Anti-War Vigil *GPO Monday 4pm-6pm

by shouldknowbetter Wed Nov 05, 2008 15:25

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/10/30/18547445.php

IRAQ

With respect to Iraq, Sen. Obama has conceded the main argument of Sen. McCain’s campaign and said the so-called “surge” worked (despite significant evidence and analysis to the contrary). And he has vowed to keep soldiers in Iraq to fight counterterrorism. John Podesta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton who now leads the Center for American Progress, estimated this would take a 60,000 troop presence to achieve.

Moreover Obama “will not ‘rule out’ using private security companies like Blackwater Worldwide in Iraq” according to Democracy Now! Correspondent Jeremy Scahill. And Obama did not plan on signing on to legislation that seeks to ban the use of such forces by the U.S. government by January 2009, according to one of his senior foreign policy advisors. (Democracy Now! 2/28/08). (This is one promise Obama unfortunately has kept, refusing to sign onto the Stop Outsourcing Security Act, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont).

In an interview with Amy Goodman, Sen. Obama stated his intention of leaving 140,000 private contractors in Iraq because “we don’t have the troops to replace them.” He also stated the need to keep an additional “strike force in the region … in order to not only protect them, but also potentially to protect their territorial integrity.” Summarizing the interview, Amy Goodman concluded that it sounded as if Obama “would leave more than 100,000 troops, close to 200,000 in Iraq. ‘Troops’ meaning U.S. soldiers and military contractors which some call mercenaries.” (4/1/08).

Even concerning a possible timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq, Obama has diminished his promises. He now is committing only to “reducing the number of combat troops within 16 months,” presumably to “bolster efforts in Afghanistan so that we can capture and kill bin Laden and crush al Qaeda.” (Obama/McCain debate, 9/26/08).

What we know for certain, though, is when given a chance to commit to a complete withdrawal of troops from Iraq, Obama said “no.” When Tim Russert asked him, during a debate in New Hampshire in September 2007, if he could promise having American troops out of Iraq by 2013, he would not do so.

by redjade Tue Nov 04, 2008 15:48

Ciaron,

only time will tell what Prez Obama will or will not do.

But Obama's position has been clear and consistent from the beginning - close it AND he often mentions the other secret prisons (unlike McCain). IMO the secret sites are the real issue, GTMO has always been a deliberate distraction.

McCain on the other hand has been inconsistent on the Guantánamo issue and how to define torture.

If McCain is s/elected he will owned by the NeoCons (Bill Kristol was first to suggest to him Palin as his running mate!) Whereas Obama has many sources of support and has always been clear on his anti-Iraq War position.

Sadly his anti-Iraq War statements have also positioned Afghanistan as 'the good war'. But considering there is a pile of 1,000,000 dead iraqis and considerably smaller pile of Afghans - this may be the only way to get the US (mostly) out of Iraq.

Obama is not Messiah as some americans seem to think - he wont solve all the world's problems. But I do think he will be a step in the right direction and it is the antiwar movement's role to push him further for the next 4 years.

Obama will win tonight because the majority of Americans oppose the war. Unfortunately the american anti-Iraq war movement has never learned to use that sentiment to create a real anti-war movement.

by Ciaron pissed off Tue Nov 04, 2008 13:52

We're going to close Guantánamo. And we're going to restore habeas corpus. We're going to lead by example by not just word but by deed. That's our vision for the future."
- Barak Obama, June 2007

"I believe we should close Guantánamo and work with our allies to forge a new international understanding on the disposition of dangerous detainees under our control."
- John McCain, March 2000

Both U.S. presidential candidates claim they are going to close Gitmo, so the recent positioning of the Irish Green Party can hardly be seen as courageous leadership on the issue. They may think they can back a winner in a two horse race from the same stable? Only checking the rendition flights after the kidnappings...for a body on board...rather than not refuleing on their way to a kidnapping is an irrelevancy.

Amnesty International's emphasis on Shannon as primarily a rendition issue rather than a troop movement issue (how many interrogators have passed through to the big U.S. gulags in Iraq and Afghanistan might be a question worth considering?) is alos a distraction.

Meanwhile from below in good voice........
YOUTUBE - Hockey Moma for Obama (3 mins) to Sara Pailin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh9BmNuqeiQ

by report-ciaron Mon Nov 03, 2008 19:32

Well that went well. On two occasions Afghani asylum seekers approached us thanking us for trying to stop the war on their country. A U.S. student dropped by who attended the anti-war protest in Belfast over the weekend to give us an update. Leo from Donegal dropped by with his tin whistle to add some music to the vigil. Colim, Kevin, Mairtin, Steve, Emira, Paul, Doty finished with circle and some silence for the war dead. We shared updates on the war and nonviolent resistance to it.

Sceptism about the Green Party in relation to packaging the Shannon issue dowsizing demands to a request to check the planes. What if the are being refueled before the kidnappings? what about all the interogators and jailers heading to Iraq to practice their trade? etc etc

-Friends are organising in D.C. for 100 Days to shut Guantanamo check www.witnesstorture.org
a 100 days of witness and nvda at the White House

-DCW is organising a solidarity vigil at Dublin's U.S. embassy on Nov 16th. 1pm-3pm on the anniversary of the slaying of 6 Jesuits and 2 Salvadoran women by troops trained at the School of the Americas. This will preceed this years mobilsation (20,000 + last year) and nvda at tthe S.O.A., Ft. Benning, Georgia, USA check out www.soaw.org

-DCW is also having a public meeting on Sunday Nov. 16th. 7.30 pm Teachers Club, Parnell Square with Martha Hennessey granddaughter of Dorothy Day founder of the Catholic Worker movement. Martha will discuss growing up in the Catholic Worker and the radical legacy left by her grandmother.

See you next week at the GPO, Obama or no Obama...bring the troops home!

by SAS Update Sat Nov 01, 2008 08:15

LINK-SAS Commander in Afghanistan Quits Over Equipment Row

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20081031/tuk-sas-commander-q....html

by Outta Jail! - Duluth Catholic Worker Fri Oct 31, 2008 16:35 Duluth, USA

Link to report and photos from the Oct 8 "Die In" at Omaha Space Weapon Bazzar:
http://www.desmoinescatholicworker.org/qwestaction.html

Greg Boertje got a change of plea appearance, plead 'no contest' was
given time served and no court costs in a Douglas Co Jail court room
in Omaha NE Monday Oct 27. This all happen 19 days after being
arrested with 7 other peace activist at a 'die in' at the annual Space
Weapons bazaar held in Omaha Ne.

Duluth CW Michael Walli is still in the Douglas CO Jail and awaits
trial on Nov 14th with a plea of NOT GUILTY. More later.