[Peace-discuss] Iraq/Afghanistan: A Promise Kept, A Promise Deferred

[Robert Naiman]

President Obama wants credit for keeping his promise to end the war in
Iraq. Some credit is due: the President reaffirmed his commitment to
withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011, as required by
the agreement between the U.S. and Iraq. But only partial credit is
due, because the war-ending task is very far from complete.

As a candidate, President Obama said that he didn't just want to end
the war; he wanted to end the mindset that leads to war. While he is
drawing down from Iraq, he has done little to keep the promise of
ending the mindset that leads to war. A major component of the mindset
that leads to war is the belief that Washington can and should
determine who may participate in the governments of the broader Middle
East. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. officials are still working
to exclude from power people who are opposed to U.S. control over
their governments or a long-term U.S. military presence. This policy
is a recipe for permanent war. The example of Lebanon, where the U.S.
acquiesces to the participation in power of people who are opposed to
U.S. control, shows that it is not an immutable fact of nature that
the U.S. must continue to pursue this permanent war policy.

The fact that President Obama has only half-kept his promise indicates
that while he deserves partial credit, he also needs continued
pressure. On October 2nd, people from across America will be going to
Washington as part of the peace contingent of "One Nation Working
Together" to press the demands that the wars end and that the troops
come home. Everyone who can go should be there; everyone else should
help someone else get there.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/iraqafghanistan-a-promise_b_702172.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/9/1/131848/4164

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/696

--
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org

Urge Congress to Support a Timetable for Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/feingold-mcgovern