In theory, I actally agree with the argument that -- no matter what Bush's intentions are or whether the US is an imperialist power -- if keeping US troops in Iraq for the time being is better for the people of Iraq than pulling them out, then they should be kept there. In the real world, however -- and this is almost always the case with US armed interventions since WWII -- this just isn't so. Iraq very well may look like Lebanon when the US pulls out; in many ways, it already does look like Lebanon. The US armed intervention itself has created the conditions for a civil war there. I don't see how the presence of US troops makes the prospect of a Lebanon-style civil war any less likely -- quite the contrary, in fact. Even if you didn't think so before, the "facts on the ground" clearly indicate that pulling US troops out is the eminenly sensible thing to do from the viewpoint of the Iraqi people's interests (I happen to have always thought that this was the case, but that's beside the point, too). People like Murtha are now coming to believe that such a pullout is eminently sensible for US imperialist strategic reasons as well. I think we need to do everything we can to encourage this view among these people, and this is definitely not the time to fall for any of the set-ups or diversions on the part of the war's ever-dwindling number of supporters.
The role of people on the left in all of this is to find ways to make the war politically untenable. Activities that aid this aim are the only anti-war activities that matter. The puritanism and sectarianism, and the endless bitching about things that we all already know (such as the fact that most Democrats are wishy-washy and cowardly on this question -- big fucking surprise) are all irrelevant. Just shut the fuck up and do some real work organizing real people on this -- or just shut the fuck up, period.
- - - - - - - - - - John Lacny http://www.johnlacny.com
Tell no lies, claim no easy victories