[Peace-discuss] back-pressure against a "surge"

[Stuart Levy]

Barbara Kessel, Karen Medina and I were talking after tonight's
AWARE meeting, among other things about the not-quite-yet-proposed
surge/escalation in troops to Iraq, a notion to which the Democrats
seem to be softening day by day.

We wonder whether the countless leaks before the official announcement
are intended as trial balloons, to test just how far they can push
the Congress and the population, i.e. us.  Or, they might aim to soften
us up: if some leaks called for 25000 new troops, won't we be relieved
when the "official" version only calls for 15000?

So what can we do?  The Administration won't listen but the newly
elected Congress may.  We need to let our representatives know
emphatically that dumping more soldiers into Iraq is not something
for which we can wait passively while the administration cooks up a
justification, but something that's simply unacceptable.  That we expect
them to find creative solutions to ending this war (like the one
Carl mentioned at tonight's meeting, of rescinding the original
authorization on the grounds that the reasons given for it do not apply).
That if they stand up to the Pres., we'll back them up.  Whatever.

These are the same kinds of things that many people wrote eloquently
on Postcards for Peace.  But we can't let the pressure up.

Barbara suggests telephoning as the quickest way to get
our Senators' and Representative's attention -- and time matters now.

   Stuart


(P.S. And I want to nag Joe Biden for saying that the Senate had
no power to restrain the President's conduct of the war.  He needs to
talk to Sen. Durbin, who last Thursday on All Things Considered noted
two approaches for doing just that.)