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

[Morton K. Brussel]

Congratulations, Stuart for excellent work.

Carl's suggestions to carry this forward are also good.

--mkb

On Dec 4, 2008, at 2:31 PM, Stuart Levy wrote:

> 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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