[Peace-discuss] Susan Davis letter

[C. G. Estabrook]

The letter's good because it points out -- against the ideological 
smoke-screen from both parties (and their front groups) -- what the US 
is actually doing in this war.  The Senate charade last Tuesday night 
exposed the "congressional plan ... to tell Americans that a withdrawal 
will soon be under way [while in fact] building the structure of a 
permanent occupation."

The letter (appended) says correctly that "Our leaders [of both parties] 
envision pulling back combat troops to bases on Iraq's periphery, 
leaving 'counterterrorism' and 'security' forces on the ground.  In 
other words, the withdrawal will not be a withdrawal at all."  --CGE


illyes at uiuc.edu wrote:
 > Susan Davis has an excellent letter to the editor in today's
 > News-Gazette regarding our occupation of Iraq. She says it exactly
 > right, sticking to the facts and avoiding ideology.

Sunday July 22, 2007

The United States is spending $12 billion a month on the war in Iraq, a 
war that everyone except the Bush administration agrees is a lost cause. 
Far too late, the administration and congressional leaders are feeling 
the pressure from their own constituents to pull out of the quagmire 
they've made.

Unfortunately, Bush is asleep at the wheel, and Congress is driving 
sideways. The congressional plan is to tell Americans that a withdrawal 
will soon be under way, denying meanwhile that they are building the 
structure of a permanent occupation. Our leaders envision pulling back 
combat troops to bases on Iraq's periphery, leaving "counterterrorism" 
and "security" forces on the ground.

In other words, the withdrawal will not be a withdrawal at all. This is 
the Henry Kissinger plan that kept young American men dying in Vietnam 
for years after the war was supposedly over.

It's up to all of us, with letters and phone calls and demonstrations, 
to push our elected officials toward a real and just end to this 
criminal enterprise. Bring all the troops home now.

SUSAN DAVIS
Urbana
Find this article at:
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/opinions/letters/2007/07/22/iraq_war_is_lost_time_to_bring_troops