By Debra Sweet
Join me in protesting Tuesday morning as General David Petreaus is rubber-stamped by the Senate to replace General Stanley McChrystal as US commander of the occupation of Afghanistan.
Senate Armed Services Committee 9:30 am Dirksen G-50
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No matter who the commanding general, no matter who the Commander in Chief, or the strategy…the occupation is illegitimate, unjust and immoral. That goes for the never ending occupation of Iraq as well.
The Sunday news/talk shows were filled with praise for Obama in appointing Petreaus, who led the "surge" in Iraq, and like McChrystal, in called an expert in Counter-Insurgency warfare. (COIN). Counter-insurgency has the US aligning itself with local, reactionary warlords every bit as dangerous to the people as the Taliban, and has led to more civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 2009 than any previous year of the war.
The ugly features of occupation and murder: Indefinite detention, worsening state for women caught between US backed warlords and the Taliban, dislocation and increased opium addition mean a horror is every bit as bad as Vietnam. Except that there are also drones sweeping from Afghanistan to Pakistan, always killing what US/NATO says are "insurgents."
It occured to me that, never mind a new president, the U.S. has the 2007 Iraq war team now focused on Afghanistan, with Petreaus and Gates. How well did that work out for the Iraqi people, who are now permanently occupied, with no stable legitimate government, a million + dead, and civil society in suppressed chaos?
The only argument at tomorrow’s hearing will be from the right, as McCain and other war criminal relics threaten Obama — who has already backed way off — that he must drop any date, provisional as 2011 was, of a timed withdrawal. The goal is "defeating the Taliban" and "winning" the war, and they won’t settle for anything less.
But that’s where we come in. Thousands of people at the US Social Forum in Detroit last week saw the message "Crimes are Crimes – No Matter Who Does Them." The common response was, "I’m so disappointed…angry…disgusted…" And we said to them, OK, so you voted for Obama. Let’s work together now to stop the wars, torture, and the whole fascist direction of U.S. society.
Speaking of fascist direction: I met Ralph Fertig in Los Angeles when World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush Regime first began. He is the plaintiff in the lawsuit that Center for Constitutional Rights and others waged against the criminalization of domestic political action. Last Monday, the Supreme Court made a very bad ruling.
Ken Theisen writes in Supreme Court Criminalizes Dissent: "Under the guise of fighting "terrorism", the U.S. Supreme Court put another nail into the coffin of the first amendment guarantee of free speech and association on Monday, June 21, 2010. The case is Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, No. 08-1498…"
Volunteers are heading to New Orleans to join the battle to Stop the Gulf Oil Disaster. The video of Kindra Arneson speaking at the Gulf Emergency Summit of June 19 is spreading widely, as the oil spreads even more wildly. It’s now covering Pensacola beaches.
NEEDED: People to welcome & hear the presentation of 2 young volunteers on why they’re going to New Orleans, and what the Emergency Committee plans to do there. See Gulf Oil Disaster Disrupts BP-Government Disinformation Meeting.
Jake & Nicolette have housing, but want to meet with local people in Washington DC Tuesday June 29; in Ashville NC Wednesday June 30.
If you can host a gathering, dinner, or meet with them, please email me asap!