Syracuse: Soldiers Magnetize Thousands to Denounce Iraq War

I want to take an opportunity to show you the faces of soldiers who have served our nation in Iraq and who do not agree with the Bush administration's policy on Iraq. Nothing phony about these men and women. Nope. They're the real deal. Their courage was a virtual magnet that drew thousands to a September 29th march in Syracuse, N.Y. where soldiers and citizens denounced the Iraq War.

The people in our Upstate New York communities support these (very real) servicemen and women. I want to take an opportunity to show you some (very real) photos of (very real) citizens from diverse walks of (very real) community life in Syracuse and Upstate New York who took a Saturday afternoon on a halcyon September day to tell George W. Bush what they think of his administration's (all-too real and disastrous) Iraq policy.


The Bring the Troops Home Now rally in Syracuse was a booming success for those diverse community groups who'd worked hard to organize it. Three thousand people filled the plaza behind the Everson Museum in downtown Syracuse where they rallied and filled the streets as far as the eye could see, marching together over a mile to Walnut park near the Syracuse University area.




They were there to support Iraq vets who are conscientiously courageous enough to face their communties and tell the citizens back home why they think this war is morally and legally wrong. Bringing about a pivotal moment - a tipping point for campus/community-protest of the Iraq war, there was, for the first time, active-duty military presence from Fort Drum (near Watertown, N.Y.) in the Syracuse march.




The day's events culminated in a gathering for a discussion panel/Q & A at Hendricks Chapel on the Syracuse University campus with Scott Ritter (Former Marine and UN Weapons Inspector), Jimmy Massey (IVAW), and Dahlia Wasfi (an anti-war activist who was born in Iraq and has visited her native country twice since the invasion). I'll blog more about what took place during the Discussion Panel in other diaries.






3000 people. For a city the size of Syracuse, that was a remarkable turnout. Signs everywhere.






The sounds of chanting, rallying, drumming, and music.




There were skateboarders for peace.




There were poets for peace. (This poet is Arthur Flowers, Syracuse University professor).




There were musicians and citizens of faith for peace. (Singer Colleen Kattau of Truxton, N.Y. and activist Magda Bayoumi of Syracuse).





Citizens for peace.
(The woman in the black t-shirt on the end (right) is a Gold Star mother, Lorene Davey, who lost her son Cpl Seamus Davey in Iraq. Onstage at the post-march rally in Walnut Park, Seamus' father Derek Davey, who wore a T-shirt that said "Honor the Warrior - Not the War", watched his wife with a palpable and heart-wrenching sense of love and pride as she read a poem she'd written in honor of their own fallen warrior:

My Baby Boy

They told him,"Freedom isn’t free"
He said, "Mom, it’s up to me.
I want the opportunity
For them to share our liberty."

He didn’t see the things we saw:
The lust for oil, disdain for law,
Abuse of youth, so green, so raw,
Absurdity of "shock and awe".

The idealism in his eyes
Could not comprehend the lies
So evident to the old and wise.
This is why a warrior dies.

He couldn’t tell me what he’d do,
Couldn’t share what he’d view.
"It’s awful, Mom." He knew I knew.
"I love you, Boy, and God does, too."
That was the last time that we spoke,
Except the night that I awoke
To his strong voice. I got to stroke
His hair, and share one final joke.

"I love you ,Mom, and I’m alright,
But I have to go back tonight."
He swung me round, embrace so tight,
His smile so wide, his eyes so bright.

Then came my friend in his dress blues
Bringing me the dreaded news.
I should have recognized the clues
But, we believe the things we choose.

A hero you say, he always was
And honor is as honor does
And I will speak the truth because
He was my baby boy



Lorene Davey
Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved

When I took the photo of the parents of Cpl Seamus Davey, I could barely see them through the lens but for the tears that were flowing from my eyes.









I'd say this was a healing form of comic relief if this whole (very real) disaster wasn't so damned shameful for our nation.










There was certainly no shortage of citizens of faith at this rally. It's great to see representatives of our community churches speaking out.






The college campuses were also well-represented. Here are just a few of the schools whose students were speaking publicly against the war:




Hamilton College



Syracuse University




RIT (with the amazing Andriano on the bullhorn).






