[Peace-discuss] What AWARE calls on Obama & Congress to do...

[Stuart Levy]

Here's another draft, following input from lots of you.
It's a little long (77 lines where I wanted 66), and of course
leaves a lot out, but I did want some sort of introduction explaining
why on earth we even bother to say all this now.

You might cringe at the heading; if you see a better one,
please let me know.  I do think it's important to appeal to all those
(many, many!) people who see the new Administration as representing
a chance for improvement, so using Obama's own rhetoric seemed appropriate.

=============================================================
	    AWARE calls on the Obama administration
	      to live up to the promise of change

Do we need to do this?  Shouldn't we just wait and see what he does?  No!
There's a great deal of power and trillions of dollars of money at stake in
keeping things as they are, from the military industry, the new "security"
industry, the media industry, the oil industry, the banking industry, from many
sorts of powerful constituencies.  They speak with confidence, calling Obama's
Bush- and Clinton-era appointments "pragmatic" and "non-ideological".

Beware of such labels: "pragmatism" implies not questioning assumptions, such as the
assumption that the US has an inalienable right to use military force anywhere in
the world, that major changes to the way we use energy or provide health care are
just not feasible, that "free market" practices serve our people well, that erosion
of civil liberties and use of torture are regrettable but necessary.  That's why...

		 Obama Needs a Protest Movement [*]

Obama is being compared with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who brought in the New Deal,
the fruits of which (Social Security, labor protections, infrastructure creation, ...)
we still depend on.  But as Frances Fox Piven[*] and others argue, FDR didn't and
wouldn't have done it alone: "mass protests [...] forced him to make choices he
would otherwise have avoided [...] the rise of protest movements forced the new
president and the Democratic Congress to become bold reformers."

Obama and the Congress need our pressure now to resist pressure from our opponents,
who are not waiting.  We must call on the Administration to carry out the best of
Obama's promises, and to do other things which he has not promised.  Join us [**],
join other groups, act on your own, but act.  Write letters to the editor, to the new
Administration, to Congress.  Make signs and demonstrate.  Talk with your neighbors.

Some things AWARE [**] calls on the new Administration and Congress to do:

  - Withdraw from Iraq *all* US troops, *and* all military contractors.
    The Iraqi Parliament agreed to a 2011 deadline, but don't wait.
    Make it plain that the US will keep no military bases there.

  - End the war in Afghanistan.  As in Iraq, our invasion violates international law;
    and as in Iraq, our violent presence there only strengthens our opponents.  Even
    our own military have acknowledged that military means will not suffice in
    Afghanistan.  Encourage the Afghan government's efforts to negotiate with the
    Taliban, including all who are willing to talk.

  - Cease illegal and counterproductive incursions into Pakistan, Syria, Somalia, ...

  - Renew US efforts to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including dismantling
    West Bank settlements.  Support the 2002 Arab League offer for peace in exchange
    for a return to the 1967 borders and agreement on refugee status.  Negotiate with
    Hamas (as 64% of Israelis support doing) -- they won free and fair elections.

  - Put our vast military spending, including our own weapons of mass destruction,
    on the table for cuts.

  - Close Guantanamo Bay, and end use of torture, as promised, and promptly.

  - Whether by prosecution of those who created and justified the policies, or by a
    Truth Commission, ensure that the world and the US people know we understand that
    wars of aggression, torture and arbitrary imprisonment are never acceptable.

  - Talk with Iran, as promised, without preconditions.  Reestablish US diplomatic
    representation.  Make clear that the US will accept a peaceful Iranian nuclear power
    program under international supervision.  Seek Iran's help in resolving Middle East
    conflicts, including in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, and Lebanon.

  - Rethink our policies toward Central America and Latin America.  End our
    long-running, counterproductive embargo against Cuba, and open a dialog
    with the Cuban government.   Repair relations with Venezuela and Bolivia,
    including restoring Bolivia's preferential access to US markets.

  - Repudiate the Bush Administration's signing statements, and the whole notion
    that a President can override laws by fiat.  Stop this terrible precedent now.

[*]  http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081201/piven
     Article by Frances Fox Piven's in the Dec. 1, 2008 issue of The Nation

[**] http://www.anti-war.net/   AWARE meets every Sunday at 5PM in the basement
     of the Independent Media Center, Broadway & Elm, Urbana.