[statecom-discuss] New Talking Points on the Iraq Supplemental Bill & WAR CASUALTY WEBSITE

[Mike Heichman]

Hi State Comm

FYI from Chuck Turner

Mike Heichman


Fowlkes, Lorraine wrote:

> _Welcome to the Chuck Turner Daylight Network_:**
>
> *The Antidote For The Apathetic*
>
> *PLEASE PASS THIS ON.*
>
> * *
>
> *CONTENTS*
>
> 1. Heroes & Hypocrites: Black Caucus Shattered on Iraq.
>
> 2. TALKING POINTS ON THE IRAQ SUPPLEMENTAL BILL & WAR CASUALTY WEBSITE
>
> *DETALS BELOW*
>
> * *
>
> ======================================================================================
>
> *1.* *Heroes and Hypocrites: Black Caucus Shattered on Iraq *
>
> ======================================================================================
>
> CBC Watch - CBC Monitor Update
>
> Wednesday, 28 March 2007
>
> by BAR Managing Editor Bruce Dixon
>
> Black Agenda Report
>
> http://www.blackagendareport..com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=163&Itemid=39 
> <http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=163&Itemid=39>
>
> More than two-thirds of the Congressional Black Caucus signed on as 
> members of the Out of Iraq Caucus, but when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 
> and her Democratic corporate cohorts turned up the fire, all but four 
> melted into the mass of hypocrisy that joined the U.S.
>
> war machine while pretending to resist it. The heroes are mostly 
> heroines: Reps. Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, Diane Watson, and the only 
> man in the bunch, John Lewis. The collapse of the CBC is not a 
> morality play, but the story of a power play. The lesson: the CBC will 
> not stand up to Power, and is a politically spent force as presently 
> constituted. The same must be said of the Congressional Progressive 
> Caucus, only four of whose non-Black members stuck by their guns.
>
> *Heroes and Hypocrites: Black Caucus Shattered on Iraq*
>
> by BAR Managing Editor Bruce Dixon
>
> "National Democratic party leaders hope to conduct the same "hopeful", 
> nonspecific and vaguely oppositional national campaign as in 2006, 
> reaping antiwar Democratic votes for pro-war Democratic candidates"
>
> George Bush predicted more than a year ago that no matter who won the 
> 2006 mid-term election, withdrawal from Iraq will be the next 
> president's problem, not his. Few Bush predictions on Iraq have come true.
>
> But last week Congressional Democrats made a prophet out of the 
> Republican president.
>
> From all the gloating, backslapping and high-fiving in the House of 
> Representatives last Friday afternoon, a casual viewer might imagine 
> Democrats had pulled off some decisive stroke against the Bush 
> regime's unjust and illegal war on Iraq. In fact, they did not.
>
> What House Democrats actually did was pass a special budget bill 
> giving George Bush every dollar he requested for the wars in Iraq and 
> Afghanistan, plus a few billion extra, and little more for vets health 
> care, with a few tens or hundreds of millions worth of legislative 
> pork on the side to secure the votes of reluctant Democrats on each 
> flank. The "withdrawal measures" in the Democrat-approved war budget 
> are unenforceable suggestions, a patchwork of loopholes held together 
> by the empty pretense that President Bush and the Pentagon will not 
> lie to us.
>
> First, the "withdrawal" suggestions in the supplemental war budget 
> don't apply to any military personnel the president certifies are 
> engaged in "training" Iraqis or fighting insurgents, or those who 
> guard the US embassy and America's city within a city, the Green Zone. 
> Entire battalions have already been certified as "trainers" by the 
> stroke of a Pentagon pen.
>
> Second, Democratic "withdrawal" suggestions do not apply to the 
> 100,000 or more Pentagon-paid mercenary troops, who are believed to 
> have sustained more than a thousand dead, several thousand casualties, 
> and inflicted their share of the monstrous Iraqi death toll.
>
> Third, the withdrawal suggestions only kick in if and when the 
> president "certifies" Iraq's puppet government and its forces are 
> "ready to stand on their own", whatever that means;
>
> And fourth, the suggested deadline for beginning - not ending, but 
> beginning the partial, conditional and suggested withdrawal of US 
> armed forces from Iraq, if it ever happens, is March 2008. Until then 
> Democratic House leaders have granted the president a free, 
> unobstructed, and bloody hand to continue his genocidal war against 
> the peoples of Iraq, Afghanistan, and perhaps Iran.
>
> "A casual viewer might imagine Democrats had pulled off some decisive 
> stroke against the Bush regime's unjust and illegal war on Iraq. In 
> fact, they did not."
>
> All the so-called "withdrawal" measures in the House - approved war 
> budget are empty theatre, concealing the boundless hypocrisy of 
> Democratic party leaders. Like Abe Lincoln, who is said to have been 
> willing to let slavery be if that's what it took to preserve the 
> union, Nancy Pelosi and her team cynically chose to leave untouched 
> both the Iraqi and Afghan wars themselves, and their overarching 
> justification, the imaginary "war on terror" in place for the 
> remainder of the Bush Administration, as their surest hope of gaining 
> the White House in 08 without having to do anything in particular to 
> deserve it. Military necessity, however compelled Union armies and 
> President Lincoln first to free the slaves, and soon afterward to 
> grant freedmen seats in postwar southern state legislatures.