Labor had a solid presence at the rally. Here are some SEIU-1199 members with their message (Healthcare / Not Warfare):










One rally-theme that rang out for me was the suffering of our own domestic front for the hundreds of billions of dollars misspent on the Iraq War.






When I saw our veterans and active-duty troops passing rundown homes, the message hit me as it never did before.








While we squandered the world's trust and blew through so much national treasure (not to mention the staggering and unnecessary loss of life we've brought about in Iraq), the people on my own city's streets have been suffering....waiting..wondering why their country abandoned them.





What's happened to the America where the People were represented by their government? When did it become acceptable for the government to ignore the will of the People?




The answer is that it has never..and will never... become acceptable for the U.S. government to ignore the will of the People!








The older generation's will must be heard.






The younger generation's will must be heard.





Every generation was represented at the Syracuse rally and march.






Most every faith..every ethnicity...






Artists....




Musicians....




Dancers...




Actors...




Soldiers....





Soldiers' mothers and fathers....







A perfect relection of what the majority of America is feeling like at this very moment in time. The familiar rally-chant rings out:

"Show me what democracy looks like."

"This is what democracy looks like!"

The harmonious face of our entire community was shown to us... beautifully vocal...one in purpose.








I want to commend the Syracuse Police Department for keeping marchers safe and doing their part to extend the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation at the rally.







Here's Iraq vet Matt Howard (IVAW) enjoying the Mother McCrees at Walnut Park after the march.





Activist Dahlia Wasfi said that, up intil now, her most memorable moment in her own personal history of anti-war activism was standing up onstage with those IVAW soldiers. She hopes to take them back as part of a peace delegation to her native Iraq someday, people-to-people, to heal some of the the resulting wounds of a failed U.S. policy.





Walk On.......





All photographs in this diary are the copyrighted product and property of Jude Nagurney Camwell, all rights reserved.

Anti-War Rally/March in Syracuse Tomorrow

See this diary at Daily Kos for the details.

There will also be a panel discussion at 7:30 pm Saturday evening at Hendricks Chapel on the Syracuse University campus titled "The Peoples’ Response to the Petreaus Report".

Excerpt:


“Soldiers and Civilians Speak Out in Syracuse, New York”
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

New York State Regional Anti-War March & Rally
Saturday, September 29, 2007
1pm Rally – (2:30pm March to Syracuse University – 3:30pm Rally at Walnut Park)
Everson Museum Plaza, 401 Harrison Street, Syracuse, New York

Not since Viet Nam, has such a broad-based, grassroots coalition been formed in New York State to oppose war. Over 59 organizations state-wide have endorsed this action which was initiated by (IVAW) Iraq Veterans Against the War, NY and will be hosted by the Syracuse Peace Council (SPC), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) -1199 and Syracuse University’s Student Peace Action Network (SPAN).

As the Bush Administration seeks to extend the war indefinitely and appease citizen opposition with meaningless troop withdrawals, people from throughout Upstate New York—veterans and retirees, workers and students, people from all walks of life—will converge on Syracuse for a mass demonstration against the war,” notes one of the demonstration organizers, Rose Viviano, of the Syracuse Peace Council.

The participants, coming from New York City to Buffalo and all points in between, are united by four demands:
° Bring the troops home now (including private contractors)
° Full health benefits for returning veterans
° Money for jobs, education and healthcare - not occupation
° Reparations to the Iraqi people





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`



“The Peoples’ Response to the Petreaus Report”

Panel Discussion to be held Saturday, September 29, 2007, 7:30 pm
at Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University Campus, Syracuse, New York
The panelists will be Scott Ritter, Dr. Dahlia Wafsi, and Jimmy Massey The moderator will be Rev. Dr. Tom Wolfe.


Panelists Bios:

Scott Ritter is noted for his role as a chief United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998, and later for his criticism of United States foreign policy in the Middle East. Prior to the US invasion of Iraq in March, 2003, Ritter publicly argued that Iraq possessed no significant weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). He became a popular anti-war figure and talk show commentator as a result of his stance.


Dr. Dahlia Wasfi was born of a Jewish mother and Iraqi father. She spent her early childhood in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, until she returned with her family to the United States in 1977. In 2004 and 2006 Wasfi visited Iraq to see her family in Basrah and Baghdad. Based on her experiences, she is speaking out against the negative impact of the U.S. invasion on the Iraqi people and the need to end the occupation.

