Once Iraqis vote, it's time to demand we get out (MEGA-BARFER)

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | January 17, 2005 | LAURA WASHINGTON

[Chi-townChief]

Memo to depressed and disgruntled Democrats: Get over it and get on with it.

Get over the shock and awe of the Nov. 2 electoral debacle and get on with this realization: The issue is not whatever happened to the Ohio vote. It's not who should be the next honcho at the Democratic National Committee. It's not whether the party should go back to its roots.

It's Iraq, stupid.

The most divisive debate of the presidential campaign was the festering violence in Iraq. The red staters stood by the president's "stay the course" mantra. The blues argued that Iraq is a hopeless quagmire spawned by a misguided and failed foreign policy.

How do you get on with it? On Jan. 30, Iraqis will go to the polls to vote in a democratic election for the first time. On Jan. 31, every American who believes we should have never been there in the first place should take to the streets in massive, good-old-fashioned anti-war demonstrations that will ratchet up the pressure to get out.

The election is the Bush administration's fig leaf that gives it cover to continue the war. But the election is as good as it's going to get. Everyone knows that our invasion and continued presence there are more of an incitement to kill than an inducement to democracy.

While President Bush's official position is to stick with the war for as long as it takes for democracy to ring out in Iraq, the White House is primed for a retreat. News reports out of Washington suggest that congressional leaders, White House officials and generals at the Pentagon are all talking strategy about getting American soldiers out sooner rather than later.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said recently he has no plans to send in additional troops to bolster the 150,000-strong contingent over there dodging bombs and bullets 24/7.

Last week, departing Secretary of State Colin Powell told National Public Radio he hopes some of them can start coming home this year. "I believe that during 2005, [the Iraqis] will be able to assume a greater burden, and ... the burden on our troops should go down, and we should start to see our numbers going in the other direction."

The Bush administration can count the mounting body bags. And the bloody headlines out of Iraq are blurring its domestic initiatives like Social Security and tort reform, and an expansion of No Child Left Behind.

Nightly news footage of a few boisterous and well-timed rallies in cities across the nation could capture the imagination of a war-weary public.

What better place to spark that movement than in Chicago, whose City Council and anti-war groups took an early lead in protesting the run-up to the invasion. What city wrote the book on attention-getting street protest? What better home front for remonstrance than Cook County, which racked up the largest plurality for John Kerry of any county in the nation?

Mayor Daley should take the lead. Imagine the image of Daley with a bullhorn leading the chorus, "It's time to come home," from a podium at Daley Center Plaza, or even better, his beloved Grant Park?

American cities love to compete. Every other Democratic mayor would try to outdo Chicago. Just as New York City gleefully mimicked Chicago's brilliant Cows on Parade, New York and other big urban areas would be copy-catting our anti-war effort.

This time, the stakes are much higher than steaks.

Daley certainly understands the stakes. In December, his son, Patrick Daley, 29, shipped out to Fort Benning, Ga., for boot camp. If the elections don't tamp down the violence and terrorism, his next stop could very well be Iraq. When it comes to incentives, Daley has one of the best.

You may recall that my own brother is an Army lifer who has already done tours in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. Right now, Drew is on the DMZ in South Korea awaiting his next orders.

Right now, the nightly news is dominated by images of young soldiers dying before their time. Patrick, Drew or anybody's son or daughter doesn't have be next.

Enough is enough. Depressed and disgruntled Democrats, you worked feverishly to get out a vote that could have ended this war. You fell a little bit short. But you can work the streets again in a rally to get out the troops. This time, it could be just enough.

[Chi-townChief]

Nearly all of these "anti-war" demonstrations, whether back in the 60s or recently, are anti-America demonstrations. The liberals' high-water mark was the killing fields of of SE Asia in the mid-70s along with Nixon's resignation and they're always trying to take us back there.

[tjwmason]

The author is right about thing, the Iraqi elections represent a massive watershed.

The administration which is created as a result of 30th will have the moral authority to rewrite the entire book on Iraq. As good internationalists, we should stand alongside them and assist them in their endeavours.

To rehash the deabtes about whether it was right or wrong to invade Iraq is to miss the entire point. America, Britain and the other members of the coallition now have a moral responsibility to help Iraq to regain its feet. To pull out on 31st would be a terribly betrayal. Even the liberals should understand that.

[jocon307]

"You may recall that my own brother is an Army lifer who has already done tours in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. Right now, Drew is on the DMZ in South Korea awaiting his next orders."

I don't know, he sounds very peripatetic, do you really think her brother has been in all these theatres? I can only wonder what he thinks of his sister's views.

I wouldn't count on Chi-town, Beantown, the Big Apple or any of the "blue" states to rumble on January 31st. Maybe in Cali, but that's about it.

[NeilGus]

She wrote:
On Jan. 31, every American who believes we should have never been there in the first place should take to the streets in massive, good-old-fashioned anti-war demonstrations that will ratchet up the pressure to get out.

And of February 1, we should all agree that this pathetically small demonstration shows that American understands that we MUST stay in Iraq until this fledgling democracy can stand on it own.

And I will personally guarantee that it will not be as long as we stayed in Germany or South Korea.

