[lbo-talk] Democrats' Weapons of Mass Distraction

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
>>The question is not whether we should be happy or unhappy.  We 
>>aren't spectators.  The question is what we, as organizers and 
>>activists, should be doing now, now that we have an opportunity -- 
>>the cultural tide is turning against Bush & Co. -- but also _a 
>>danger_ -- the likelihood that they are going to send _more_ troops 
>>for _longer_ terms for a campaign of _counter-insurgency and 
>>"pacification"_ in order to defend the occupation.
>
>I just interviewed Anatol Lieven on the radio this afternoon (and 
>apologies, but I'm way behind on updating the radio archives - doing 
>final corrections/revisions on my book is taking for-goddam-ever). I 
>asked him what he made of the open insubordination we've been 
>hearing from GIs the last few days. He thought it was filtering down 
>from the officer corps, which never was happy about the Iraq 
>expedition, and in unhappier than ever now. They're also very pissed 
>at Rummy for being so imperious, and dismissing their (accurate and 
>now vindicated) worries about the mission.
>
>Doug

The 2003-2004 To-Do List on the Left:
* GI Organizing, Military Families Organizing, Black Organizing 
(Blacks are over-represented in the US military, esp. the Army rank & 
file, and most Blacks are opposed to the invasion & occupation of 
Iraq), Southern Organizing (most soldiers come from the South), Labor 
Left Organizing, Community Organizing in Predominantly Black & 
Immigrant Urban Neighborhoods (e.g., going door to door to collect 
signatures on petitions to Bring the Troops Home Now and End the 
Occupation at the same time as giving people of color flyers about 
the next local meeting, the next local or national demonstration, 
etc. against the Occupation, against Job & Social Program Cuts) -- 
all with a view to building a movement to Bring the Troops Home Now 
and End the Occupation, a social movement that goes beyond the 
boundaries of bipartisan consensus
* No commitment to immediate withdrawal, no vote.  DDP-BYOC (Drop the 
Democratic Party -- Build Your Own Campaign).

Doug Henwood's Guest Speaker List:
Stan Goff (Master Sergeant, US Army, Special Forces [Ret.]): 
<http://www.freedomroad.org/milmatters.html> & 
<http://www.softskull.com/store/goff/hideous_dream.html> (I hear that 
Stan is succeeding in engaging service members)
Todd Ensign, Citizen Soldier
Jeffrey McKenzie, a co-founder of Military Families Speak Out
Ajamu Dillahunt, Black Solidarity Against the War & United for Peace 
and Justice
Michael Letwin, New York City Labor Against War & United for Peace and Justice
-- 
Yoshie

* Calendars of Events in Columbus: 
<http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>, 
<http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/>
* Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/>
* Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio>
* Solidarity: <http://solidarity.igc.org/>