[Vision2020] Stand Up Against The Surge (Molly Ivins)

[Tom Hansen]

>From "Creators: A Syndicate of Talent" at www.Creators.com -

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Stand Up Against the Surge
By Molly Ivins

The purpose of this old-fashioned newspaper crusade to stop the war is not
to make George W. Bush look like the dumbest president ever. People have
done dumber things. What were they thinking when they bought into the Bay of
Pigs fiasco? How dumb was the Egypt-Suez war? How massively stupid was the
entire war in Vietnam? Even at that, the challenge with this misbegotten
adventure is that WE simply cannot let it continue.

It is not a matter of whether we will lose or we are losing. We have lost.
Gen. John P. Abizaid, until recently the senior commander in the Middle
East, insists that the answer to our problems there is not military. "You
have to internationalize the problem. You have to attack it diplomatically,
geo-strategically," he said.

His assessment is supported by Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American
commander in Iraq, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who only recommend
releasing forces with a clear definition of the goals for the additional
troops.

Bush's call for a "surge" or "escalation" also goes against the Iraq Study
Group. Talk is that the White House has planned to do anything but what the
group suggested after months of investigation and proposals based on much
broader strategic implications.

About the only politician out there besides Bush actively calling for a
surge is Sen. John McCain. In a recent opinion piece, he wrote: "The
presence of additional coalition forces would allow the Iraqi government to
do what it cannot accomplish today on its own - impose its rule throughout
the country. ... By surging troops and bringing security to Baghdad and
other areas, we will give the Iraqis the best possible chance to succeed."
But with all due respect to the senator from Arizona, that ship has long
since sailed.

A surge is not acceptable to the people in this country - we have voted
overwhelmingly against this war in polls (about 80 percent of the public is
against escalation, and a recent Military Times poll shows only 38 percent
of active military want more troops sent) and at the polls. 
We know this is wrong. The people understand, the people have the right to
make this decision, and the people have the obligation to make sure our will
is implemented.

Congress must work for the people in the resolution of this fiasco. Ted
Kennedy's proposal to control the money and tighten oversight is a welcome
first step. And if Republicans want to continue to rubber-stamp this
administration's idiotic "plans" and go against the will of the people, they
should be thrown out as soon as possible, to join their recent colleagues.

Anyone who wants to talk knowledgably about our Iraq misadventure should
pick up Rajiv Chandrasekaran's "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside
Iraq's Green Zone." It's like reading a horror novel. You just want to put
your face down and moan: How could we have let this happen? How could we
have been so stupid?

As The Washington Post's review notes, Chandrasekaran's book "methodically
documents the baffling ineptitude that dominated U.S. attempts to influence
Iraq's fiendish politics, rebuild the electrical grid, privatize the
economy, run the oil industry, recruit expert staff or instill a modicum of
normalcy to the lives of Iraqis."

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every
single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some
action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the
ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying
to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge.
If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on Jan. 27. We need people
in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!"

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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"Seldom, if ever, has a war ended leaving the victors with such a sense of
uncertainty and fear -- with such a realization that the future is obscure
and that survival is not assured."

- Edward R. Murrow

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