>
> Democratic party leaders have utterly betrayed Democratic voters, and 
> granted the Bush-Cheney administration's parting wish. The current 
> wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the next one in Iran, and the phony "war 
> on terror" which justifies wars of choice anywhere on the planet are 
> bipartisan affairs now.
>
> With the help of the same corporate media that sold the war and the 
> climate of fear, national Democratic party leaders hope to conduct the 
> same "hopeful", nonspecific and vaguely oppositional national campaign 
> as in 2006, reaping antiwar Democratic votes for pro- war Democratic 
> candidates, including a pro-war Democrat for president. It worked last 
> year. They think they can do it again.
>
> Perhaps the unfolding defeat of American arms in Iraq or the coming 
> expansion of the war to Iran will force Democrats to move beyond 
> symbolic poses of opposition, but it doesn't look promising. In a 
> possible response to Dick Cheney's latest assertion that all options 
> are still on the table concerning Iran, and recent incidents including 
> a US raid on an Iranian consulate in northern Iraq, Team Pelosi 
> removed provisions from their "no blank checks for the president" war 
> budget requiring him to consult with Congress before attacking Iran. 
> Meanwhile corporate mainstream media incessantly and uncritically 
> repeat Pelosi's breathtakingly false claim that Congressional 
> Democrats have finally stood up, doing their part to insulate pro-war 
> congressional Democrats from antiwar Democratic voters, and the 
> American public from the truth.
>
> There was an alternative proposal on the table. Introduced by Lynn 
> Woosely and Maxine Waters of California, both co-founders of the Out 
> of Iraq Caucus, the "Bring Our Troops Home and Sovereignty of Iraq 
> Restoration Act" would have required, not requested all US military 
> personnel, mercenaries and other contractors to come home within 6 
> months, prohibited the construction of permanent US military bases and 
> the US theft of Iraqi oil, and expanded the level of present day 
> veterans health care benefits to match those enjoyed by previous 
> generations. The Waters-Woosely bill had attracted about 70 
> co-sponsors in the House, and if members had been allowed to vote on 
> it, would have received about a hundred votes.
>
> But the corporate media would not explain its provisions to the 
> public, and misrepresented the measures put forth by Democratic 
> leaders as the only "practical" alternative. MoveOn.org followed 
> Democratic leaders on this one, pushing out a misleading poll of a 
> tiny fraction of its membership that Team Pelosi used to sway 
> reluctant members of the Out of Iraq Caucus, the Congressional 
> Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus. In the end, the 
> war appropriation with its suggested and conditional withdrawal 
> provisions passed the House of Representatives by the slimmest 
> possible margin. When the margin is slim, every vote counts.
>
> The Congressional Black Caucus and the Out of Iraq Caucus
>
> The Progressive Caucus and the Out of Iraq Caucus, whose memberships 
> largely overlap, proved unwilling or unable to resist pressure from 
> Democratic House leadership to strike the opposition pose while giving 
> Bush the free hand in Iraq for another year. The members of the 
> Congressional Black Caucus listed below, who make up more than a third 
> of the House Out of Iraq caucus once again proved the near uselessness 
> of the CBC as presently constituted.
>
> Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.)
>
> Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.)
>
> Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.)
>
> Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.)
>
> Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.)
>
> Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.)
>
> Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.)
>
> Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.)
>
> Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.)
>
> Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas)
>
> Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.)
>
> Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas)
>
> Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio)
>
> Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.)
>
> Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.)
>
> Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.)
>
> Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.)
>
> Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.)
>
> Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.)
>
> Rep. Ed Towns (D-N.Y.)
>
> Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.)
>
> Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Co-Founder
>
> Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), Co-Founder
>
> This is doubly shameful, as the black electorates who sent these 
> members to DC are among the most antiwar and reliably progressive in 
> the nation. For whatever reason, those listed above failed to do what 
> voters sent them to DC last year - meaningfully oppose the illegal, 
> unjust war in Iraq. House Judiciary Chair John Conyers, should be all 
> but invulnerable, but he knuckled under. Bobby Rush was reported by 
> C-SPAN to have been persuaded to switch his vote for some large slice 
> of legislative pork at the last minute. Danny Davis caved, as did 
> Sheila Jackson-Lee. Promising freshman Yvette Clark of Brooklyn and 