Jimmy Massey is a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the Marines during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After witnessing the brutality of the US military’s retaliation against the growing resistance of the Iraqi people and participating in the unlawful shooting of unarmed protestors he became one of the first non-commissioned officers to report widespread human rights abuses in Iraq. He is a leading pro-soldier, anti-war activist and one of the founding members of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Haudenosaunee Roots of Peacekeeping at Onondaga Lake

Chief Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan,
Onondaga Nation



The Roots of Peacemaking
An Afternoon of Lessons Held on the Shore of Onondaga Lake, the Birthplace of Western Democracy

In the new ecology-based documentary “The 11th Hour”, Onondaga Nation Faithkeeper, Chief Oren Lyons, speaks words of warning to all humankind: "The Earth has all the time in the world. We don't."


Chief Lyons' passionate admonition encompasses the words that Central New Yorkers have heard many times from the international activist for Native sovereignty. Once again last week, the tribal elder spoke about his concerns about the state of the local and global environment to a diverse group of people from the Onondaga Nation and Central New York along with citizens from as far away as Kyoto, Japan.



Supported and organized in large part by the Onondaga Nation and Syracuse University’s Department of Religion and Native American Studies, the Roots of Peacemaking gathering at Onondaga Lake park in Liverpool, N.Y. was billed as a conference on indigenous values at the birthplace of democracy at a time of global crisis. Other supporters included NOON (Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation) and the Center for Native People and the Environment (SUNY/ESF).



The event was symbolically held on the International Day of Peace, September 20 at Onondaga Lake Park in Liverpool, N.Y. There were Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) speakers, there was music and dancing, along with a traditional water ceremony for peace. Before introducing the day's speakers, Syracuse University associate professor of Indigenous Religions of the Americas Phil Arnold spoke about renowned historian of world religions Huston Smith and the focus he'd placed upon sacred places after his discussions with Native American leaders in his famous work "A Seat at the Table." From the shores of Onondaga Lake well over a thousand years ago a great message was given. Democratic principles were installed. What's best about democracy happened at Onondaga Lake many generations ago and that democratic message has been spread around the world.

Flags made by children halfway around the world were hung at a tent filled with guests next to a stage looking down at a set of Japanese traditional taiko drums. In some Buddhist traditions, the rumbling sound of the taiko drums represented the voice of Buddha. In Shinto shrines, the sound of the taiko accompanied prayers to heaven. Not only did the sound of taiko transcend the borders between the human and the divine, but could also fix firm boundaries here on earth.




The drums and flags were brought by representatives from the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan.








Speakers included Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga Nation, Snipe Clan), a New York City-based attorney whose academic and professional life has been devoted to the pursuit of human rights for Indigenous peoples. She was responsible for founding the Indian Law Alliance. Along with discussing the Onondaga Land Rights Claim currently in the U.S. Court system, Frichner spoke about a scarcely-reported recent landmark event at the United Nations, which was that the UN recently adopted a nonbinding declaration produced on behalf of the world's 370 million indigenous people. Even though itthe agreement is nonbinding, Ms. Frichner said, although far from what she really wanted to see, that the declaration could still give indigenous peoples a valuable tool. The agreement’s non-binding nature leaves indigenous peoples to rely upon the political will of nation states as each respective state creates a framework for working with their indigenous populations. An article from the Syracuse Post Standard by Mike McAndrew was the first to bring a mainstream report to the world about the declaration’s UN adoption.

From Mr. McAndrew’s article:

The United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand voted against the declaration. [..]

[..] Though the landmark declaration may not help the Onondaga Nation in its land claim lawsuit against New York state, or settle the tax disputes between the state and its American Indian tribes, it is still important, [Chief Oren] Lyons said.
"This simply enlightens the world at large that there are indigenous people, and they do have rights. That, for the moment, is a little flash of light for us," he said.
The 12-page United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People affirms the rights of indigenous populations to self-government in matters relating to their internal affairs and prohibits discrimination against them. It asserts that indigenous people have the right to maintain their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions.

