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Petraeus – What Goes Unsaid

Petraeus – What Goes Unsaid

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What Crocker and Petraeus Didn’t Say – CommonDreams.org

The Iraq Study Group Implementation Act of 2007

Pentagon Slides Shows 50,000 US troops still in Iraq in 2011


Mission Accomplished? Nope

CNN Poll: September Iraq Report Irrelevant To Views of War

An overwhelming majority of Iraqis believe that security has deteriorated across the country, despite the US military surge, according to an opinion poll carried out in all 18 provinces.

Despite Bush’s repeated statements that the report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, administration officials said it would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government.

Do you still remember that General Petraeus was the one who said that Saddam had mobile weapons labs when he knew those vehicles were weather balloon stations?

Take Action to Oppose Iraq Escalation

Take Action to Oppose Iraq Escalation

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“Everything we do here is on the defense. Any troops increase over here – they will just be more sitting ducks, more targets.” – Army Sergeant Ronn Cantu, serving his second tour in Iraq.

Get informed, and take action to oppose escalation in Iraq. The war – it isn’t “really” a war, and yet Bush has assumed war powers – is wrong. No “surge” of troops, no bloody sacrificial sop to Bush’s pride can be acceptable to informed Americans.

Sign at least a couple of the petitions, send emails to your representatives, participate in local events, write to your local newspaper or television news station.

Search for local events at America Says No.org (True Majority, Democracy in Action).

Sign the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Petition

Dear President Bush,

On Election Day, America spoke with one voice about its desire to end the war in Iraq. In the weeks and months since, members of Congress from both parties have urged you to heed the will of our nation and propose real change. Regrettably you have chosen to ignore the will of the American people. Concern about your escalation strategy is non-partisan. It is opposed by Democrats, it is opposed by Republicans, it is opposed by top military leaders, and it is opposed by an overwhelming majority of the American people.

Democrats, Republicans and the bipartisan Iraq Study Group have all offered you a roadmap to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis, begin the phased redeployment of American troops and end our open-ended commitment to Iraq. America doesn’t need another White House P.R. campaign — we need a real change of course in Iraq.

United for Peace March on Washington to End the War, January 27th.

10 Reasons Why the US Must Leave Iraq

Teddy Kennedy sums it up pretty well:

The President’s decision to send more American troops into the cauldron of civil war is not an acceptable strategy. It is against the advice of his own generals, the Iraq Study Group, and the wishes of the American people and will only compound our original mistake in going to war in Iraq.

…The mission of our armed forces today in Iraq no longer bears any resemblance to the mission authorized by Congress in 2002. The Iraq War Resolution authorized a war against the regime of Saddam Hussein because he was believed to have weapons of mass destruction, an operational relationship with Al Qaeda, and was in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolutions.

Not one member of Congress would have voted in favor of it they thought they were sending American troops into a civil war.

The President owes it to the American people to seek approval for this new mission from Congress. Congress should no longer be a rubber stamp for the President’s failed strategy, and should insist on a policy that is worthy of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform.

We have been irresponsible in allowing Bush to act like a King. It’s not the President’s decision anymore. It’s ours.

Senator Kennedy has introduced legislation that makes the issue plain. It states that any substantial new commitment in Iraq requires a plan from the administration and explicit authorization from Congress.

Add your name to the petition in support of Senator Kennedy’s legislation.

Least Immoral Choice in Iraq

Least Immoral Choice in Iraq

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We still haven’t heard an answer to the basic question: for what “noble cause” have we invaded Iraq?

Are we in Iraq just to secure the oil for the energy companies that get so much support of every kind from the US government?

Not to be a party pooper or anything, but what about the death and pain and chaos and suffering? What is the reason for the sacrifices of U.S. and other allied soldiers? What is the justification for the thousands killed on every side?

For what reason have we punched the hornet’s nest in Iraq?

For what are we going into further, almost unthinkable debt?

How much longer will we turn away from the reality?

Declare war, or cut executive powers of war.

Argue for oil interests, or stop killing for them. You can’t tell me that we don’t have permanent bases along the pipeline.

Don’t send thousands more Americans out there. How does that help anything at all?

I’m just waiting for the someone to start making comparisons between the executions of Saddam and Jesus. USA Pilate and Judas, all mixed into one. Yeah, we made him, and we’ll make sure he’s hung like a witch… start the taunting…

Look! Look at reality. This is not a movie.

Wake up, America. Your future is being stolen from you, too.

The thing I remember most vividly is the soldiers screaming in pain and crying out for their mothers. My mother went up and down the aisles holding their hands, stroking their brows, giving them sips of water. My sister helped light their cigarettes. Many of them were amputees. Some had no stomachs, some had no faces. …

I hope that when President Bush discusses sending more troops to Iraq, knowing that we will have to pull out sooner rather than later, that the conversation comes around to the human suffering. Does anyone at the table ask about the personal anguish, the long-term effects, emotional, psychological and financial, on the families of those killed, wounded or permanently disabled?

When I hear about the surge, all I can think of is those young soldiers on the plane to Texas. We have already lost more than 3,000 soldiers, and many more have been wounded and disabled.

We have three choices here. All three are immoral. We can keep the status quo and gradually pull out; we can surge; or we can pull out now. When I think about those young soldiers on that plane coming back from Japan years ago, I believe pulling out now is the least immoral choice.

from The Least Immoral Choice: Squander No More U.S. Lives in Iraq
By Sally Quinn
(Washington Post Tuesday, January 9, 2007; Page A15)
(Sally Quinn is a co-moderator of On Faith, an online conversation on religion.)