> even Keith Ellison, the first African American Muslim elected to 
> Congress also cast their votes in the end for Pelosi's hypocritical 
> "prolong the war till 2008" strategy.
>
> Of more than 70 members of the Out of Iraq Caucus only eight refused 
> to support the Speaker's hypocritical "prolong the war till next 
> election" measure. Here's who they were.
>
> Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chair & Co-Founder, Out of Iraq Caucus 
> (202) 225-2201
>
> Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Co-Founder, Out of Iraq Caucus (202) 225-5161
>
> Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Co-Founder, Out of Iraq Caucus (202) 225-2661
>
> Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Co-Founder, Out of Iraq Caucus (202) 225-3801
>
> Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) 202-225-7084
>
> Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) (202)225-5871
>
> Rep. Mike Michaud (D-MN) 202-225-6306
>
> Rep. Mike McNulty (D-NY) (202) 225-5076
>
> Along with two Republicans who opposed the measure, they are all 
> heroes. Kucinich is a candidate for president in 2008. Waters, Watson, 
> Lee and Lewis are members of the Congressional Black Caucus. In 
> keeping with past patterns it's no surprise that three-fourths of CBC 
> members with the guts to stand for and with their constituents are 
> women. Congresswoman Watson deserves special praise, because as a 
> legislative whip, she is actually on the House leadership team, but 
> refused to be bent to Pelosi's will. The irreplaceable Maxine Waters 
> was co-sponsor of the real Out of Iraq bill. Barbara Lee was the only 
> member of the House of Representatives to vote against the original 
> authorization to use force against Iraq in 2002. And John Lewis 
> recalled and stuck by the spine and the principles he fought for as a 
> leading member of SNCC four decades ago.
>
> Readers should take the time to call or email and thank Waters, 
> Watson, Lee and Lewis for doing what the entire Congressional Black 
> Caucus would have done, if it represented the will of African American 
> voters.
>
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> ===================================================================
>
> 2. TALKING POINT ON THE IRAQ SUPPLEMENTAL BILL & CASUALTY WEBSITE
>
> ===================================================================
>
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> *Iraq** Supplemental Talking Points *
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>
> *WHY DOES THE PEACE MOVEMENT STILL SAY “NO” TO THE SUPPLEMENTAL BILL 
> TO FUND THE WAR?*
>
> *By Phyllis Bennis
> Institute for Policy Studies
> 22 February 2007*
>
> Dear friends,
>
> The Democratic leadership claims the $125 billion supplemental is the 
> way to end the war. Aside from setting a date for bringing home 
> troops, the bill includes a number of items many in the peace movement 
> would ordinarily support – veterans’ health benefits, Katrina 
> survivors’ assistance, children’s health insurance…
>
> So what’s the problem with the supplemental? Why shouldn’t peace 
> activists support it?
>
> Because it gives President Bush another $100 billion to continue the 
> wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. And it doesn’t end the occupation or 
> prevent expansion of the war to Iran.
>
> *WHAT IT DOES*
> It calls for pulling out half the troops from Iraq by August 2008 *
>
> BUT –*
> It exempts whole categories of troops from the withdrawal
>
> · Troops “training the Iraqi military” can stay – currently 6,000, 
> perhaps as many as 20,00 (no limit in the supplemental)
>
> · Troops engaged in “special operations” can stay – the Marines say 
> they want 20,000 for Anbar Province alone, perhaps as many as 40,000 
> for the whole country (no limit in the supplemental)
>
> · Troops “protecting diplomatic enclaves” like the huge Green Zone and 
> the US Embassy, the largest in the world, and maybe including the 
> numerous US bases established in Iraq, can stay – 20,000 is a 
> conservative number (no limit in the supplemental)
>
> · That means Bush could keep unlimited numbers, perhaps 60,000 – 
> 80,000 troops, permanently in Iraq – and still be in compliance with 
> the bill.
>
>
>
> And the bill does not require that the troops withdrawn from Iraq be 
> sent home; they can be immediately deployed to Afghanistan, or to 
> bases in surrounding Arab countries, or to ships in the Persian Gulf – 
> or be used to attack Iran.
>
> *WHAT IT DOES*
> It imposes restrictions on Pentagon deployments, prohibiting the 
> deployment of troops not fully trained, not adequately equipped, and 
> not adequately rested between deployments.
> *BUT –*
> It includes a waiver for President Bush to simply state his intention 
> to override those restrictions, allowing him to send in as many 
> untrained, badly equipped and exhausted troops as he wishes.
>
> *WHAT IT DOES*
> Prohibit construction of new permanent bases in Iraq
>
> *BUT – *
> It does nothing to close the existing permanent bases the U.S. has 
> built across Iraq
>
> *WHAT IT DOES*
> Cut 10% of the funding for private military contractors
>
> *BUT –*
> It allows 90% of the 100,000 or so mercenaries who fight alongside the 
> U.S. military to remain in Iraq
>
> *WHAT IT DOESN’T DO*
> The supplemental does not prohibit an unprovoked attack on Iran.
> The supplemental does not end the occupation of Iraq.
>
> [ Back ] <javascript:history.go(-1)>
>
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