Walking past the newsstand, my eye caught a headline on the front of the
L.A. Times:
Shiites Press for a Partition of Iraq: Creating federal regions would curb the violence backers say...
What a bill of goods they are selling us on Iraq! This headline is counter to everything I heard while meeting with Iraqi leaders last week. To see that headline just as I arrived home last Wednesday from a fact-finding trip to Jordan, confirmed for me that going to meet directly with members of the Iraqi Parliament was the only way I could make an accurate assessment of the situation in Iraq and our options for ending U.S. engagement in that quagmire.
As part of a delegation of citizen diplomats, I had the opportunity to hear directly from Iraqi leaders of many factions, including representatives of the two largest coalitions in the Iraqi Parliament - the Shia and Sunni. All agreed that partitioning the country was a bad idea and their rationale was as simple as it was sane: There will never be agreement on where the borders should be drawn, so partitioning will lead to perpetual violence.
Yet the article in the L.A. Times stated:
The growing clamor for partition illustrates how dire the country's security, economic and political problems have come to seem to many Iraqis: Until recently, the idea of redrawing the 8 1/2 -decade-old map of Iraq was considered seditious.
But further down in the article, a quote from a leading Sunni Arab politician gives a hint at the futility of dividing the country in a way that all parties would be satisfied. Alluding to the touted Shiite support for partitioning, he said:
"Their motive is that they are thirsty for control and power."
How many candidates do you know willing to travel to the Middle East to get the truth? When I say to people, "Nothing good can come from one more day in Iraq," I know I am telling them the truth. Help me get into Congress so I can continue to speak the truth and end this madness. You can make a contribution now at www.JeeniForCongress.com.
The more I observe the way this Administration has bungled foreign policy, with the unjustified and inept invasion and occupation of Iraq at the top of the bungled heap, the more I have to ask myself how long the American people are going to allow themselves to believe this is all due to mere incompetence? Not that inability to do the job is excusable, but deliberate debacles as a cover for outright criminal behavior are, in my opinion, grounds for impeachment. To take another country apart, down to the ground, causing untold human suffering and misery, while bankrupting our own country, decimating our defenses, breeding terrorism, and sacrificing our kids... we cannot allow this to go on in our name.
I am reminded of Pope Julius II in "The Agony and the Ecstasy" asking Michelangelo, "When will you make an end to it?" How DO we make an end to this? We can't just sit back and let Vietnam happen again. We can't keep feeding our sons and daughters into this killing machine. We can't continue to run up the tab for our great-grandchildren to pay.
Today I read this remark by Eric Davis of Rutgers University to George W. Bush at a meeting with the President's war cabinet on Monday, in reference to the upheaval that could follow if Iraq descends into chaos:
"I believe that the American people do not fully understand the potential domino effects that the collapse of Iraq into disorder and anarchy would have on the Middle East and the global political system."
It brought to mind a quote I recently read made by General Vo Nguyen Giap in 1995 to his old adversary Robert MacNamara during a series of meetings meant to learn something from the Vietnam debacle:
"Dominoes, dominoes, dominoes--this theory was an illusion. Whatever happened in Vietnam had nothing to do with what happened in Laos, nothing to do with Indonesia... I am amazed that even the brightest people--people like yourself--could have belived it."
Have we learned nothing? We are still using the same irrational rationales for staying the course. Only a fool would stay on a path when they know it's taking them in the wrong direction.
How do we, the people, end this? Because this Administration has no intention of ending it. They are using every lie and abuse of power in their arsenal to keep this going on and on. I see only one way. We must make ending our involvement in Iraq the ONLY issue that counts this November. I don't care what political party a candidate belongs to, or what their position is on ANYTHING else, if they are not willing to commit to making withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq a priority, they shouldn't get your vote. The Rove machine is going to use every trick in the book to divide and distract us because they know IRAQ is their Achilles' heel. They know the American people want an end to it.
Yes, there are other issues that people feel passionate about. This is not to say those issues don't matter. But they pale compared to what our involvement in Iraq is doing to our future. You can go back and persuade your representatives on these other issues as they come up, but if we don't get commitment to getting out of Iraq from our candidates BEFORE they are elected, you can bet they are not going to have the stomach to stand up to the money and power that put us there AFTER they are elected. And we are going to be there for another 10 years - you have Dick Cheney's word on it!
In less than three months, we the voters can send a powerful, unanimous message to this Administration that their slop-trough of a war-profiteering orgy must stop now! I'm making it easy for you to do it. I've prepared a simple promise that I'm inviting every candidate to make, that shows they intend to work to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq:
The Peacemaker's Pledge: I pledge to make it a priority to work with my colleagues in the 110th Congress to enact legislation calling for the speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
I've deliberately left the details for withdrawal out of the pledge. That can all be worked out in a matter of days if people have the will to do it. Every candidate who makes this pledge can display the Peacemaker Pledge logo on their website and all of their campaign material, so everyone will know where they stand. Then it's up to the voters to only vote for candidates who have made the pledge.
That's how we make an end to it.
Bookmark this page: www.jeeniforcongress.com/peacemaker_pledge.asp" and check back over the next 85 days to see which candidates have made the Peacemaker Pledge. If you don't see your candidate on the list, send them an email and tell them they won't get your vote unless they sign the Peacemaker Pledge.
In fact, take it a step further--you can sign a pledge to support candidates who have a plan for exiting the Iraq quagmire at http://action.truemajority.org/....
And you can start by supporting my campaign, Jeeni Criscenzo for Congress, California District 49. If you want someone in Congress willing to do whatever it takes, including going to the Middle East to get the facts... If you want someone in Congress with the vision to empower the people to end this imperial escapade... If you want someone who has proven they have the gumption to speak truth to power... then put your money where your heart is--make a generous donation to the one candidate taking a leadership role on this issue. Go to my website, www.JeeniForCongress.com today to make a contribution.
If you are running for the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, please send me an email jeeni@criscenzo.com with your agreement to make the Peacemaker Pledge, and I will add your name to the list.