My son returned from Iraq last week, shaken and saddened by what he saw. I thank God he returned home to our family in one physical piece. However, looming over our heads is the "back door draft," a policy that has been forced upon our military and their families without their consent. Our troops return home to a heroes welcome, only to receive redeployment papers sometime in the near future disrupting their settled lives.
Oh, you say, Rumsfeld resigned and the Dems are in charge of Congress now. But I say, BEWARE. Nancy Pelosi is lunching with a criminal on Friday, no doubt about it. I hope she keeps that in mind. I do not put my faith in the newly elected democrats because they are the lesser of two evils. The DCC platform did not consider the immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq; did not address the "back door draft;" and did not address investigation and impeachment hearings, to name a few items. As a matter of fact, the Dems took all of those issues "off the table." Nancy Pelosi is known for keeping to her word, and her words were "impeachment would not be considered." We, the people, must make her eat those words.
However, watching Bush on the news today did make me smile, a lot. I usually cannot stand the sight of him with his grimacing face, patronizing attitude and leaning stance. Today was the exception. He was nervous, jittery, but he still lied through his teeth. He's advocating "working together" with the newly elected "democratic leaders." Liar, liar. He has over 800 signing statements ignoring every single law passed by HIS Congress. Let's imagine what the next two years will look like. The Dems are spineless wimps who are also on the take from lobbyists and large corporate sponsors. We, the watchdogs of our democracy cannot fall asleep, again. We cannot get comfortable and go back to watching episodes of "Lost." I hate to tell all of you activists out there, our work has just begun. We can bask in the glory of winning this day, but tomorrow it's back hitting the pavement. This is the time when we must draw out a massive resistance to this Government, and demand not only impeachment proceedings be put "on the table," but an investigation into the war crimes committed by Bush & Company, as begun by Congressman John Conyers, become a reality.
It is our duty to make sure that this entire crew be brought to justice. If Saddam can be convicted and sentenced to hanging, which I am sure will be aired on the nightly news, then we MUST and CAN demand that Rumsfeld, Cheney, Perle, Bush, Wolfowitz, and let us not forget Condi, be similarly tried, convicted and hung on the nightly news. That I will be happy to view.
I refuse to have my son be redeployed to the hell hole we call the Iraq War or "War on Terrorism." Ratcheting up our efforts to get this crew held accountable for the entire mess created over the last 5 years is IMPERATIVE. Now that we have proof positive that the American people have spoken out against this criminal Regime and are wide awake, join me in the streets to demand justice and an end to this occupation NOW, before those redeployment papers arrive in my mailbox.
www.elainebrower.com
Anti-war activist, mother of U.S. Marine currently on his way to Iraq for a 3rd tour of duty; member of Steering Committee for the "World Can't Wait, Drive Out the Bush Regime" and Military Families Speak Out.
Yes, this is the next step to take power from the neo-cons and return it to the people. We must demand that the warmongers who lied, betraying our troops, their families, and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, stand before the War Crimes Tribunal and face justice.
by
Missy Comley Beattie (163 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 48 comments)
on Thursday, November 9, 2006 at 11:56:08 AM
