[Peace-discuss] "Wisconsinites favor withdrawal, and they want it quickly."

[Chuck Minne]

Put senators to the test
editorial, The Capital Times (Madison, WI)
April 28, 2006
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/index.php?ntid=81918&ntpid=0

When voters in 32 Wisconsin communities were asked in April whether they favored immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, the answer was an overwhelming yes!

Two statewide polls taken after the referendum votes showed that the sentiment was not a local or regional one. Wisconsinites favor withdrawal, and they want it quickly.

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold is carrying our message to Washington.

As the Senate considers another emergency supplemental appropriations bill to fund the occupation of Iraq, Feingold has proposed an amendment that would require the redeployment of U.S. forces from the country by the end of this year.

"Our country desperately needs a new vision for strengthening our national security, and it starts by redeploying U.S. forces from Iraq," Feingold said. "Our military has performed valiantly in Iraq, but the indefinite presence of large numbers of U.S. forces there tends to weaken our ability to fight the global terrorist networks that threaten us today."

Feingold, who in June 2005 became the first senator to call for an exit strategy, won the support of 40 senators in November 2005 for an amendment that proposed a flexible timetable for the withdrawal. His current amendment, while pressing for a deadline for a general withdrawal, maintains a measure of flexibility with regard to limited initiatives that might continue beyond Dec. 31. In other words, it is a moderate proposal that will be opposed only by those who whether they admit it or not have embraced the concept of open-ended occupation.

"Our current path is unsustainable," Feingold said. "While this amendment recognizes the need for certain U.S. forces to be engaged in counterterrorism activities, the training of Iraqi security services, and the protection of essential U.S. infrastructure, it also recognizes that the president's current strategy in Iraq is undermining our nation's national security."

The Feingold amendment tests all senators.

It asks Senate Democrats who have failed to take a stand such as Herb Kohl of Wisconsin to stop playing games and make a clear commitment to opposing the Bush administration's policy of permanent war-making.

It asks Senate Republicans especially those, such as Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee and Nebraska's Chuck Hagel, who have been critical of the war to make an honest break with the White House.

Above all, it asks senators of both parties and every ideology to reconnect with reality.

The American people are ahead of their representatives on this issue. Polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans now recognizes that the war was a mistake. Those same polls show that Americans understand that an exit strategy is needed.

If the Senate fails to back Feingold's proposal, it will not be the Wisconsin Democrat who stands outside the political mainstream, but, rather, those senators in both parties who cannot bring themselves to chart a course independent of that misguided one dictated by George Bush, Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld.

Copyright 2006 The Capital Times

GEORGE W. BUSH - MAKING TERRORISTS FASTER THAN HE CAN KILL THEM!

IF YOU SUPPORT BUSH'S WAR, WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE??

IF YOU'RE NOT OUTRAGED, YOU'RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION!
  
   
  
  

  

		
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