> Chicago Tribune - December 6, 2005
>
> Obama: Iraq war splits Democrats
>
> By Jeff Zeleny and Rick Pearson
> Tribune staff reporters
>
> Sen. Barack Obama said Monday that the Democratic Party was
> unlikely to reconcile its differences and reach a unified strategy
> for Iraq, conceding: "The politics and the policy of this may not
> match perfectly."
>
> As Democrats work to win control of Congress in the 2006 elections,
> Obama (D-Ill.) said a cacophony of views over the Iraq war
> threatens to divide the party once again.
>
> "It is arguable that the best politics going into '06 would be a
> clear succinct message: `Let's bring our troops home,' " Obama
> said. "It's certainly easier to communicate and I think would
> probably have some pretty strong resonance with the American
> people right now, but whether that's the best policy right now, I
> don't feel comfortable saying it is."
>
> In an interview with the Tribune's editorial board, Obama renewed
> his opposition to immediately pulling troops from Iraq. A growing
> number of Democrats and liberal groups have called for a troop
> withdrawal, while party leaders such as Sens. Joseph Lieberman of
> Connecticut and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York have dismissed
> such efforts as dangerously misguided.
>
> "It's a little too early to tell how coherent the Democratic
> message is," Obama said. If quick progress isn't made in Iraq, he
> added, "you're probably going to see strong differences within the
> party leadership about how to proceed."
Lately, we've heard interesting news of parliamentary shakeups: Canada (a 171-133 vote of no confidence in the Liberal government), Israel (the center-right splits from the far right and unites with the center-right), and Germany (the left wing of the center bolts and unites with the social democratic left, denying both the center right and the right a majority and compelling them to cohabit).
Can the Iraq War become as great a divider as slavery? Can American leftists follow the example of German leftists, i.e., building their own independent force, splitting the Democratic Party, and denying both Democrats and Republicans a majority?
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org>