When Will We Liberate the Iraqis?

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By David Swanson (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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For six months or so, the Obama vs. Clinton primary contest was one of the top stories in the news. Obama won because of his limited and inconsistent opposition to the war and Clinton's refusal to even express regret for having voted to let Bush invade. Obama also opposed telecom immunity while Clinton supported it. After he'd won, they both voted counter to their statements. He's now making her his Secretary of State (if the Senate unconstitutionally confirms one of its own to take a position the salary for which was raised during her current term), and the bulk of Obama's top staff and cabinet are going to be people who worked for her husband.

While people were told they were voting for major changes and for peace, the 153 members of the House and Senate who voted against invading Iraq were excluded from any lists of individuals under consideration for any positions in the Obama administration. Did not a single one of them qualify as a Washington insider with good managerial skills? Was it necessary to pick the most pro-war Democrats from the Senate and the House for Vice President and Chief of Staff? Would no one else do? Even if you had to go with an Indiscernible Change candidate for Secretary of "Defense," did it have to be the very same individual who had worked for Bush? Didn't most people who wanted Transformational Change consider serving Bush a crime? Did your National Security Advisor have to be a board member of both Boeing AND Chevron? Wouldn't one or the other have been sufficient "pragmatic" and "insider" credentials?

In announcing the new team, Obama and his nominees produced some excellent, but completely vague, rhetoric. If Obama wanted to reassure me and all of the other active citizens of the United States who have the gall to still express their opinions, he could announce his firm commitment to stick to the 16-month timetable and to combine it with honoring the Bush-Iraq treaty for complete withdrawal. In other words: every single troop and mercenary out by May 20, 2010, and no residual forces. Or better yet, Congress could legislate it. That would be change I could believe in. It's also change I can work for, and if -- and only if -- we all work for it, it will happen.

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David Swanson is the author of the upcoming book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union" by Seven Stories Press and of the introduction to "The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. (more...)

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