Robert Hagen, a U.S. delegate at the U.N., said the United States opposed the declaration because the text is so confusing it will result in endless debate over conflicting interpretations. He said the declaration appears to require states to recognize indigenous people's rights to lands they have traditionally owned and occupied without regard to other people's legal rights.

___________________________________________

Onondaga Clan Mother Audrey Shenandoah


Onondaga Lake as the Birthplace of Western Democracy

Eel Clan Mother Audrey Shenandoah is known as 'Gonwaiannih' on the Onondaga Nation. She has previously described her place in the Onondaga society - a truly democratic society of which she and other Onondaga leaders consider to be a precursor and contributor to Benjamin Franklin's own ideas about what America democracy should be: "Within our society we maintain a balance between the responsibilities of the women, the responsibilities of the men, of the chiefs, of the faithkeepers. All the people in between have a special job to do to help to keep this balance so that at no time do we come to a place within our society where anyone has more power than any of the rest, for our leadership all have equal power. They must be able to listen to one another."



"The lake must be cleaned from its soul."

From the time she began to speak, it was clear that she meant to teach the audience based upon stories from her own life. She began by greeting everyone in attendance with the words "Nyawenha Skanonh," which is a Haudenosaunee greeting that means “I'm thankful you're well when we meet.” She said that thankfulness is at the center of the Onondagas' lives. She told a story about her garndson and how he recently reminded her that she told him every day as he was growing up, "Be good to people." She stressed the importance of always acknowledging others and told the audience that they should never ignore any person they encounter, as every person has value and a unique story to tell. Each spirit must feel connected to all other spirits, whether we're talking about the sprit of another person or the spirit of a tree. This brought the clan mother to thoughts about Onondaga Lake. "How it must have looked in those times so long ago," she said about the now-polluted lake, "It exists only in our imagination. It needs a lot of help from us - a helpful feeling for the spirit of the lake to bring about the help it needs. Rejecting the idea that the lake might be capped to trap the pollution below as a solution to restoring its waters, she said, "The lake must be cleaned from its soul."


She described how, over time, she came to fully understand the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace [Gayanehsragowah]. For those who are not familiar with it, the Great Law of Peace was recorded through oral tradition and its messages and teachings were written into the symbols and pictographs on wampum belts. "The English cannot tell the story the way the Onondaga language allowed me to see pictures in my imagination," Mrs. Shenandoah said as she spoke of the passing down of the story of the Great Law. Due to the everyday pressures and responsibilities of being a mother with young children at home, she was a mature woman before she began to regularly attend crucial Nation meetings while her husband stayed with their children. She describes the story as one that can only be understood over time with many parts of the story being told one part at a time, and understood best when told in sequence. She said, "It set me in a world of my own - within my own spirit, hearing that total story." The parts of the story add up to what she calls "a beautiful picture of strong people - of truth - of peace." On the subject of peace, she said that the very first 'United Nations' was the Confederacy of the Six (then-Five) Nations of whom the first peacekeepers were chosen democratically on the shores of Onondaga Lake where the audience was now sitting. "They were chosen to lead and could teach peace to our people because they lived it," she said of the first peacekeepers of the Haudenosaunee, "We must have peace within our being before we can experience peace outside of us." As her children got older she took them with her to a gathering in Brantford, Ontario where they also were able to hear and appreciate the story of the Great Law in sequential increments. It was a gathering where the Chiefs reminded the people of the Great Law of Peace, the Hiawatha wampum belt was taken to the Longhouse and a reading of the belt took place.




"This lake has been an ever-living wonder to me."

Clan mother Gonwaiannih told the story of an Akwesasne Mohawk man, now nearly 100 years old, who recalls being a schoolboy who "felt like a sissy" because he had to join the school chorus. He recalled a song that, even though he felt like a sissy while being forced to sing it, taught him to treasure the lake where the Great Law was first laid down. The song was called "Green Dream Cathedral". The song told of a lake where green boughs were overhanging the waters, the tops of each tree joining over a serene and clean lake.




Note:
I will write more about Chief Oren Lyons in days to come.



