

Sat Feb 19 22:24:04 PST 2005

>
>
>Washington Post
>February 18, 2005
>
>Groups Preparing New Push Against Iraq War
>
>Invasion Anniversary Next Month Is Date Of
>Campaign Kickoff
>
>By Evelyn Nieves Washington Post Staff Writer
>
>On Feb. 15, 2003, as millions of people worldwide took
>to the streets to protest the imminent U.S. invasion of
>Iraq, Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Hoffman was in Kuwait,
>awaiting deployment to Baghdad.
>
>Two years later, Hoffman, 25, is a civilian on the
>lecture circuit, introducing himself as an Iraq Veteran
>Against the War. On March 19, when war opponents plan
>to converge near Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., to
>mark the date of the invasion, Hoffman, who co-founded
>the Iraq veterans group, will be one of the lead
>speakers.
>
>"I disagreed with the war before I went over," said
>Hoffman, the son of a steelworker from Allentown, Pa.
>"But now, I can talk about the reality of war -- what
>it's really like, the lack of support the troops have,
>the civilians being killed. The biggest problem with
>Iraq right now is the occupation."
>
>Along with Gold Star Families for Peace, which is made
>up of people who have lost loved ones in Iraq, Iraq
>Veterans Against the War holds a powerful claim among
>peace groups as ones who can speak from experience
>about the consequences of the war. Together, they will
>be front and center among the scores of peace groups
>that are hoping to keep the war -- and its
>repercussions -- in the public consciousness.
>
>Peace groups have been relatively quiet in recent
>months, especially after President Bush's reelection.
>But antiwar leaders say they are on the verge of
>reemerging. Leaders of dozens of peace groups plan to
>meet in St. Louis this weekend to plot strategies for a
>new push against the war, from ad campaigns to long-
>term, grass-roots organizing. They plan to use March 19
>and 20, the anniversary weekend of the war's start, as
>the beginning of an all-out effort to convince the
>public that the best course for Americans and Iraqis is
>for the war to end and the troops to come home.
>
>"We're just in the beginning of this process; until
>recently, there hasn't been any conversation about
>ending the war," said Andrea Buffa, a spokeswoman for
>United for Peace and Justice, an umbrella group of more
>than 800 antiwar organizations.
>
>In a way, the antiwar groups' task is easier than it
>was before the U.S. invasion, when the idea of then-
>Iraqi President Saddam Hussein attacking the United
>States with weapons of mass destruction convinced many
>people that a preemptive strike was necessary. Polls
>show that support for the war has eroded as its cost in
>lives, the economy and the social fabric of communities
>throughout the nation has climbed.
>
>Politicians from both major parties want to know if
>there is an exit strategy. The Jan. 30 elections in
>Iraq bolstered support for the war, but Sen. Chuck
>Hagel (R-Neb.), a member of the Foreign Relations and
>intelligence committees, said the elections, while
>significant, did not change the fact that the war is
>forcing great sacrifices for the United States and
>Iraq.
>
>"Americans need to see more tangible, meaningful
>developments to answer whether the sacrifice is worth
>it," Hagel told the Associated Press after Iraqis
>voted. "Over 1,400 Americans are dead, 11,000 are
>wounded, and we've spent over $100 billion. Is that
>sacrifice worth what we're getting?"
>
>Antiwar organizers say that as dialogue about an exit
>strategy builds, part of their task is to keep
>reminding the public that the administration's
>rationale for invading Iraq was wrong -- that Iraq had
>no weapons of mass destruction or working relationship
>with al Qaeda.
>
>"The fact that we're now seeing in Congress resolutions
>calling for the first steps towards bringing the troops
>home is an indication that that's no longer a sideline
>extreme position," said Phyllis Bennis of the Institute
>for Policy Studies here.
>
>The institute, a progressive think tank, had sponsored
>a "cities for peace" campaign in which 165 cities
>nationwide adopted resolutions opposing the U.S.
>invasion. Now it is sponsoring a similar campaign for
>cities to pass resolutions to bring the U.S. troops
>back.
>
>But while a majority of Americans say that the invasion
>of Iraq was not worth it, the public is divided over
>whether pulling U.S. troops out while Iraq is in
>turmoil is the right thing to do.
>
>"In terms of withdrawing, we see a lot of tension
>between those who feel that pulling out is right and
>those who don't," said Eli Pariser, executive director
>of MoveOn.org, which became one of the most prominent
>antiwar groups leading up to the invasion. While
>MoveOn.org is a member of one of the largest antiwar
>coalitions, Win Without War, it is now focusing its
>energies on the Social Security debate and other
>domestic concerns, Pariser said.
>
>Leaders of the largest antiwar groups say that
>garnering massive support for the withdrawal of troops
>will require a massive education effort. While groups
>will still organize rallies marking important
>benchmarks, they say, the large public protests seen
>before the war are giving way to a more focused energy.
>The new strategy might be called think nationally, act
>locally.
>
>"It's not enough for us to say, 'Come to us'; we have
>to go to the people," Bennis said. "We have to convince
>people that the U.S. troops are the problem, not the
>solution. As long as they're there, they're providing
>the largest direct target and the largest indirect
>target. But it doesn't mean that pulling out the troops
>is the end of our obligation. We owe a huge debt to
>Iraq. We owe reparations."
>
>Many groups are planning teach-ins and forums in
>colleges, churches and community centers. Win Without
>War, with members such as the NAACP and the National
>Council of Churches, is planning to lobby Congress
>intensively to encourage an examination of the costs of
>the war. Again, that involves organizing public
>support. "Politicians act when they see a groundswell,"
>said Tom Andrews, national director of Win Without War
>and a former Democratic representative from Maine.
>
>Military Families Speak Out, an antiwar group launched
>in November 2002 for families whose loved ones were
>being deployed to Iraq, is planning a campaign that
>asks elected officials to look at the impact of the war
>on communities.
>
>"We would like to have state legislators begin to have
>hearings on the impact of the war," said Charley
>Richardson, who founded Military Families Speak Out
>with his wife, Nancy Lessin.
>
>"We think that the war is an issue for politicians on
>all levels. . . . One thing we know is that the
>National Guard is disproportionately composed of police
>officers, EMTs, firefighters and other first
>responders," Richardson added. "Family and community
>structures are not set up for the kind of deployment
>that these people in the Guard are enduring. The idea
>of 18-month deployments, and now they're talking about
>two-year deployments, is devastating. . . . This is an
>underground impact of this war that is incredibly
>significant and needs to be discussed."
>
>(c) 2005 The Washington Post Company
>
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32902-2005Feb17.html
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-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand