Leave No Soldier Behind

posted by Peter Rothberg on 08/27/2008 @ 3:51pm

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Despite polls showing that the majority of Americans are sick and tired of war in Iraq, see the invasion as a mistake, and want the troops to return home, the Democrats have managed to go through half of their quadrennial convention with barely a mention of the conflict. It's safe to say that expeditiously ending the war is not now the Democratic presidential priority that many Obama supporters would like it to be -- and the pro-war Biden's selection certainly doesn't help.

The Iraqis themselves may succeed in establishing a plan to kick us out before the next US president even has the chance to put his stamp on a new policy but, in any case, the more political pressure that can be applied on whoever is occupying the White House, the more likely he'll be to implement a speedy withdrawal.

I haven't been focusing nearly enough on the many efforts underway to end the war. So today I'm going to start regularly highlighting antiwar initiatives, projects, protests and programs. Peace Action's No Soldier Left Behind is a campaign promoting a comprehensive plan to end the war and embark on humane reconstruction through a withdrawal of all troops and private contractors within one year; a "diplomatic surge" that engages Iraq's neighbors (including Iran and Syria) and the international community; major donor efforts for Iraqi-controlled reconstruction and humanitarian aid and the establishment of international peacekeeping and stabilization forces, if requested by the Iraqi people. The campaign is collecting names on this petition urging the next president to consider the goals enshrined above.

No Soldier Left Behind is also a network of volunteers who are confronting candidates at campaign stops and pushing them to answer tough questions about what they plan to do about Iraq, if elected. Between now and November, the aim is to build momentum in Congress and on the campaign trail behind a plan to replace the open-ended occupation with a diplomatic surge and resources to rebuild Iraq, delivering a clear mandate to the policymakers we send to DC in 2009. Click here for information on the volunteer network page, including how to get involved.

Witness Against War is another grassroots effort to draw attention to the necessity of ending the war ASAP. The campaign holds both the Democrats and Republicans accountable and responsible for continuing and ending the Iraq war and is currently staging a 500-mile walk from Chicago to Saint Paul, which the marchers expect to reach on August 31 to march in step with the Veterans for Peace at planned antiwar protests at the Republican National Convention.

Let me know what other antiwar efforts I should be covering and listen to a podcast of a conversation recorded yesterday in Denver as part of The Nation's daily conversation series at the Democratic National Convention. In this discussion, The Nation's John Nichols, Nation editorial board member Tom Hayden and Rep. Jim McDermott offer the details for what could be both a progressive and responsible plan for expeditiously bringing the troops home.

Comments (36)

"The Iraqis themselves may succeed in establishing a plan to kick us out before the next US president even has the chance to put his stamp on a new policy but,....

posted by Peter Rothberg on 08/27/2008 @ 3:51pm

I'm betting that's how it goes down, and ends.

Posted by Benchrest at 08/27/2008 @ 3:57pm
According to right-wing poster PONTIFICUS...

we've "won in Iraq"...(past tense)

but if we leave, we'll "lose" (future tense).

But if McCain says (as he likely will shortly after the Convention) that "conditions on the ground have changed" (past tense)...

then PONTI (and other neo-cons) will say "We will leave" (future tense) "because we'll have really, really, really won" (past tense).

Oh and "Oceania has always been at war with EastAsia!"

Posted by Maskdelta at 08/27/2008 @ 3:59pm
Peter,

I think the "It's the Economy, stupid" campaign of Bill Clinton in 92 is what Democrats and Obama have decided to focus on since this appears to be McCain's weak spot.

McCain has admitted that the economy is NOT his strong suit, and by hammering away at the economy we might force him to pick Romney, another elitist rich dude like McSeven who is out of touch with mainstream America and probably has 10 houses in addition to the sprawling mansion compound in Massachusetts.

Get it?

Posted by Metteyya at 08/27/2008 @ 4:02pm
Okay, update, PETER...

PONTI now says that "plans for withdrawal can be executed in 12 months"...

but the Obama Plan is still too dangerous to enact if he gets elected!

"The gin ration has been UPPED to 4 ounces per week...ignore Goldstein-inspired tales that MiniPlenty said it would be reduced to 6 ounces a week!!!"

Posted by Maskdelta at 08/27/2008 @ 4:07pm
The Repubs will always win on Lower Taxes.....---Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/27/2008 @ 4:14pm

Yep, and they ALWAYS leave us with huge deficits and massive debt.

They ARE consistant!

Posted by Maskdelta at 08/27/2008 @ 4:20pm
Peter, Are we not to leave leaded solder or the unleaded solder behind?! LOL

The idea is great what you are doing here. I am getting a little worried about this Georgia thing now. With W steaming a bunch of NATO ships into the Black Sea to "keep an eye on those Ruskies", if some idiot commander screws up, we could end up in a serious mess.

