[Antiracism] War makers: "Stay the course"; the People: "Stop the War!"

[Nick Camerota]

AN URGENT MESSAGE FROM THE TROOPS OUT NOW COALITION:
March 17, 2007 will mark the fourth anniversary of the illegal invasion of 
Iraq. We must organize, and the war makers must witness, a massive 
outpouring of outrage and opposition on the streets of Washington.

This important demonstration is only 13 weeks away. In that short time, we 
have to put hundreds of thousands of fliers, stickers, and posters into 
circulation. We must get the word out in schools, churches and mosques, 
union halls, community centers, and on the streets. Your help is urgently 
needed.

* TO VOLUNTEER IN WESTERN MASS., please email wmassiac at hotmail.com
* Read the national call for March 17
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/mar17.html>
* Endorse <http://troopsoutnow.org/mar17endorse.html
* Troops Out Now Coalition: Who We Are 
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/statements/whoweare.html>
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
[WMass version] A CLOSER LOOK AT THE BAKER-HAMILTON REPORT:
An analysis by the Troops Out Now Coalition of the Iraq Study Group's 
proposals, released by the Coalition on December 7, 2006
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Bush & Baker say, "Stay the course"; the people say, "Stop the War!" The 
Baker-Hamilton Commission isn't calling for an end to the U.S. military 
occupation of Iraq
------------------------------------------------
"Stay the course!" That's the message from both sides of the aisle coming 
out of Washington -- despite overwhelming global opposition to the war, 
despite the fact that the U.S. campaign to subjugate the people of Iraq has 
clearly failed, and despite the inability of Iraq's puppet government to 
secure even a few square blocks of downtown Baghdad.

BUSH DRAWS WRONG CONCLUSIONS

On November 17, President Bush was in Vietnam and used the occasion to 
proclaim the "lesson" he had drawn from the U.S. war against the people of 
Vietnam: "We'll succeed unless we quit." Bush drew the wrong conclusions 
from his study of history, but there are lessons the antiwar movement can 
learn from the struggle to end the war in Vietnam.

>From 1965 (when the U.S. first sent large numbers of combat troops to 
Vietnam) to 1973 (when the last troops left), there were two Presidential 
and two midterm elections. Control of the White House switched from one 
Party to the other. The war in Vietnam was the burning issue in all of those 
elections, and many voters looked to ballot box to end the war. Yet none of 
the elections had any impact on the determination of Washington and Wall 
Street to continue the brutal assault on the people of Vietnam.

It wasn't elections that ended the war -- it was resistance by the people of 
Vietnam, GIs refusing to fight, and a massive antiwar movement in the 
streets.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY DOUBLE CROSS

Many people went to the polls last month to vote against the war. The 
Democrats capitalized on the growing opposition to the war and the 
undeniable fact the crusade to colonize Iraq and control its oil reserves 
was falling apart. During the campaign they largely remained silent about 
their own plans, opportunistically cashing in on what was seen as a 
Republican failure.

Even though the war itself was not on the ballot, many felt a vote against 
the Republicans was a vote to end the occupation. Many hoped against hope 
the Democrats would do something they had not done in the past four years: 
finally taking bold action to end an illegal war.

Now that the Democrats have ridden antiwar sentiment into office, they have 
clearly signaled they have no intention of bringing the troops home. 
Suddenly, the talk is about how to strengthen the Iraqi puppet regime 
created by the occupation, so at some unspecified later date U.S. troop 
levels can be "drawn down."

Those who turned out in massive numbers to vote against the war are 
discovering they simply have another pro-war party in office. Democratic 
Party leaders like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer now say the U.S. 
can't just "cut and run." They have also announced they will vote to 
continue funding the war, which is costing more than $2 billion a week. Rep. 
Silvestre Reyes, the soon-to-be chairman of the House Intelligence 
Committee, wants to increase the number of troops in Iraq by 20,000 to 
30,000.

These Democrats don't oppose the idea the U.S. has a right to invade a 
country and steal its resources. Instead they believe Bush has mismanaged 
the occupation and that they can do a better job.

THE IRAQIFICATION OF THE OCCUPATION?

Those who hoped the much heralded Baker-Hamilton Commission report would 
provide some road map to ending the war were sorely disappointed. This was 
never the Commission's purpose: the study group was set up to co-opt 
dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war while attempting to justify the 
continued occupation.

The release of this report is a tactic to attempt to re-sell the war to the 
public with a bipartisan facade. In their introduction, its authors made it 
clear the report has more to do with managing public opinion than any 
significant change in policy toward Iraq: "Success depends on unity of the 
American people at a time of political polarization ... Foreign policy is 
doomed to failure -- as is any action in Iraq -- if not supported by broad, 
sustained consensus."

In his remarks, Commission Co-chair James Baker said that "stay the course" 
is no longer an option. However, what Baker and Hamilton propose is 
essentially a continuation of what Bush is already doing  -- trying to 
reduce the number of U.S. casualties by moving troops off the front lines 
while continuing the occupation indefinitely.

The Iraq Study Group proposes a switch to training the Iraqi puppet army, 
providing it with increased U.S. air, artillery, and other military support. 
This strategy sounds remarkably like the "Vietnamization" outlined by 
President Nixon in 1970, a policy that was similarly designed to dampen 
massive opposition to the war, while allowing it to continue for another 
three years and thousands of more casualties.

Buried within the report -- and not discussed by the corporate media -- is 
the recommendation that all of Iraq's oil reserves be completely privatized. 
Almost four years into the occupation, the goal remains the same. It was 
never about weapons of mass destruction or democracy. This war has always 
been about obtaining control of Iraqi oil and recolonzing the region.

The Baker report places all of the blame for violence in Iraq on "sectarian 
conflict," ignoring the fact the occupation itself is the source of 
violence. The first step toward ending the violence is the removal of all 
occupying forces from Iraq.

THE PEOPLE MUST STOP THE WAR

Politicians will not end the occupation of Iraq. History shows us that only 
massive protests in the streets will stop the war.

More than 600,000 Iraqis have been killed and nearly 3,000 U.S. soldiers 
have died. The Pentagon is spending $2 billion dollars a week on the war. 
This money should be funding jobs at a living wage, healthcare, education, 
and rebuilding the Gulf Coast.

We must stop this war -- not another dollar, not another casualty, not one 
more day. No timetables, no more Commissions, no waiting for another 
election. We must take to the streets in unprecedented numbers and force 
them to bring the troops home now.

* TO VOLUNTEER IN WESTERN MASS., please email wmassiac at hotmail.com
_____________________________________________
SENT BY the Western Mass. Organizing Committee of the INTERNATIONAL ACTION 
CENTER/Troops Out Now Coalition
wmassiac at hotmail.com
http://www.IACenter.org
http://www.PeopleJudgeBush.org
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