How to End the War in Iraq? MoveOn Answers Its Critics

Submitted by John Stauber on

Alternet's Don Hazen interviews the founders of MoveOn. He writes, "For the first time ... members of Congress -- at least the new Democratic majority, along with a handful of Republicans -- finally caught up with the population" and "confronted Bush over the financing of the war and a real timeline for ending it. ... The ability to win this first victory was difficult and complex. It was achieved in part with the energetic and savvy support of millions of progressives and particularly MoveOn.org ... Yet this victory, and MoveOn's role, is not without controversy."

Main Source: 
Alternet, March 30, 2007
Topics: 
Iraq
U.S. Congress
War / Peace

Comments

John Stauber replied on

Interesting quote today from Obama:

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/

Obama: Congress will fund Iraq war after expected Bush veto

April 2, 2007
BY Mike Glover Associated Press

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- If President George W. Bush vetoes an Iraq war
spending bill as promised, Congress quickly will provide the money
without the withdrawal timeline the White House objects to because no
lawmaker "wants to play chicken with our troops," Sen. Barack Obama
said Sunday.

"My expectation is that we will continue to try to ratchet up the
pressure on the president to change course," the Democratic
presidential candidate said in an interview with The Associated
Press. "I don't think that we will see a majority of the Senate vote
to cut off funding at this stage."

Mutternich replied on

Maybe I've got the metaphor wrong, but it seems to me that that's what they're already doing by leaving the troops in harm's way rather than having to hear people yell Chicken! when they bring the troops home.

Interesting that Obama didn't quite say how he himself would vote in the circumstance he posited.

And then there's this:

"I think that it's important for voters to get a sense of how the next president will make decisions in a foreign policy arena."

It just might help with that if Congress could hold some hearings on the question, "What the f--- is U.S. foreign policy really all about anyway?"