Somebody needs to tell W to quit sticking radar systems on the Russian border and provoking them (that is unless they really do want to start a war).

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/27/2008 @ 4:20pm
>>>The Repubs will always win on Lower Taxes.....

Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/27/2008 @ 4:14pm<<<

Not this time, HAP, because only RICH DUDES like McSeven houses and Romney will have their taxes go up, and the vast majority of VOTERS - who are not rich - will not see a tax increase at all.

Posted by Metteyya at 08/27/2008 @ 4:22pm
I think they could combine the economy and the occupation of Iraq by declaring "It's the WAR Economy, Stupid!" It's obvious to me that high gas prices and national dept are integrally linked to the BILLIONS spent on this occupation. If Obama can't win this one I don't know where our county will go. Peace Action has another innovative campaign going state by state to defederalize the National Guard. Especially with the anniversary of Katrina coming up this Friday we are all FULLY aware of the loss of our National Guard to this Iraq quagmire.

Posted by BarbPA at 08/27/2008 @ 5:02pm
Posted by Zero at 08/27/2008 @ 4:29pm

Biden clearly was NOT my first or even second or third pick for VP, and I think this Georgia "timely" invasion had a lot to do with him being on the ticket.

But now that he is on the ticket, we need to focus on how he might help Obama win and hope that our voices will temper any Biden foreign policy initiatives that continue to push this country in the wrong direction.

Biden is just one of many voices that Obama will listen to in crafting US foreign policy, and for Obama's ambitious domestic agenda to become a reality, it is clear that the budget can not continue to have defense and unnecessary war expenditures crowding out other domestic priorities.

Posted by Metteyya at 08/27/2008 @ 5:03pm
The Repubs will always win on Lower Taxes.....I'd be extremely surprised to see the Demos put any emphasis on raising taxes.....the average folks mayresent the well-off having done well these past 8 years, but most of them just know tax increases mean less jobs and opportunities.

Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/27/2008 @ 4:14pm

HAPPY is right on this one... We all know how amazingly trickle down works. The rich get richer and everyone else...well fuck 'em, it's not my problem. Hey everyone, 80's party at HAPPY'S house this Saturday night!

Posted by ADHD at 08/27/2008 @ 5:05pm
Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/27/2008 @ 4:58pm

What EXACTLY are we betting on?

Are we betting on whether Obama will ONLY raise taxes on rich dudes like McCain and Romney or that Republicans will NOT succeed in their effort to distort Obama's "rich-dude tax" into an inaccurate general tax increase for all Americans?

Posted by Metteyya at 08/27/2008 @ 5:16pm
HAP,

Just in case McSeven houses is thinking about Pawlenty as someone that will shore up his economic weakness as opposed to his fellow rich dude Romney, he should probably read the bi-partisan joint economic committee report on the health of the Minnesotan economy under Pawlenty's watch:

Joint Economic Committee

Minnesota Economic Health

WAGES LAGGING PRODUCTIVITY; JOB GROWTH ABYSMAL Minnesota's Median Household Income Averaged Fell by $4,103 From 1999-2000 to 2005-2006. Despite strong gains in productivity, workers' wages are only marginally higher than they were 25 years ago, and after adjusting for inflation, nationally, the income of a typical American household fell by $962, or 2.0 percent, to $48,201 between 2000 and 2006. In Minnesota, real median household income averaged $60,205 over the 1999-2000 period, compared with $56,102 over the 2005-2006 period, a decline of $4,103 . [Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, available here. Following Census guidance on how to use state level data, this fact sheet compares the two- year average for 1999-2000, the last years of the Clinton Administration, to the two-year average for 2005-2006 to analyze changes in household income, poverty and health insurance coverage under President Bush. For more information, see the JEC's August 29, 2007 fact sheet on household income, available here. Note: These and all other dollar amounts are expressed in constant 2006 dollars.] Minnesota's Economy Has Added Only 78,200 Jobs Since 2000. President Bush is in a statistical dead heat with his father for the worst job creation record of any president since Herbert Hoover, having created only 5.7 million jobs since he took office in January 2001. That averages out to a mere 72,000 new jobs a month nationwide.

