I want to thank everyone who responded and submitted a question for today's hearings. While many of the respondents rightfully-highlighted the bravery of our troops, a majority of the e-mails expressed a strong desire to see withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq, and an end to this five year war, that has cost our nation so dearly.
Most of the question! s boiled down to this: General we often hear President Bush and Senator McCain say we must win in Iraq. What is the definition of winning? What would a military victory look like, that was sufficient enough, to allow us to begin leaving?
Then, in a horrific turn of events, two of my constituents: Hester and Linn Wolfer of Boca Raton Florida, learned that this past Sunday their son had been killed for this war. Major Stuart Wolfer was a thirty six year reservist on his second tour. He was married with three young children ages five, three, and twenty months. His family was relieved that he was in the green zone, for they hoped he would be safe there. He was not.
I spoke to Mr. Wolfer yesterday last night, who asked me to ask you, simply: For What, for what had he lost his son? So allow me to combine if you will, the questions from the people that responded to me and Mr. Wolfer: What has all this been for? And please, respectfully, don't tell us as you told Senator Warner yesterday: to remove a brutal dictator. That's not good enough.
There are many dictators in the world. For what did Stuart Wolfer and the other four thousand and twenty four sons and daughters die for? And how will we define victory, so we can bring this never ending war to a close?
And if I will, when Mr. Burton asks for a definition of what is failure, we get a litany of items. But when Mr. Ackerman asks what is the definition of victory, we get little. Please tell us General, What is winning?
General Petraeus: First of all, Congress, let me tell you that what we are fighting for is national interest.
It is interest that as I stated have to do with Al Qaeda, a sworn enemy of the United States and the free world, has to do with the possible spread of sectarian conflict in Iraq, conflict that had engulfed that country and had it on the brink of Civil War.
It has to do with regional stability, a region that is of critical importance to the global economy, and it has to do with certainly the influence of Iran, another obviously very important element, in that region.
In terms of what it is that we are trying to achieve, I think simply it is a country that is at peace with itself and its neighbors, it is a country that can defend itself, that has a government that is reasonably representative and broadly responsive to its citizens, and a country that is involved in and engaged in, again the global economy.
Ambassador Crocker and I, for what it's worth, have typically seen ourselves as minimalists, we're not after the Holy Grail in Iraq and we're not after Jeffersonian Democracy.
We're after conditions that would allow our soldiers to disengage, and that is in fact what we are doing. As we achieve progress, as we have with the Surge, and that is what is indeed allowing us to withdraw the Surge forces, again well over one quarter of our ground combat power five of 20 brigade combat teams plus two marine battalions and the marine expeditionary unit by the end of July.
Kevin Gosztola goes to Columbia College in Chicago where he is studying film. He hopes to become a documentary filmmaker. He is currently working as a production assistant on a documentary called "Seriously Green" which traces the development of the Green Party throughout the 2008 election. He has a passion for journalism and writes articles or press releases in his spare time. Kevin Gosztola is also a student activist who believes in questioning the way America's systems work(its electoral system, its military-industrial complex, its foreign policy of American exceptionalism, its media which has become the Fourth Branch of government,etc.)
His ambitions have him currently organizing and raising money for a Chicago Conference for Media Reform in April or May of 2009. It will be organized by college students to promote youth involvement in media reform and justice. Those interested in attending or helping with the organization of the program should contact him.
Don't send Wexler your money. While its great he supports impeachment, he doesn't support Kucinich's bill HR1234 to end the Iraq occupation. Wexler also has said nothing about leaving Afghanistan and he also supports the terrorist state of Israel. Don't give your money to any candidate who supports the establishment or is supported by the establishment. Support Dean Santoro, Samm Simpson, and John Russell. There is also 1 good Green Party candidate and 1 or 2 candidates from Socialist parties in the state of Florida.
by
Ty (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 868 comments)
on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 3:33:11 PM
I'm not interested in waiting until November to possibly correct the problems of complicity. The Congress has a duty to this country to step up and defend the rule of law.
I do not know for sure but is it possible for pro-bono lawyers to put together a case to prosecute members of Congress who do not do their job and preserve the rule of law?
Even if it isn't, it's sounding more like a good idea every day that the Congress continues to be a do-nothing Congress and every day Obama and Clinton and the progressives who support either of them allow Obama and Clinton to be complicit and weak on the war, civil liberties, and impeachment.
by
Kevin Gosztola (231 articles, 127 quicklinks, 72 diaries, 895 comments)
on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 4:44:39 PM
I would love to hear from Kucinnich on why he remained silent. I am wondering if the Democratic party silenced him with threats of funding another Democrat to run against him (as they had Cynthia McKinney). Things have gotten so bad on both sides of the Aisle, I probably wont even show up at the poll this election. I am also wondering why Ron Paul didnt have anything to say either, a Republican supposedly against the war as well. I suppose the only place we can make ourselves felt is in the recruitment fight. They can pass laws and abuse power to tax us without representing our will, but they are not getting my grandson. If we can shut down the part of the machine that grabs the bodies to fight their war we can have an effect that way.
by
Brad (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 36 comments)
on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 3:46:37 PM
Brad, you make an excellent point. I have vociferously argued for years now that you cannot prosecute a war – no matter how much money or propaganda is in play – if there are no soldiers to engage in the hostilities. Despots and warmongers, regardless of their perverse desires – be it greed, avarice, imperialism or ego – need a constant source of obedient, duped and deluded young men and women to charge into the theatres of war, usually under the banners of whipped up, false patriotism with a heaping side dish of mendacity claiming, "You are doing God's work."