[astounded]

Uh, Laura, the guys in Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea, and elsewhere were not sent to those places against their will. They are volunteers, they signed up for this duty. Richie Daley's son, Patrick, is a volunteer who is trying to gain membership in one of the elite groups in America, the Airborne. That's an honor, not a punishment, and it signifies that a guy wants to go into combat, unlike, say, those who sign up for support services or jobs in the rear. I estimate that the vast majority of the infantry in the regular forces (USA, USMC) went into that specialty because they wanted to see combat, not to avoid it. I say grow up and let them do their thing. It's what they wanted to do.

[Brilliant]

My view is that they vote, we make an effort to make sure it sticks, and then we make a deal with the new government to put a permanent base somewhere near the Iran border, where it will not come under continuing attack by terrorists, and we can keep an eye on Iran.

I don't think we should pull out completely. On the other hand, I don't think we should have a continued presence in Baghdad or other municipal areas after the Iraqis have established a semblance of order.

[filly]

History lesson:

Our military won an important victory in Viet Nam. We lost the war in 1975 when Congress, led by Teddy Kennedy, voted to cut aid to South Viet Nam. Less than a year later, South Viet Nam fell. The Communists subsequently killed over 2,500,000 people.

Liberals are quick to forget this fact...

[CBart95]

Why bother? The Hate America crowd intends to never "get it".

[Chi-townChief]

CHICAGOLAND PING

I would hope that the lefties would wait for some better weather so we can enjoy counterprotesting like last year:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1102093/posts

[Mi-kha-el]

"Liberals are quick to forget this fact..."

Liberals don't forget, they just don't care. Have you ever seen those people protesting in huge rallies against Saddam Husain butchering his own people, or Ruwanda or Sudan genocide, or Clinton perpetrated bombings of Serbia, or Vietnamese communist attrocities, for that matter. This is just to mention a few. Never. Because they don't care. All they care about is to hurt America.

[filly]

I sense you are from Russia perhaps. I have several Russian friends who lived in the USSR before it fell. They see people like Ronald Reagan as heroes, while Morley Safer of CBS complained that we were making too much of his funeral calling it "nauseating."

We must remind Americans of the truth or we will lose the precious freedoms we enjoy today. Those who have suffered oppression appreciate the freedom of the US. I hope we don't have to got through that before we learn that appreciation.

[dirtboy]

The election is the Bush administration's fig leaf that gives it cover to continue the war.

Ah. So every vote must count. But once those votes are counted, the results are just a fig leaf.

[edweena]

It's true they signed a contract, and are bound to honor it. But if the troops really wanted to be there now we wouldn't need stop-loss orders.

[metesky]

Everyone knows that our invasion and continued presence there are more of an incitement to kill than an inducement to democracy.

Everyone knows... What a classic propaganda line.

[MEG33]

http://messopotamian.blogspot.com/
snip
As for the elections, they are doing their best to intimidate and threaten people. What can be more abominable than this; openly intimidating people from participating in the first truly free elections in the history of not only Iraq but also probably the entire region.
And what lame excuses they give! The security situation? But it is you gentlemen who are responsible for the havoc. And; what guarantee can there be if the elections are postponed that the situation will not get worse? In fact, we all know that you will do your damn best to aggravate it further in the vane hope that you might achieve your vile objectives.

Fair elections cannot be held under occupation! : As if we ever saw any fair elections when there was no “occupation” for almost a whole century when your minority clan was lording over the people. Besides, Palestinian elections were recently held under Israeli occupation, and we did not see anybody objecting.

You are not telling us that the Israeli occupation is better than the presence of the MNF who have liberated the country from your tyranny. Oh, and they want a precise timetable for the MNF to leave. That, we assure you does not stem from any patriotic sentiment. You can be certain that within few hours from the departure of the last American soldier, the old Saddam military and security apparatus will reemerge from their holes, reinforced this time with the vampires of the Bin Laden clan and their likes.

The pogrom that would ensue then would be a horror unparalleled in the entire history of genocide and mass murder. In fact, it would be merciful, if our American friends “nuke” the whole place before leaving (to use the cute expression I have read somewhere). That would eliminate the scum while giving the rest of the population a quick death, which is better than the horrible torture that could await them; a kind of mercy killing, you might say: Euthanasia"

[geedee]

Why is it Liberals are always such surly, petulant beasts who look like they just took a bite out of a Vintage 1938 dill pickle?

I know "Ethical Liberal" is the ultimate oxymoron and truth and liberal should never be used in the same sentence . . . but you would think just ONCE one of them hate-mongering, America-hating, suckers would eventually find some lie that would make them smile. But, since they don't BELIEVE IN ANYTHING, since all they can do is try to rip the American fabric to shreds, they never have reason to smile and eventually their frowns cave-in on them like a California mud-slide and they end up like this . . .

On the other hand . . . those who BELIEVE IN SOMETHING . . . and are willing to fight FOR it . . . I give you our Pubbie gals . . .

[John Lenin]

The liberals' high-water mark was the killing fields of of SE Asia in the mid-70s along with Nixon's resignation and they're always trying to take us back there.

You got that right, every war since is a "quagmire", except the ones the demoRATS start.

[Mi-kha-el]

Sorry for repeating myself: beauty is the function of soul. Compare, e.g., Laura Bush and Theresa Heinz-Kerry.

[Mi-kha-el]

Bingo. How do you do that?

[Mi-kha-el]

So, if the troops don't want to be someplace, they just leave. Would you wanna be protected by such troops. I think not. Thank G-d our troops with a few exceptions are not like that.