Posted by Metteyya at 08/27/2008 @ 5:40pm
Minnesota's payrolls totaled 2.8 million jobs in July 2007, only 78,200 more than in January 2001. The manufacturing sector has been hit particularly hard, with payrolls nationwide declining by 3.1 million jobs between January 2001 and July 2007, and by 50,800 in Minnesota over the same period. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, available here.] FAMILIES ARE FEELING THE PRESSURE OF RISING EXPENSES Gas Prices in Minnesota Have Increased 58 Percent Since 2001. Rising energy costs are making it more difficult for American families to stretch their household budgets. After adjusting for inflation, the average retail price per gallon of unleaded gasoline across the country rose more than 60 percent between August 2001 and August 2007. The real average retail price per gallon at pumps in Minnesota jumped 58 percent over the same time period. In fact, gas prices in all 50 states increased between August 2001 and August 2007. [Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, available here; American Automobile Association, available here. Note: Changes in the price of gasoline account for inflation over the period.] Health Care Premiums Have Risen 37.5 Percent in Minnesota Since 2000. Health insurance premiums have risen four times faster than wages over the past six years on a national level. Between 2000 and 2005, the average monthly premium paid by workers for family health coverage rose 39.7 percent, after adjusting for inflation. In 2005, the average inflation-adjusted health care premium for family coverage in Minnesota was $11,200, which is 37.5 percent higher than it was in 2000. Similarly, the average health care premium for individual coverage in Minnesota has risen 27.9 percent since 2000, to an estimated $4,060 in 2005. [Agency

Posted by Metteyya at 08/27/2008 @ 5:40pm
>>>When taxes are raised on anyone we all pay it anyway....

...tax the hell out of the rich, who do provide the jobs with their investments,and they retract their investments(as I would) instead of leaving it in a position to have them taxed away,...this forces the rich to asess their risks and perhaps put their money in safe havens....the treasury then realises a drop in revenues, a SHORT FALL and looks to fill it...the rich are sidelined and then you end up with whats left...the middle...and any tax that does hit the rich and the corporations is passed on to the consumers who pay it in the cost of the product or services...the middle...

and presto..I didn't raise your taxes!!! Yet the man on the street who works everyday has less money for himself to spend as HE sees fit..

Posted by JOMAMMA at 08/27/2008 @ 5:34pm <<<

JOMAMMA,

This is TRICKLE-DOWN nonsense!

The rich ALWAYS avoid taxes, regardless of the tax rate because they are SELFISH BASTARDS!

This is why they hire fancy tax avoidance lawyers instead of paying their fare share.

And corporations can ONLY pass on higher taxes to consumers in a CLOSED NATIONAL ECONOMY. When you have global competition like all of those "made in China" stickers you see on your clothes nowadays, unless you can increase the taxes proportionally on these foreign corporations, you put US companies at a competitive disadvantage if taxes are passed to consumers.

The economist who came up with this supply-side trickle down nonsense should be tarred and feathered, because with most economic theories, it only seems valid if you make a whole bunch of assumptions, most of which have no basis in reality.

Entrepreneurs take risks to create jobs because they want to be rich, and pay absolutely NO attention to the prevailing US tax rate.

Posted by Metteyya at 08/27/2008 @ 5:51pm
Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/27/2008 @ 6:31pm

Nice story HAP, but I fail to see how this supports trickle-down or shows why taxes on the rich and large corporations necessarily leads to higher prices for consumers or fewer jobs.

Are you saying you would have dropped 5-10k in Angel Fire if taxes were not so high on rich dudes?

I think your statement that "For various reasons, not because of high gas/travel costs, my wife & I haven't gone anywhere" says more about your unique circumstances than taxes on the rich and trickle-down economics.

Posted by Metteyya at 08/27/2008 @ 6:42pm
HAPP, I got one for you (MAASCH too, if he likes)...

Do you think the economy was good under President Eisenhower?

Posted by Maskdelta at 08/27/2008 @ 7:47pm
Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/27/2008 @ 7:37pm

HAP,

I know you don't know me, but I am in the market every day with Green stocks.

Unless you are playing the indices (dow, s&p, etc), the overall perception of investors concerning the economy is useless.

Most people in the market are like me, and are either focused on certain sectors or individual stocks. These stocks go up and down regardless of what happens to Bush's tax cuts, so you are way off base there.

The overall market is down because of the subprime mess and associated stocks. This mess was caused by Republican policies of loosening regulation and restrictions on what commercial banks could invest in.

I made a lot of money last year "shorting" (betting the stock would go down in value) Countrywide and other subprimes, while continuing my long positions in Green stocks. And, no, taxes played absolutely no role in my decision to invest.

So you should be blaming Phil Gramm and George Bush for your stock losses, not Barack Obama!

Supply-side economic theory is great in the classroom when you can control all of the assumptions and variables, but as a real-world economic philosophy it is useless save for a pretext and cover for rich folks to escape paying their fare share of taxes.

