I am in London and in 3 hours will be on the plane to Jordan for meeting tomorrow and Saturday with members of the Iraqi Parliament - see previous blog and Global Exchange. I have spent the 12 hour layover reading a book that someone gave me a couple of weeks ago - can't recall who - "The End of Iraq" by Peter Galbraith. It is very informative on all aspects leading up to our invasion and what is happening now and the different factions and conflicting interests - a valuable resource and a different perspective that Greg Palasts' book, Armed madhouse. Along with the briefing information provided for this trip, I'm going into these meetings well prepared.
Because I'm a big believer in the power of our visions, I spent some of this travel time creating a picture of what I'd like to see come from these meetings:
1. The development of a clear understanding of what the Iraqi leaders see as the most realistic direction to take from here - including a timetable for withdrawal. I am completely open to hearing all sides and to putting back the 4 items that were removed from their original Reconciliation Plan.
2. Consensus on a Plan for ending the hostilities and violence in Iraq and ending the US occupation that the Iraqi leadership are confident they can "sell" to the Iraqi Parliament that all factions will be willing to commit to and the American people will agree is also in our best interest.
3. Bringing this plan back to the US and presenting it to all Congressional candidates, both incumbents and opponents, and persuading them to sign on to making approval of this plan our first action in the 110th Congress. And agreeing to make this a part of their campaign message over the next 98 days.
4. Bringing this plan to the American people and convincing them it is in their best interest to elect candidates who have agreed to make this their first priority.
In this way, I think that we, the people, can circumvent the military/industrial interests that are prolonging our involvement in this occupation. I like the term that a friend used on Wednesday night - "we can all become citizen diplomats".
I realize that there are no simple solutions to this quagmire. It no longer matters how we got into this mess. (It matters but it's not where we have to focus right now). It is imperative that we extract ourselves from it as quickly as possible with the least damage to our security, the least loss of life to Americans and Iraqis and the least threat from the foreign extremists who have turned this military disaster to their advantage.
I'm out of battery power and Internet time so cutting this short - I welcome your feedback.
Jeeni Criscenzo for Congress
www.DREAMofJEENIforCONGRESS.com
V. 760-529-9809 F. 760-859-3106
jeeni@criscenzo.com
PO Box 927, Oceanside, CA 92049-0927
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model which makes the existing model obsolete." --Buckminster Fuller