If John Kerry wins by a landslide victory, the Kerry regime will act as if it had a big mandate to call up 40,000 more troops and continue the occupation of Iraq. And who can blame Kerry? After all, he has already made his intention clear: "[H]aving gone to war, we have a responsibility to keep and a national interest to achieve in a stable and peaceful Iraq. To leave too soon would leave behind a failed state that inevitably would become a haven for terrorists and a threat to our future, a problem for the Middle East, and a dangerous setback in the war against terror. . . . If I am President of the United States, we will do whatever it takes to ensure that the 21st century American military is the strongest in the world. I will not hesitate to use force when it is needed to wage and win the War on Terror" (a speech delivered by Sen. John Kerry at George Washington University on March 17, <http://archive.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/03/17/kerry_military/print.html>); "We will maintain a robust military presence in Iraq for as long as it takes to help that country achieve security and stability" ("Progressive Internationalism: A Democratic National Security Strategy," p. 15, <http://www.ppionline.org/documents/Progressive_Internationalism_1003.pdf>); "Expected U.S. Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has also urged [Jose Luis Rodriguez] Zapatero to reconsider [his pledge to withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from Iraq], saying he should 'send a message that terrorists cannot win by their acts of terror'" ("Spanish Leader Rebuffs U.S. on Iraq Pullout," March 21, 2004, <http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/FlashNewsStory.aspx?FlashOID=15831>).
Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com, Sat Mar 20 18:05:59 PST 2004:
>"The defeat of Bush would be regarded globally as a victory." -
>Tariq Ali in NYC, Feb 20 2004
The subjunctive mood + the passive voice, as you notice.
The defeat of Bush might be regarded by some as a victory, but in truth it isn't a victory for workers of the world.
Tariq Ali says: "The big difference [between Europe and the United States] is that this opposition [to the invasion of Iraq] was not reflected on the level of official politics in the United States. The Democrats went along with the war. Kerry voted for it. . . . The overwhelming majority of Democrats went along with it, whereas this was not the case in Europe. Half the parliamentary Labour Party opposed Blair. Chirac and Schroeder, the leaders of Germany and France, said they weren't in favor of the war. That was the big difference, and unless and until this opposition in the States finds some representation, I think it's going to be incredibly frustrating" ("An Interview with Tariq Ali: Looking at Bush in Babylon," November 17, 2003, <http://solidarity.igc.org/atc/108TariqAli.html>).
The opposition to the wars and occupations need political representation.
B. docile_body at yahoo.com, Sat Mar 20 20:32:08 PST 2004
>Yoshie, I'm glad that 7 months before the US electiosn you'e
>"confident" that Bush will be voted out. Of course, that's no thanks
>to people like you.
Given the Democrats' nomination of a pro-war/anti-working-class candidate, your lack of confidence in Bush's electoral defeat is quite understandable.
Even Kerry should be able to manage to push out Bush, however, despite the Anybody But Bush crowd's lack of confidence in their own man.
I came to the conclusion that Bush is finished at the beginning of last October -- more than one year before the election in November 2004:
***** George W. Bush, c'est fini
* To: PEN-L at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * Subject: George W. Bush, c'est fini * From: Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1 at xxxxxxx> * Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 09:06:55 -0400
Bush is finished -- it's time to plan ahead for a struggle against a Democratic President in the White House who won't end the occupation of Iraq (thirteen months is a shorter period of time than you think).
***** New York Times October 3, 2003 Poll Shows Drop in Confidence on Bush Skill in Handling Crises By TODD S. PURDUM and JANET ELDER
The public's confidence in President Bush's ability to deal wisely with an international crisis has slid sharply over the past five months, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll has found. And a clear majority are also uneasy about his ability to make the right decisions on the nation's economy. . . .
<http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/pen-l/2003w39/msg00141.htm> *****
Bush's electoral defeat will be thanks to Iraqis' (armed and unarmed) resistance to the occupation, plus economic troubles after the end of the neoliberal recovery of US economy. -- Yoshie
* Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>