Stop Being and Funding the Evil We Deplore. Work to deny Obama the $33 billion he's asking for.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/07-10

Published on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
Stop Being and Funding the Evil We Deplore
by Medea Benjamin

“Let us not become the evil we deplore”, warned Cong. Barbara Lee when she cast the lone vote against going to war in Afghanistan in September 2001. Well, it’s time to look in the mirror—and it’s not a pretty picture.

Just contemplate these two incidents, one that took place in Iraq in 2007 and has now gone viral on the internet, the other that took place in Gardaz, Afghanistan in February 2010.

Baghdad: U.S. aerial shooters chuckle as they let loose a torrent of bullets, killing over a dozen people, including two Reuters staff. Then they unleash another round on an Iraqi who—passing by in his van—tries to help the wounded. When the American soldiers discover they have hit two children in the van, they can be heard snorting, “It's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle.”

No one—from those who pulled the triggers to those who gave the okay—has been punished for the murder of these innocents. That’s because this blatant disregard for human life falls within the rules of engagement. And the only reason the incident came to light is thanks to Reuters for its persistence and to Wikileaks for procuring the footage and putting on their site.

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As Americans on conscience, we can’t stand by and allow these killings to continue. Here are some actions we should we be calling for:
--stop the air wars, including the deadly drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan;
--stop the night raids that sow terror and abuse;
--hold the soldiers and higher ups accountable for their actions, including General McChrystal;
--pressure Congress to hold hearings on these atrocities;
--organize teach-ins that educate the public and help build the anti-war movement.

These are all critical actions to engage in. But there is really only one way to stop the collateral murder by our military: stop the wars and bring our troops home. The Obama administration is now asking Congress for another $33 billion of our tax dollars for war. Enough is enough. These are wars we can’t afford, we can’t win, and we can’t condone on moral grounds. Call your representatives—202-224-3121—and tell them “No more money for war.” It’s time we stop being and funding the evil we deplore.

One of the only honest things he ever said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/congressional-pressure-ca_b_527230.html

In the next several weeks, Congress is likely to be asked to approve $33 billion more for the war in Afghanistan, mainly to pay for the current military escalation, whose focus is the planned assault on the Afghan city of Kandahar.

Some Members of Congress will vote no on the funding. A larger group of Members is likely to support efforts to pass language which would require an exit strategy or timetable for ending the war.

Barring some unforseen event - like Afghan President Karzai joining the Taliban - an extrapolation from the recent past would suggest that neither efforts to block the funding, nor efforts to constrain it with real conditions, are likely to be narrowly "successful" in the short-run: extrapolating from the past, the most likely short-run legislative outcome is that the war money will be approved without conditions attached that would significantly constrain the war. This is especially true if 95% of Congressional Republicans continue to vote as a bloc to support the war.

Nonetheless, the fight over the war supplemental is tremendously important, because Congressional pressure can move Administration policy, even when critics of Administration policy don't command a majority of votes. This is especially true when, as in this case, critics are in the majority in the President's own party, and when, as in this case, the policy under pressure is an international policy which is also under significant international pressure.

A majority of House Democrats are already on the record as saying that the Administration should provide Congress and the American people with an exit strategy. Last summer, the majority of House Democrats voted for Representative McGovern's amendment which would have required the Pentagon to present Congress with an exit strategy by the end of the year. McGovern's amendment failed to become law, but its demand for an exit strategy was reflected in President Obama's subsequent announcement that U.S. troops would begin drawing down from Afghanistan in July 2011.

more...

BRINGING back the draft! And that was a HORRIBLE TIME, make no mistake! But it FINALLY made people WAKE UP!!

I even married my husband to keep him from being drafted way back when, and then I PROTESTED too!! But the protests of today go unheeded unless they come from the likes of TEA-BAGGERS!!

Even with ALL the evidence and information that has been shown and confirmed, we remain mired down in quagmires!!

http://blog.timesunion.com/wagingpeace/april-fools-in-afghanistan/1503/

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Perhaps the most important question for us is: Will US taxpayers be the real April fools? Will we sit back as Congress decides later this month whether to approve a huge $33 billion supplemental budget for the Afghan War? Without these funds, surely the US would have to rethink the Kandahar invasion and start listening to the Afghan leaders who increasingly seem to feel that the carnage of this war will end through power-sharing negotiations, not more fighting.

nt