[Pacg] Support Binding Legislation NOW to stop Escalation in Iraq

[Carolina 1961]

Support BINDING Legislation NOW To Stop The Escalation In Iraq

Please call your members of Congress tollfree right now at, 800-828-0498,
800-459-1887 or 800-614-2803, and tell them to vote for S. 233/H. Res. 41.

ACTION PAGE: http://www.peaceteam.net/no_escalation2.php

A couple days ago we called for preemptive resolutions to oppose the
unpopular Bush escalation proposed for Iraq.  There are now at least two
measures pending to do just that.  In the Senate, Ted Kennedy has introduced
S. 233 which would prohibit the White House from spending any federal funds
on an increase of troop levels in Iraq without express Congressional
consent.  On the House side, Marty Meehan's H Res. 41 would require a
parallel authorization.  All we have to do is speak out in sufficient
numbers and these bills will become law.  The overnight polls show that
those numbers should definitely be there, if we can just inspire our friends
and neighbors to take vocal action.  Dennis Kucinich is also bringing
forward a resolution to actually mandate a phased withdrawal and we will
support that too when it is introduced.

With regards to the Kennedy bill, Harry Reid was quoted yesterday as saying
he would "prefer" a non-binding resolution as way of sending a "message" to
the president.  Despite his recent letter advocating against the escalation,
on the point of what actual action to take Harry Reid has it wrong.  The
only message non-binding resolutions would send is that Congress lacks the
courage to confront the incorrigible bullies in the White House.  We might
as well set up a special conference room in the Capitol for public hand
wringing.  By defying absolutely the entire rest of the government not
including his few remaining quislings, George Bush is deliberately FORCING a
Constitutional crisis.  We have no choice but to stand up to him directly
and immediately.

There were many entirely false premises in Bush's awkward and uncomfortable
speech last night.  But central to it all was the assertion that the Iraqi
people want us in their country to bring them our wonderful democratic
system of government.  That time is long past.  Absolutely every poll there
demonstrates they overwhelmingly want us to just leave.  The entire world
knows George Bush invaded Iraq for the SOLE purpose of stealing their oil
resources.  Talk about bringing our kind of government to Iraq, they are
about to try to force through a new hurry-up hydrocarbon law to cut up and
encumber their oil fields that nobody in the Iraqi Parliament there has even
read yet.  Isn't that the way they used to pass legislation here in our own
country, in the middle of the night without even a fair read?

It's not just Democrats, there are many Republicans who increasingly alarmed
by the new Bush lurch in the direction of sheer madness.  Chuck Hagel was
quoted as saying, "This is a dangerously wrong-headed strategy that will
drive America deeper into an unwinnable swamp at a great cost."  That's an
understatement.  Although all the pre-speech marketing was about some kind
of temporary "surge," Bush used that word not one time in his prepared
statement.  Instead he painted a picture of at LEAST another year of ever
increasing violence, backed up with barely veiled threats to wage full scale
war on BOTH Iran and Syria.  All those air craft carriers steaming to the
Persian Gulf are not going there for R & R.  They even have a shiny new
naval commander installed in charge of Iraq now, to direct the launch of the
cruise missiles.

The plain facts are these.  The only reason why the Iraqi people endured the
charade of purple finger elections was they thought if they indulged us in
that we might actually leave.  As fed up as the American public is with our
military presence there, the Iraqi people are even more so.  Bush has made
an unholy alliance with a stooge (al Maliki) of some of the very Islamic
militants (al Sadr) they have been rattling sabers at for the last four
years.  And when he warns that the Iraqi government will fall without being
propped up by our uranium spitting gun ships, it is because it is too
corrupt and infiltrated to survive on its own.  As horrific as the
casualties have been so far, under Bush they are just starting.

ACTION PAGE: http://www.peaceteam.net/no_escalation2.php

We must raise every possible voice to call for support of the S. 233 and H.
Res 41 right now.  These must pass by overwhelming margins.  We have very
little time.  Bush did not even wait to make his announcement to start
deploying the new troops.  We have an outlaw administration bent on turning
a disaster into an utter debacle.  Bush must be stopped.  And nothing can
arrest him but your voices, to pressure your members of Congress to act
against him without equivocation or fear.

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be
ours.
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