LINKS



- Human Rights Council Resolution on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

- AILA's Announcement on the Declaration's Passage and Statement "For the Record"

- The Final Session of the Working Group on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

- Toba Tucker photo Gallery – Onondaga portraits

- The Influence of the Great Law of Peace On The United States Constitution: An Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Perspective. by Kanatiyosh



- Rekindled Spirit

- The Six Nations: Oldest Living Participatory Democracy on Earth

- A Basic Call to Consciousness, The Haudenosaunee Address to the Western World, Geneva, Switzerland, Autumn 1977


- Why Onondaga Lake is Sacred

Elizabeth Edwards in Charlotte, N.C.

Elizabeth Edwards recently spoke to an audience in Charlotte, N.C. about her book Saving Graces and about the people that are woven into the tapestry of our lives.

You'll see a familiar face in the crowd - the blogger Anonymoses is the only male who appears in the audience in this video.

It runs about 23 minutes. Tip of the hat to Carolina Girl for the video.

See My Newest Video

Photo: James Denton of Desperate Housewives

On Police/Security Personnel Tasering Students

I want my readers to know about this post by Farhad Manjoo, and I warn you that the images and sounds can be very disturbing.

Heard and Seen At Harkin Steak Fry

Benny (of Benny's World) attended the Harkin Steak Fry in Iowa and she has posted about it.

John Edwards' Response to President Bush

Boehner Calls Supreme Sacrifice "Small Price"

GOP House minority leader John Boehner thinks that over 4000 deaths of American troops (not to mention the hundreds of thousands of serious physical and psychological military casualties suffered in this war) are a "small price to pay" for his partisan brand of ghost-chasing.



This is the kind of talk that Dante Zappala was telling us he's sick and tired of in my last blogpost.

I wanted to talk about the humanity of this war. My brother died in Iraq. He died looking for WMD. He died because this country capitulated to fear, because the people in power were hell bent on an ideology, because the principles of reason were tossed for negligent policy.

The General says give us time. Where others see 12 months, or 18 months, I see bodies. I see 900, 1300 dead troops. I see tens of thousands injured, wives who will see their husbands again—someday—but never know them again. A million firsts will pass without witness. A baby's first steps, a first word, a first day of school. The consequences extend beyond this generation. The consequences are right there, in my nephew's eyes, who has the unmistakable gaze of his father.

What Dante Zappala Wanted to Say on Hardball

"I wanted to talk about the humanity of this war."

Dante Zappala appeared on Hardball last night and said a lot, but there was even more that he wanted to tell us.



Let Dante tell you in his own words...

The ONLY Way: Bush Must Change Course in Iraq

Immediately following George W. Bush's speech tonight, tune in to MSNBC.

John Edwards has something to say that he thinks is so important for you to hear that his campaign has purchased air time on MSNBC to say it.


From TPM Election Central:

John Edwards isn't going to use the usual method — a dry press release, followed by speeches at campaign rallies the next day — to rebut President Bush's speech tonight about Iraq. Instead, Edwards will run a two-minute ad tonight on MSNBC, set to air right after Bush's speech.

"Unfortunately, the president is pressing on with the only strategy he's ever had — more time, more troops, and more war," Edwards says in the ad, regarding Bush's expected plan to withdraw 30,000 troops from Iraq, conditioned on progress in the country.

"Tell Congress you know the truth," Edwards says. "They have the power to end this war and you expect them to use it. When the president asks for more money and more time, Congress needs to tell him he only gets one choice — a firm timeline for withdrawal."

Here's a preview of what Senator Edwards will say this evening (tip of the hat to TPM):



Listen at MSNBC directly after the President's speech tonight to hear John Edwards' message in its entirety.

Two Soldier-NYT-OpEd-Authors Dead in Iraq

It is being reported at the group blog Daily Kos that two of the seven soldiers who wrote the August 19, 2007 New York Times op-ed piece criticizing the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy have been killed in Iraq.

Daily Kos writer Brandon Friedman reports:

Yance T. Gray and Omar Mora died Monday in a vehicle accident in Baghdad. The AP has reported on Yance Gray here, and KHOU, a Houston-area TV station has reported on Omar Mora here. Their families have been notified.

I have confirmed through a source in Iraq that these are indeed the same soldiers who penned the op-ed piece.

Gray and Mora, along with five others serving in Iraq, had written these words last August:

In the end, we need to recognize that our presence may have released Iraqis from the grip of a tyrant, but that it has also robbed them of their self-respect. They will soon realize that the best way to regain dignity is to call us what we are - an army of occupation - and force our withdrawal.

