Progressive Democrats Call For Quick Exit Strategy In Iraq Republicans have been blocking efforts to force the Bush administration to commit to a war exit strategy while GI death toll mounts to more than 70 this month and more than 1,870 since the beginning of the Iraqi occupation. In other news, crazy evangelist Pat Robertson publicly calls for the assassination of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. August 23, 2005
By Greg Szymanski
A group calling itself Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), founded by California activist and politician Ton Hayden, has collected more than 13,000 signatures seeking to present a petition to Congress, demanding an exit strategy be immediately fashioned to end the Iraqi occupation.
Hayden, long known for his anti-war position dating back to Vietnam and his marriage to activist Jane Fonda, said the petition will be formally presented to Congress on Sept. 15.
“As the death toll in Iraq escalates and support for the Iraq war plummets, a national consensus has taken root that current U.S. strategies there have failed and cannot bring about peace and stability in that country” wrote Hayden in the anti-war petition.
“While President Bush and his chief advisors seem in deep denial, it is overwhelmingly apparent to the rest of the nation that we are faced with only one question: How to exit Iraq.”
The petition then goes on to list five essential principles that must be adhered to along with a complete and thorough exit strategy to be given by Congress and the Bush administration to end the needless occupation.
According to the PDA, the principles for ending the Vietnam-like quagmire in Iraq, include:
- The US government must declare it has no interest in permanent military bases or controlling Iraqi oil or other resources.
- The US government must set goals for ending the occupation and bringing all our troops home, in months, not years, beginning with an initial withdrawal of troops by the end of this year.
- The US government must request that the United Nations monitor the process of military disengagement and de-escalation, and organize a peaceful reconstruction effort.
- The US government should appoint a peace envoy independent of the occupation authorities to underscore its commitment to an entirely different mission—that of a peace process ending the occupation and returning our soldiers home.
- The peace envoy should encourage and cooperate in talks with Iraqi groups opposed to the occupation, including insurgents, to explore a political settlement. The settlement must include representation of opposition forces and parties, and power-sharing and the protection of women's rights as core principles of governance and economic and energy development.
Previously, in May 2005, Rep. Lynn Woolsey introduced an amendment on the House floor, calling for President Bush to develop a plan for withdrawing from Iraq which was soundly defeated with only 123 Democrats and five Republicans voting in favor of a White House exit plan.
Behind the scenes, for months Rep. Woolsey has requested bipartisan hearings for an exit strategy, but has been consistently blocked by republican committee heads friendly to the neo-con movement inside the Bush administration.
And while politicians ignore leaving the Iraq, growing resistance to the war is mounting among millions of Americans frustrated with President Bush’s stubbornness a to even address his alleged illegal motives behind the Iraqi invasion by doctoring WMD intelligence reports to justify the war.
Further, the casualties are mounting this month in Iraq with more than 70 troops killed, bringing the total to more than 1,870 since the beginning of the occupation.
After hearing of the PDA petition for a speedy exit strategy, Rep. Woolsey, said:
“Everything about this war has been a ruinous debacle: the way we got into it, the way we've conducted it, the refusal of a plan for disengagement, the high price - in dollars and lives - we've paid for it. It must end as soon as possible. There is only one solution: bring the troops home."
Other groups backing PDA and Rep. Woolsey’s efforts include After Downing Street, National Organization for Women (NOW), Democrats.com, Women's Action for New Directions and Peace Majority.
OTHER NEWS:
Robertson Says Kill President Chavez
Right wing evangelist Pat Robertson today called for the assassination of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, calling him a menace to the free world after the democratically-elected leader today publicly announced he would sell oil to America for a reduced rate in order to help impoverished Americans who could no longer afford high gas prices.
Chavez dismissed Robertson’s statements as ridiculous, but did mention again before a scheduled meeting in Cuba with Fidel Castro today that American hit squads have been actively trying to kill him ever since he has refused to accept lopsided terms from the Bush administration regarding Venezuelan crude.
Venezuela is a major player in the world-wide oil markets, amounting to the fourth largest U.S. exporter, which is why the Bush administration is paying such close attention to the Chavez who has repeatedly defied Bush, calling him a Hitler-style dictator who is out to have him assassinated.
In the past, Chavez has called attention to a 2002 failed coup which he said was orchestrated by American covert operatives meddling in his country’s affairs. He also has recently ended cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement AGENCY (DEA), saying the agency is used to gather intelligence information against Venezuelan interests.
In response to Robertson’s statement, the State Department was quick to denounce it as being contrary to American foreign policy. Also former CIA Director John McClaughlin said it’s never been the policy of America to assassinate foreign leaders, although it has long been common knowledge, brought out in the open by numerous federal whistle blowers, that U.S. assassination hit squads are commonplace.
Also, if assassinating of foreign leaders is not included in American foreign policy, McClaughlin is forgetting about an old CIA “assassination manual” recently made public, which will be reprinted in part in the Arctic Beacon later this week, explicitly providing details for the training of future CIA agents in the art of assassinating leaders who oppose American interests.
Regarding the Robertson death threat, the Venezuelan Ambassador, Bernardo Alvarez, immediately demanded the Bush administration immediately denounce in the strongest possible terms what amounts to a “desire to commit a terrorist act.”
(COMTEX) B: Venezuelan energy minister goes to China amid spat with U.S. ( EFE )
Beijing, Aug 24, 2005 (EFE via COMTEX) -- Venezuela's oil minister was on an official visit to the Chinese capital Wednesday amid an escalation of animosity between Caracas and Washington that included a warning from the major South American oil supplier that it might cut off the flow of its crude to the United States.
Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez's arrival in the Chinese capital was confirmed by Venezuelan diplomats, who refused to comment on the trip.
Ramirez said he would not meet with reporters during his stay in Beijing.
"We're ready to cut off the supply and determined to defend our rights," Ramirez said last week, referring to sales of crude to its top customer and political antagonist, the United States.
"The U.S. market is not indispensable for us," President Hugo Chavez said at the time, a statement seconded by Ramirez, who said Venezuela had other customers for its oil in the world, among them China.
Venezuela, a member of OPEC, is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and the fourth-biggest supplier of crude to the United States.
Venezuela's government feels it is the target of a sustained campaign of aggression by Washington designed to destabilize the country and achieve the ouster of Chavez, a close friend and ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro.
Tensions have risen to new heights this week in the wake of U.S. right-wing religious broadcaster Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of Chavez.
Robertson, a Christian fundamentalist preacher and candidate for the U.S. presidency in 1988, made the suggestion Monday on his "The 700 Club" show.
"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war," Robertson said.
Both the State Department and the Pentagon said Robertson's on-air screed against the Venezuelan populist represented only the comments of a private citizen and that the U.S. government does not engage in political assassination.
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