[Peace-discuss] Kucinich to Dean: Letter

[Morton K. Brussel]

According to another post entitled 'US Invasion of Iraq Was a  
Resource War' by Melanie Gosling on Commondreams.org [http:// 
www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0504-06.htm], the Bush junta may  
think that it was all worth it because of our vital need in the  
foreseeable future for the mideast oil. Perhaps Dean thinks so too?

Published on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 by The Nation
An Open Letter to Howard Dean
by Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich

Dear Chairman Dean,

Speaking before an ACLU crowd last week in Minnesota, the home state  
of Paul Wellstone, you were quoted as saying, "Now that we're there  
[in Iraq], we're there and we can't get out.... I hope the President  
is incredibly successful with his policy now." Did these words really  
come from the same man who claimed to represent the Democratic wing  
of the Democratic Party, and who had recently campaigned on the  
antiwar theme? What's changed?

Perhaps you now believe that an electoral victory for Democrats in  
2006 and beyond requires sweeping this war under the rug. If so, you  
are only the latest in a long line of recent Democratic leaders who  
chose a strategy of letting "no light show" between Democrats and the  
President on the war. Emphasize the economy, instead, they advised,  
in 2002 and again in 2004.

Following this advice has kept us in the minority. During the 2002  
election cycle, when Democrats felt they had historical precedent on  
their side (the President's party always loses seats in the midterm  
election), the Democratic leadership in Congress cut a deal with the  
President to bring the war resolution to a vote, and appeared with  
him in a Rose Garden ceremony. The "no light" strategy yielded a  
historic result: For the first time since Franklin Roosevelt, a  
President increased his majorities in both houses of Congress during  
a recession.

The President went into the 2004 election with tremendous  
vulnerability on the war, which the Democratic Party again  
sacrificed: by avoiding the issue of withdrawal from Iraq in the  
party platform, omitting it from campaign speeches and deleting it  
from the national convention.

Why does failure surely follow from sweeping the war and occupation  
under the rug? Because the war is one of the most potent political  
scandals of all time, and it has energized grassroots activity like  
few others.

President Bush led the country into war based on false information,  
falsified threats and a fictitious estimate of the consequences. His  
war and the continuing occupation transformed Iraq into a training  
ground for jihadists who want to hunt Americans, and a cause célèbre  
for stoking resentment in the Muslim world. His war and occupation  
squandered the abundant good will felt by the world for America after  
our losses of September 11. He enriched his cronies at Halliburton  
and other private interests through the occupation. And he diverted  
our attention and abilities away from apprehending the masterminds of  
the September 11 attack; instead, we are mired in occupation. The  
President's war and occupation in Iraq has already cost $125 billion,  
nearly 1,600 American lives, more than 11,000 American casualties and  
the lives of tens of thousands of Iraqis. The occupation has been  
more costly in this regard than the war.

There is no end in sight for the occupation of Iraq. The President  
says we will stay until we're finished. A recent report by the  
Congressional Research Service concluded that the United States is  
probably building permanent military bases in Iraq. The President  
refuses to consider an exit strategy. The Republican Congress gives  
the President whatever he asks for.

We can draw no clearer distinction with the President than over this  
war. He cannot right a wrong (unjustified war) by perpetuating a  
military occupation. Military victory there is not possible. General  
Tommy Franks concedes that. The war will end when we say it's over.  
The Democratic leadership should be pressing for quick withdrawal of  
all troops from Iraq.

That's what most Democrats want, too. Your performance in the early  
stages of the primary, and your recent chairmanship of the party,  
were made possible by many, many progressive and liberal Democrats.  
It was their hope and expectation that you would prevent the party  
from repeating its past drift to the Republican-lite center. They  
hoped that this time the party would not abandon them or its core  
beliefs again.

Yet you say that you hope the President succeeds. With no pressure  
exerted from the leadership of the Democratic Party, the past  
threatens to repeat itself in 2006. We may not leave Iraq or our  
minority status in Washington for a long time to come.

Dennis J. Kucinich
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/private/peace-discuss/attachments/20050504/af68216b/attachment.htm