Until that happens, it would be prudent for us to increasingly let Iraqis take center stage in all matters, to come up with a nuanced policy in which we assist them from the margins but let them resolve their differences as they see fit. This suggestion is not meant to be defeatist, but rather to highlight our pursuit of incompatible policies to absurd ends without recognizing the incongruities.

To show you an example of how much the right-wing values the opinions of their own brave fellow military personnel, see this August comment from the Free Republic about the New York Times op-ed by a former U.S. infantryman, MNJohnnie:

"Curious, what was the political orientation of these “Soldiers” before they went to Iraq? Who is paying the bills for them to go out and propagandize like this? Could it be they are just the latest in a long line of Democrat Party propaganda stooges?
Amazing how the same people who are so cynical about commerical marketing fall hook line and sinker for this short of political marketing.

But even if they are sincere, which I doubt, they have an ego centric view based on their tiny slice of the battle field. Nothing surprising here that they happened to be in a crappy part of Iraq. However, to look out your window and claim you now understand how the whole world works is absurd and childish. Yet that is what these clowns do.

Interesting isn’t it that these clowns get coverage from the NY Times, yet these guys don’t. Curious, what was the political orientation of these “Soldiers” before they went to Iraq. Who is paying?

I'd assure this bitterly partisan commentator that these troops who he considered to be "absurd childish egocentric clowns" will never be paid enough to get their lives back...lives they sacrificed for our nation in this war that they dared to criticize.

MoveOn Ad Controversy=Right-Wing Diversion

The question of the propriety of the "Petraeus or Betray Us" MoveOn.org ad is a red herring for the Republican attack machine in what seems to be these days a campaign against an enemy more dangerous to Republicans than al Qaeda - - the Democratic party.

General Petraeus is a career military man who understands what he must say on behalf of the Commander in Chief, lest he lose his career. Alas, there may be no saving his reputation in the long run. The problem is, General Petraeus' job is no easier nor clear-cut than the strategy for the Iraq war itself. Think of General Colin Powell, the good soldier and the loyal cabinet member who likely destroyed his own future political career by having willingly gone to the United Nations to complete a big sale with loose and cherry-picked data about WMD. How sorry we now know he is that he did that as he looks back today.

George W. Bush is the kind of leader who, most unfortunately, has a unique way of destroying anyone who works loyally on his behalf. The president, in the case of the Petraeus report, is the one who is betraying our trust, as he'[s done throughout his presidency.

General Petraeus is doing his tapdance for a President who would just as soon throw him to the wolves if he spoke any hard truth to that disastrous power.

U.S. Congressman James Moran said something recently about a trip to Iraq that has me concerned about General Petraeus. Read the folling statement from Rep. Moran and ask yourself how much you think you can trust a General of Petraeus' rank who's creating the illusion of a situation where we, as a nation, are precluded from being able to withdraw from Iraq in any reasonable period of time because he "doesn't know how.."

REP JIM MORAN: Now, to talk about strategy: I’m going to recommend that Mr. Murtha reject the 50 billion entirely, take the 14 billion, and use it solely for withdrawal purposes. I asked Gen. Petraeus in Iraq whether he had made plans for withdrawal, and he said "No! There are no contingency plans for withdrawal." He said: "I don’t know how to do it. It takes six months just to close down one military base, and you can’t do many simultaneously." You can check on how many military bases we have all over Iraq. So basically they’re created a situation that they think precludes any ability to withdraw from that country in any reasonable period of time. I hope that we are going to recommend that the money that the President is requesting for Iraq be used solely for withdrawing our troops, weapons, and facilities.

Democrats have refused to repudiate MoveOn.org's ad questioning General Petraeus' character and role in this decidedly bogus hyperfocus on one component of a disastrous overall policy that's failing at every other step of the way.

Jeffrey Feldman describes how even the mainstream is easily suckered into the right-wing misframing of the essence of U.S. citizens' message questioning President Bush's policy in Iraq. The right-wing wishes to silence that message and various right-wing sources have coordinated accusations that critics of the war seek to harm the country, this time by slandering the U.S. military.

