[Peace-discuss] Fw: House Stands Firm on Afghanistan Withdrawal Timetable

[C. G. Estabrook]

Now that I don't get...

On 7/3/10 12:10 AM, E.Wayne Johnson wrote:
> Uric Acid.
>
> "You think I'm stupid.", said the Cat.
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at illinois.edu>
> To: "unionyes" <unionyes at ameritech.net>
> Cc: "Peace-discuss" <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> Sent: Saturday, July 03, 2010 11:04 AM
> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Fw: House Stands Firm on Afghanistan Withdrawal
> Timetable
>
>
> Nonsense. This is a good example of what was called - when I was growing up in
> Virgina - "Whistling 'Dixie'."
>
>
> On 7/2/10 9:56 PM, unionyes wrote:
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: <moderator at PORTSIDE.ORG>
>> To: <PORTSIDE at LISTS.PORTSIDE.ORG>
>> Sent: Friday, July 02, 2010 9:10 PM
>> Subject: House Stands Firm on Afghanistan Withdrawal Timetable
>>
>>
>>> House Stands Firm on Afghanistan Withdrawal Timetable
>>>
>>> Tom Hayden |
>>> July 2, 2010
>>> Published on The Nation
>>> http://www.thenation.com/article/36993/house-stands-firm-afghanistan-withdrawal-timetable
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> One hundred sixty-two House members, including a large
>>> majority of Democrats, sent a significant antiwar
>>> message to President Obama last night, forcing the
>>> White House to depend for Afghanistan war support on
>>> the Republicans who want to unseat the Democrats and
>>> Obama himself in upcoming elections.
>>>
>>> Despite claims by punditry that the antiwar movement
>>> has disappeared, stalwart Representative Barbara Lee
>>> gained 100 votes for her amendment rejecting $33
>>> billion for 30,000 new troops already being sent to
>>> Afghanistan. Seven of her votes were Republicans. The
>>> measure would have redirected the $33 billion to
>>> expenses incurred in redeploying the troops out of
>>> Afghanistan.
>>>
>>> More significant numerically, there were 162 votes cast
>>> for Representative Jim McGovernâ?Ts amendment, co-
>>> authored by representatives David Obey and Walter
>>> Jones, which articulated a game plan for ending the
>>> war. Only a year ago, the same measure was introduced
>>> as a general and non-binding resolution. This time the
>>> proposal required, as a condition of funding, an exit
>>> proposal including a withdrawal timetable, by next
>>> spring, before the presidentâ?Ts announced plan to
>>> "begin" withdrawals in July. Further, in response to
>>> rising pressure to delay withdrawals, the McGovern
>>> proposal would require another Congressional vote if
>>> the administration succumbed to pressure from
>>> Republicans and the military to delay the beginning
>>> departure date.
>>>
>>> Among Democrats, the vote for McGovern was 153-98, with
>>> nine Republican supporters. Significantly, Speaker
>>> Nancy Pelosi, who this week predicted a strong
>>> Democratic push for a "substantial drawdown" by next
>>> year, voted with McGovern.
>>>
>>> Beltway-based peace groups were surprised by the
>>> outcome. "All in all, we did better than I expected,"
>>> blogged Paul Kawika-Martin of Peace Action as the
>>> televised vote rolled across the CSPAN screen.
>>>
>>> Though the war will escalate as a result of the final
>>> vote, the opponents sent a powerful message to the
>>> president and newly confirmed Gen. David Petraeus that
>>> antiwar pressure will only increase in the period
>>> ahead, adding important pressure for the July 2011
>>> deadline to be maintained and clarified by a timeline
>>> for completion, as originally proposed by Senator Russ
>>> Feingold.
>>>
>>> The message is sure to reinforce the belief in the
>>> Karzai administration, the Pakistan government and
>>> among NATO allies that time is running out, thus giving
>>> an impetus for accelerating talks with the Taliban.
>>>
>>> The escalating offensive in southern Afghanistan will
>>> continue apace, with uncertain results.
>>>
>>> The Taliban may misread the message from Congress,
>>> however, and overplay their hand. Their strength lies
>>> in southern Pashtun communities in southern Afghanistan
>>> and Pakistan, suggesting that their future lies in a
>>> negotiated power-sharing arrangment with the northern
>>> tribes and warlords they fought in the civil war nearly
>>> a decade ago. The McGovern proposal foreshadows a
>>> scenario of peace diplomacy that stabilizes a deeply
>>> divided country.
>>>
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>>
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