Protesting Bush's War

I see that Joe Monahan is bagging New Mexico's Democratic Party and elected officials for not criticizing Bush's Iraq War. He also wonders where the anti-war movement is in New Mexico and claims there's isn't much of one because "What's left of the "Left" is apparently confined to wheelchairs, too old to get out and protest."

I guess ole Joe doesn't get out much.

There have been numerous anti-war events in many parts of the state since before the Iraq war began, and these have been publicized via emails, flyers, websites and at meetings. We can't help it that the mainsteam media doesn't cover this story.

(Photo from Saturday's peace and anti-nuclear proliferation rally in Los Alamos on the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. No prominent Dem was in attendance. Click photo for larger image.)

Monahan also infers that because of a lack of interest or energy, few will protest the war during Bush's visit to Sandia Labs today to sign the energy company giveaway known as the energy bill. This just MIGHT be because the Bush minions have kept the exact time and place of his visit secret, like they attempt to do with most information that should rightfully be publicly available.

From piecing together snippets of info, we know Bush will sign the bill sometime today somewhere within Sandia Labs with Senators Domenici and Bingaman present. No doubt he'll fly in at a Kirtland AFB runway. Neither  location is open to the public at large and surely they won't allow any gathering of citizens to protest or otherwise see or be seen by our timid President.

However, Monahan does have a point about the reluctance of Democratic Party officials and officeholders to criticize Bush on the Iraq war. If you click through to the continuation of this post you'll see the Bring Home the Troops Resolution passed by County Dem Parties including Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Los Alamos and San Juan. It also passed unanimously at the Party's State Central Committee meeting this past April. Yet a link to it and other Resolutions passed by the DPNM is buried on the State Party's website, in the Press Release archive for April 23rd. I wonder why that is.

I do know many Party members have requested the addition of a more prominent link to the Resolutions, to no avail. It's also very frustrating that the official minutes of the SCC meeting, including an official transcript of the approved Resolutions, have yet to be issued by the Party's Secretary, Elena Moreno-Sparks. This despite numerous phone calls and emails from SCC members and others.

It's hard to be a member of an opposition Party that seems afraid to oppose Bush's actions, lies and mistaken policies loudly, passionately and publicly, isn't it? Pussyfooting around in criticizing Bush, coupled with what seem to be a serious lack of transparency and organization, is a hard pill to swallow for those of us who feel the urgency of the moment.

The recent special congressional election in Ohio, where anti-war Iraq war vet Paul Hackett almost beat the Republican candidate in a massively Republican district, clearly shows Dems should be out there loud and clear on the folly and negative consequences of this war. And yet, even there, the Dem Party's DCCC gave Hackett support only very late in the race, after Democracy for America and bloggers at My DD and Daily Kos raised more than $400,000 and helped build a large volunteer force for Hackett.

I guess it's just more evidence of how disconnected Party leaders are from rank and file Democrats , as well as a growing segment of Americans in general. You'd think Bush's plummeting poll numbers on the war and just about everything else would put some "starch," as Wesley Clark calls it, in the Democratic response. There are Democratic officeholders out there speaking truth to power, like Rep. Conyers, Senators Dick Durbin and Barbara Boxer and others, but they are still too few and far between. If we want to win in 2006, we need to wake up the Party NOW, don't we?

From RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETING, Saturday, April 23, 2005, Unofficial listing from website of Democratic Party of New Mexico

29.  RESOLUTION TO BRING HOME THE TROOPS

WHEREAS, the actions of the United States of America in Iraq show that the United States wishes to establish a permanent presence in Iraq, including the establishment of a number of military bases, and

WHEREAS, our military is being drained of its capability to respond to crises in other parts of the world, and

WHEREAS, more than 150 billion dollars have been spent for the Iraq occupation and, over the next year, the continuing occupation will take an additional 81 billion dollars away from the priorities at home, and

WHEREAS, there have been more than 1,500 U.S. soldiers killed, thousands of U.S. soldiers wounded, and untold thousands of Iraqi citizens killed in the continuing conflict in Iraq, and

WHEREAS, our military presence in Iraq continues to result in the death and wounding of American soldiers and Iraqi citizens, and

WHEREAS, our occupation in Iraq has worsened an insurgency that has as a principal goal the expulsion of outside influences, and

WHEREAS, our occupation and the associated violence in Iraq has increased recruitment by terrorist organizations intent on attacking the U.S., and

WHEREAS, elections have been held in Iraq, and the Iraqi people want to resolve their own problems and establish their own government free of outside influences,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF NEW MEXICO that the DPNM supports our troops, opposes the continued military occupation of Iraq, and urges the Government of the United States of America to immediately plan for the withdrawal of its military forces from Iraq. This plan should specify a target date for the completion of the withdrawal, which is no later than June 2006. Withdrawal should begin soon to signal our good intentions. The United States should announce that it has no plans for a long-term military presence in Iraq, except for that associated with normal diplomatic relations.