This is how unjust wars are perpetuated by those who allow pumped-up controversy to throw them off course.

Meanwhile, a young man or woman will likely die today in Iraq while serving an attention-deficit nation.

NY25 Rep Walsh To Push For Troop Withdrawal

"I think we need to let the president know that if he doesn't start taking troops out, then Congress will use the power of the purse to do it."

- U.S. Congressman James Walsh (R-NY)

Walsh says U.S. must cut troops in Iraq
Posted by Mark Weiner September 10, 2007 11:01PM
Syracuse.com/Syracuse Post Standard

After months of wavering in his support for the war in Iraq, Rep. James Walsh said Monday he now favors a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and will support votes in Congress to force the issue.

Walsh, R-Onondaga, said he made his decision to part ways with President Bush and other Republicans after visiting troops in Iraq over the weekend, his first trip since 2003.

"Things have not changed substantially in Iraq," Walsh said after returning to Washington Monday. "It's a very, very dangerous place, if not the most dangerous place on Earth. Governance is a serious issue. They are stumbling toward democracy."

Walsh said he saw some progress, but too little, while visiting Baghdad and an American military hospital in Balad, about 60 miles to the north. He was part of a five-member congressional delegation that visited the country Saturday and Sunday.

"What occurred to me while I was in Iraq is that it's time," Walsh said. "We've done enough. No country has done more than we have for Iraq. The question I kept coming up with is how much do we have to give Iraq to make things work? I think we have given enough."

Walsh said he plans to share his thoughts with President Bush, who in May met privately with him in the White House to discuss the war.

Walsh was part of a group of 11 Republican moderates who told the president their support for the war would not last beyond September unless they saw significant progress.

"I think we need to let the president know that if he doesn't start taking troops out, then Congress will use the power of the purse to do it," Walsh said Monday, adding he hoped to sign on to a bipartisan bill that would set a date for a gradual draw down.

"We need to start reducing our troops," he said. "These guys have done everything we asked them to do, over and over again. They are absolutely brilliant. And it's unbelievably hostile conditions there."




Walsh spoke about his decision on the same day the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus, delivered a progress report to members of the House of Representatives. Petraeus asked Congress to wait six months before making decisions about redeploying the largest numbers of American troops.

"I heard Petraeus," Walsh said. "I agree with much of what he says. But his focus is the military. And as I've said many times before, this will require a political, not a military, solution."

Walsh said a phased withdrawal of troops would send a signal to the Iraqi government that it needs to begin getting its political house in order.

"The big question is whether the Sunni and Shia can get a deal," he said. "I think they can. But the Shia government needs to be pressured by us. And I think the way to do that is to start bringing our troops home."

He added, "That's the message we have to give to the Iraqis. You've got to find a way to power-share and begin to reconcile with the Sunnis."

Walsh said he was discouraged by the lack of progress he saw on several fronts in Iraq. He declined to identify the other members of the delegation, which he said included one Democrat.

Walsh said a power plant in southern Baghdad that he toured in 2003 is still producing an inadequate amount of electricity, virtually unchanged from his last visit.

"The electrical power generation is not a success story," he said. "That was four years ago and they're at the same level of power generation. That's very, very disturbing."

On Sunday, the delegation met with reconstruction teams that included officials from the State Department and Army Corps of Engineers.

At that meeting, Walsh said one military officer told the House members: "Don't give the Iraqi government any more money for reconstruction. They have enough. They have plenty."

Walsh said that assessment is not what he hears in Congress.

"Apparently, the money we provided is in the hands of the Iraqi ministers and they control it," he said. "That may be the single most important information I got on the trip."

A sand storm over Baghdad forced the delegation's C-130 to circle for two hours before diverting to Balad, forcing the group to miss a planned meeting with Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the second-ranking U.S. general in Iraq, and Sunni political leaders.

Later, the delegation traveled by Humvee with Army troops to visit a joint security station in Baghdad's Khark neighborhood, which includes the markets along Haifa Street. Walsh said he believes the delegation was taken there because it was a "success story." Still, he said, the delegation had to wear helmets and body armor.

Feingold: Why A Surge Focus is Bogus

If there's any lesson to be learned from 9/11, this message (in the form of his questions and comments to Iraq ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus) from Senator Russ Feingold should be it: