[Peace-discuss] Thank Obama for bringing Bowe home

Wed Jun 4 14:26:03 EDT 2014

As to 'public debate,' recall Thomas Pynchon: "If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers."

The Obama administration has successfully neutralized any anti-war sentiment in the Democratic party. The only place it remains in conventional US politics is in the Ron Paul wing of the Republicans. It remains to be seen if it will make an appearance in a Rand Paul presidential campaign. 

"Ready for Hillary" is designed to make sure that there's no recrudescence among Democrats. 

--CGE

On Jun 4, 2014, at 12:19 PM, Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

> Right now, public debate is joined on the following:
> 
> Should the Administration have negotiated with the Taliban?
> 
> Should the Administration have swapped five Gitmo detainees for Bergdahl?
> 
> Judging from the media, the pro-diplomacy, pro-ending the war side of the debate is losing the argument.
> 
> I understand that you find "thank Obama" offensive. But judging from my correspondence, many rank-and-file Democrats - which, substantially, are our target audience - are worse on these issues than the Obama Administration right now. If they would support the actions of the Administration to free Bergdahl, it would be an advance.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Robert Naiman
> Policy Director
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
> (202) 448-2898 x1
> 
> 
> On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 11:27 AM, C. G. Estabrook <cge at shout.net> wrote:
> Isn't than rather like thanking Mussolini for making the trains run on time? 
> 
> Of course "we want to end the war in Afghanistan, bring all of our troops home, and close the Guantanamo prison."  That can't be done by lending critical support to an executive whose policy is to continue the war, keep 1,000 military bases abroad, and continue imprisonment, rendition, and drone strikes.  
> 
> That's a policy of useful idiocy which the Obama administration is counting on, as popular opposition to its economic and military policies grows. As Chris Hughes and others point out, its last line of defense is the liberals. 
> 
> --CGE
> 
> On Jun 4, 2014, at 10:40 AM, Robert Naiman <noreply at list.moveon.org> wrote:
> 
>> Dear C. G. Estabrook
>> 
>> Some in Congress—including even some Democrats—have attacked the Obama Administration for using diplomacy and transferring prisoners from Guantanamo to bring home U.S. prisoner of war Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.   
>> 
>> No critic of the Administration has explained how President Obama and Secretary of Defense Hagel were supposed to bring Bowe home without negotiating with the Taliban or agreeing to the prisoner transfer. None has explained why, if the prisoners at Guantanamo are "prisoners of war," they should not be treated like prisoners of war in other conflicts: exchanged for other prisoners of war, or released at the end of hostilities.   
>> 
>> If we want to end the war in Afghanistan, bring all of our troops home, and close the Guantanamo prison, we can't be silent when the President is attacked for pursuing diplomatic solutions, because if those attacks go unchallenged, the pursuit of diplomacy will be chilled in the future.   
>> 
>> Show your support for diplomacy and for bringing our soldiers home by signing and sharing our petition at MoveOn to President Obama and Congress:   
>> http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/welcome-home-bowe   
>> 
>> Thanks for all you do to help support diplomacy and end war,   
>> 
>> Robert Naiman 
>> Just Foreign Policy 
>> 
>> P.S. I wrote about this campaign at Huffington Post. You can read and share that here:
>> 
>> If You're Not Cheering Bowe's Return, You Didn't Want to End the War
>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/bowe-berghdal-return_b_5440866.html
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> This message was sent to C. G. Estabrook by Robert Naiman through MoveOn's public petition website. MoveOn Political Action licensed and paid for this service, but does not endorse contents of this message. To unsubscribe or report this email as inappropriate, click here: http://petitions.moveon.org/unsub.html?i=22928-2656067-TPgQS_
>> 
>> Want to make a donation? MoveOn is entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
>> 
>>  
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20140604/60dc6852/attachment-0001.html>