[Peace-discuss] 4000 U.S. Deaths Should Spark Congressional Debate on Iraq

[John W.]

At 08:30 PM 3/24/2008, Morton K. Brussel wrote
:
>On Mar 24, 2008, at 6:49 PM, Robert Naiman wrote:
>
>>I totally agree with your suggestion. As I wrote, there are multiple
>>causes for the fall-off in press coverage. I wanted to focus on one of
>>them, which is that after Congress abandoned efforts to impose a
>>timetable for withdrawal, news media took this as a cue that the issue
>>was less important. If that is true, then it suggests that the
>>Congressional debate was useful, by helping keep the issue in the news
>>media, even though it didn't result in effective action to end the
>>war. That undermines the argument that there is no point in Congress
>>addressing the issue if it can't enforce effective action.
>
>On the other hand, to raise hopes (in Congress) and then to dash them
>has been doubly discouraging, a turn-off for many. The issue about
>funding the wars is/has been crucial. The Democrats, had they been
>truly sincere and committed in antiwar efforts, could always have
>refused to fund the war/military appropriations that Bush proposed.
>Their leaders refused to even consider such an option.


[This post]...In which I argue that the Democratic Congress is hardly going 
to make itself look foolish, inept, pusillanimous, and  prevaricating, for 
the sole purpose of increasing press coverage of its foolishness, 
ineptitude, pusillanimity, and prevarication.



>>On Mon, Mar 24, 2008 at 2:40 PM, Morton K. Brussel  <brussel at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>  I especially would emphasize the statement in your article:
>>>
>>>
>>>Surely the fact that just over a quarter of American adults could say about
>>>how many Americans had been killed in Iraq represents an indictment of our
>>>media and the actions of our political leaders.
>>>
>>>But I would suggest  that the media are complicit in the basic aims of the
>>>Bush administration: Control of the ME and West Asia and its
>>>resources---"our national interests", and that is a reason for their playing
>>>down about what's occurring in our occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan as
>>>well as probable plans for an attack on Iran.
>>>
>>>--mkb
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>On Mar 24, 2008, at 11:40 AM, Robert Naiman wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>In which I argue that Congress should be debating the Iraq war, even if
>>>effective action to end the war is beyond their immediate grasp.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/four-thousand-us- 
>>>deaths_b_93083.html
>>>
>>>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/24/122711/414