But folding is something the US ruling class can not allow. The occupation of Iraq must continue because the US can not “pull out of this war as losers” says Gov. Schwarzenegger, echoing the Republocrat line.
It’s all about saving face and looking good. Forget how many more die or how lost the cause is. It would be terribly embarrassing, say those who are sacrificing little or nothing, if the US left Iraq, so we must continue no matter how insane the cause is or how many of someone else’s kids are maimed or killed.
And, BTW, just what IS the cause? Doubtless only a few diehard delusional wingnuts still believe it’s about “bringing democracy” to Iraq. So why is the US still there, fighting a war they are losing in an area where the vast majority of the population wants them gone? Could it be a desire for political dominance and control of the oil?
Whoops, sorry. Saying something as blunt as ‘No Blood for Oil,” gets the newbie Anti-war Lite and the Born Again Peaceniks upset. Conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan is now against the war, and this is a good thing, but he appears concerned that doing so will somehow get him linked to those anti-war ruffians in the ANSWER Coalition (of which I am a proud member.)
The difference between radical ANSWER and moderate factions like Sullivan, is that ANSWER makes the linkage between these invasions and a decades-long pattern of US imperialism showing, for example, that the invasion of Iraq is inextricably linked to the Palestinian cause (something which is taken as a given on the Arab street and in much of Europe.) The anti-war ‘moderates’ see the war as some kind of terrible mistake, a huge lapse of judgment in an otherwise just fine and dandy US foreign policy. ANSWER says it is just another example of bloodthirsty US imperialism.
History will show the ANSWER position to be the valid one. The US currently has invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, is bombing Somalia, and threatening attacks against Iran and Syria. This isn’t some tragic error, it’s deliberate policy, and such military attacks have been going on for decades, as this list of dozens of US military interventions from 1890-2003 shows.
ANSWER is a coalition. Multiple groups are members. For a big protest, outside groups often get involved too. The groups don’t have to agree on everything, just on the unity points for the protest. That’s what coalitions are, groups coming together for a specific cause.
So, to Andrew Sullivan and others, I’m glad you now oppose the wars. We don’t have to agree on everything. Let’s all continue to work in our own ways to end them.
ANSWER is mobilizing for nationwide antiwar protests on March 17. Join us!