What we need, and you deftly point this out, is to prevent future tyrants bent on American hegemony that bath in blood money, from getting their jingoistic grasp on our children and grandchildren by telling them that war is noble, righteous, or honorable – it is nothing of the sort.
War is and always will be the darkness that lurks in and around humanity as the grim reaper of our own mortality as a species. And the only way to thwart it is to stop providing the megalomaniacal men who ache for war the fodder for combat duty that merely serves its masters – big money, big oil and the military/industrial complex. All the while young lives are cut brutally and senseless short while old, amoral men grow rich and create perverse legacies of carnage.
We MUST educate the young, the vulnerable, the at risk, that military service and war is not a career, nor is it a dignified cause for one's country; it is an ignominious act of ignobility, where the fate that awaits you is death, being maimed, mentally disabled or a murderer.
Congress has failed the people, now the people must stand up to Congress. If the money will not cease to flow, the bodies to prosecute this macabre war will.
As the title of the 1970 movies opined, "Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?"
Frank R. Senior Editor OEN
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Frank J. Ranelli (66 articles, 143 quicklinks, 29 diaries, 383 comments)
on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 1:10:13 AM
Convincing enough people that war is not good for children and other living things is a hard sell these days. The military/industrial complex continues to play the fear card with constantly adapting tactics to convince us that pouring all of our eggs into the military basket is the only choice that will guarantee our survival after the inevitable confrontation with "terrorists" that IS going to happen. The only question (according to them) is WHEN it will happen.
They tell us that if we want to be the last one standing afterwards, we must confront these evil terrorists on OUR terms, rather than naively sitting back and waiting for them to attack us FIRST.
They've done a great job dressing up their violent war to make it look like the only investment to guarantee our survival. After all, what good are hospitals, schools, roads and other niceties to us if we're not around to enjoy them?
They cheer us on. "Go, Fight, WIN!" But they never tell us WHAT we will win. Only that we must continue to fight.
by
Kris Malmquist (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 39 diaries, 101 comments)
on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 3:05:44 AM
Wexler may not be perfect but at least he listens to his constituents of which I was one but moved after Wilma damaged the house. Most of Wexlers supporters are Jews of which there are many in the Coconut Creek area so the Holocaust and other Jewish questions are his concerns. He asked us on impeachment and we said yes please, he asked us what question to ask Petraeus and we told him, so basically he did his duty. What of the other clowns who under the cloak of anti-war are simply going along with it, are they under the impression we're all stupid flag waving in god we trust morons.
I'm an old man so all I can do is try with other old people to give the best advice I can from my experiences.
Schools are where the young minds and attitudes are formed along with parental guidance so get along to the school and demand a curriculum based on fact, religion has no place in schools or the home any more than astrology has.
Drum it into your children the Military is not a career any more than bank robbery is.
Teach your children to listen to the wise and ignore the obvious devious characters that make up the present political sect.
Take most things said or written by the mass media as propaganda.
Above all tell them violence in any shape or form unless in DEFENCE is an aberration.
by
douglas kay (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 83 comments)
on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 8:56:07 AM
The real issue is the complicity and subservience of a Congress that has been neutered by the Bush administration. As a whole, they are worthless, and even though Bush and Cheney have broken more laws than any administration in history, the Congress is terrified to impeach the tyrants. Why? What has Bush and Cheney done to control what is supposed to be an independent body of representatives that were sworn to serve the people – not the criminals who are pulling their strings!
With all of the wiretaps and NSA’s ability to listen-in to any conversation they want, this stinks and resembles the days when J. Edgar Hoover held most of his political enemies at bay by blackmail – exactly what I believe is occurring now. The Congress needs to be re-empowered, told by “the people” that we will ignore the dirt the Bush administration has on them if they will just perform their sworn duties.
To make matters worse, Congress’s cowardice is being compounded by the people themselves; we have forgotten how powerful we are as a whole, and rather than shutting down this country through a general strike and demanding impeachment of those who have broken our laws, we the people are allowing it to happen. Who wants to participate in a general strike when most of us cannot afford to lose a minute of wages as millions of us teeter on homelessness and financial disaster? I have stated for over a year now that we need to throw off partisan bickering among ourselves and come together in a show of solidarity, not to make a political point, but to save our way of life!
A one week general strike would force Congress to take action, and they would understand they are being backed by the people – who will not return to work unless they impeach the tyrants that are getting ready to attack Iran, which would be the "coup de gras" to our democracy as well as our economy if we allow it to happen. Every Blog and political site in America and abroad needs to forget their own agenda and come together as a force that cannot be reckoned with except by Congress fulfilling their duty to uphold our Constitution and rule of law. If we don’t take measures to force Congress into action, the slide into fascism will be unstoppable – and if we think it’s bad now, the future will be worse, probably even more than any of us are able to comprehend.
Desperate times require desperate measures. We the people hold the key, however, there has not been a leader to emerge that will energize the people to take action. None of the Presidential candidates, each of whom could instigate such an action, have stepped forward to address the dire straits this country is in, instead debating issues that sidestep the real problems that spell doom to what little is left of our democratic republic.
William Cormier
by
William Cormier (131 articles, 7 quicklinks, 18 diaries, 319 comments)
on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 9:54:53 AM
9 comments
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