<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4611.1300" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Just watched Hitch on MSNBC, and when asked about Iraq he said that "It's already been decided. Saddam goes this year." Which doesn't come as a surprise, I suppose, but then he went on to say that Bush has chosen this moment to alienate and otherwise diminish the role of the Iraqi opposition who are ready to fight their own battle. The US seems to prefer either a military coup (and a nicer version of Saddam) or an all-out invasion.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Which leaves us with this question: What do "we" do once the invasion begins or coup takes place? Oppose the imperial designs, surely; but I'm confident that all of us here would have little problem seeing Saddam overthrown from within, even with CIA help. It seems to me that the simple-minded "No US War!" chant doesn't really apply anymore, that "we" are in for some major changes. The struggle is to insist that Saddam go -- not on Bush's terms, but on the Iraqi people's terms, and expand and develop this view in concert with post-Taliban Afghanistan and the crucial issue of Israel/Palestine, a place where I'd have no problem seeing US troops escorting the IDF and settlers back to the pre-1967 borders. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>DP</DIV></BODY></HTML>