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

[unionyes]

EXCELLENT STUART !

David J.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stuart Levy" <slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu>
To: <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 2:31 PM
Subject: [Peace-discuss] What AWARE calls on Obama & Congress to do...


> 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.
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