"As a congresswoman, Marcy would immediately join the 'Out of Iraq' caucus in Congress, vote to defund the war, and lobby to spend the war billions on social programs for education, health care, housing and the environment. 'The best intelligence, the most effective defense against terrorism,' says Winograd, 'is to craft a sound foreign policy and build strong social networks that unite, rather than divide, the world community. Pre-emptive wars that kill and maim thousands of innocent Americans and Iraqis will only create more terrorists and undermine our security. It is time for a new vision and a new leader in the 36th Congressional District.'…
"Marcy supports immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, cessation of air strikes over Iraq, an end to no-bid reconstruction contracts for war profiteers, no permanent US military bases in Iraq, war reparations so that Iraqis can reconstruct their own country, and diplomatic efforts to involve regional Arab stakeholders in fostering peace and unity in Iraq. Marcy calls for an end to Bush's first-strike pre-emptive nuclear war policy, secret detentions, suspension of due process and torture, and illegal wiretaps of Americans. Winograd rejects pre-emptive war on Iran, while vigorously supporting renewed Israeli/Arab peace talks aimed at establishing a Geneva Accord two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Winograd believes the United States should join the International Criminal Court to underscore the importance of the rule of law to prosecute international terrorists before a world community -- and believes Congress should, as Congressman John Conyers suggests, pass a unified security budget that integrates and balances the importance of preventing the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons with beefing up homeland security (ports, other transportation centers) and creating international goodwill through a renewed commitment to fight poverty, AIDS, and illiteracy both at home and abroad."
Not bad, huh? If Democrats want to end this war (and they do) they will need to replace every Harman in Washington with a Winograd.
Marcy does not include in her statements anything about holding Bush and Cheney accountable for their crimes. We'll need to lobby her on that, and doing so will help her win. But Harman is a collaborator in and a defender of the crimes of the current regime. She has no place in a democratic government. Send her home!
DAVID SWANSON is a co-founder of After Downing Street, a writer and activist, and the Washington Director of Democrats.com. He is a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, and serves on the Executive Council of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, Media Coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as Communications Coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson obtained a Master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1997.