Posted by Metteyya at 08/27/2008 @ 8:08pm
"For various reasons, not because of high gas/travel costs, my wife & I haven't gone anywhere....."Trickle down" sounds too complicated for the everyman, but it should have inherent truth to the economically literate!"

Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/27/2008 @ 6:31pm

You're explaining & defending an unarguably polarizing system of economics based on your personal experience with tralvel/vacation plans? You didn't get to drop $10G's in Vegas, so all the poor fuckers working there didn't get trickled on by you? HAPPY, I see what you're trying to say, but it's a pretty bizarre way to defend Reaganomics. Who cares about you're anectdotal vacation plans when millions of Americans don't have access to affordable healthcare, and millions live below the poverty line in this country? Are you and your faux upper-middle class contemporaries going to trickle adequate health care onto wounded vets languishing in VA hospitals?

I'll bring the blow to the 80's party this weekend!

Posted by ADHD at 08/27/2008 @ 8:22pm
The Repubs will always win on Lower Taxes.....

Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/27/2008 @ 4:14pm

YES,

AND THEN THEY WILL BANKRUPT THE TREASURY,

BORROW BAZILLIONS FROM THE "ENEMY",

AND LOWER INTEREST RATES SO MUCH THAT THE MONEY TURNS INTO CHEWING GUM!

excellent.

Posted by frosty zoom at 08/27/2008 @ 10:00pm
In fack, there is a movement among the troops to force Obama to admit that the surge worked and that progress is being made because of their efforts. there are no politicians over there doing the fighting.

No it didn't. First, the relative completion of the ethnic cleaning in Baghdad was responsible for the relative lack of violence there now. Second, the Sunnis had turned on al-Qaida before hand. The surge benefited from, and assisted that trend, but it didn't create it. It also helped that we started paying off the Sunni leaders.

The surge was supposed to create a space for a political solution. The key issues of Kirkuk and the provincial election haven't been resolved. Further, the Maliki government has started going after the Sunni leaders, so how long do you think their quiescence will last?

Posted by brunowe at 08/28/2008 @ 03:02am
AND THEN THEY WILL BANKRUPT THE TREASURY,

BORROW BAZILLIONS FROM THE "ENEMY",

AND LOWER INTEREST RATES SO MUCH THAT THE MONEY TURNS INTO CHEWING GUM!

excellent.

Posted by frosty zoom at 08/27/2008 @ 10:00pm

Frosty, Nice to see you back!!! Haven't the rethugs already reduced the dollars worth to chewing gum already? I thought that was W's master plan....to lower the dollar's worth so businessesmen from other countries could get Americans to work for next to nothing. Kind of like China, but in reverse.

What we are seeing here is a planned erosion of workers rights, benefits, hours etc. Under Reagan the big thing was converting workers over to part time so that companies didn't have to pay benefits since most of their employees were "part time" workers.

Under Clinton and W, companies were allowed to raid the cookie jar in the form of workers pension plans to make their net worth appear more than it was. When the dot.com bubble bursted, they raided these pension plans the same way during the present housing bubble burst. Look at the airline industry for an example of this.

So, people who worked for companies for years got a fraction of the pension plan that kept them working at company X for many years thinking they had their nest egg to retire. However; the management and CEO's of the same companies kept their bonus checks, retirements funds without a hitch. W and companies reaction to all this was to "let the market handle it".

Rethugs are the party of the rich plain and simple. It'them (the rich) versus us (the not rich). We outnumber them by quite a bit. One day, we may just decide to take it all back whether they like it or not.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/28/2008 @ 04:14am
Ever heard of the multiplier effect? IF not, you're not qualified to discuss anything on economics!

Damn, us Conservatives spend way too much time edumycating Libs!

Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/27/2008 @ 11:42pm

Happy, I know all about the multiplier effect. This is the exact reason we are in the defecit mess we are in. A bank makes a loan of 10k and the banking system makes $100k off the debt of money they don't have to lend in the first place. Quite the legalized scam if I do say so myself.

I'd love to be able to loan money I don't have to people so I can make profits off money I never had in the first place.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/28/2008 @ 04:17am
Ever heard of the multiplier effect? IF not, you're not qualified to discuss anything on economics!

Damn, us Conservatives spend way too much time edumycating Libs!

Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/27/2008 @ 11:42pm

Happy, Here's little more on this topic you brilliant rethugs evidently know and try to keep from the masses. The system in place is in fact a trickle up system, not trickle down.

There's a term called usary where banks control the debt of it's customers to the point where people are indebted to them for life which is the goal of the banking system. People then have to work to their whole lives off to pay debt off to the banking system. And once again, this debt was based off money the bank never had in the first place.

The cause of this is a privatized banking system that is controlled by the fed, which nothing more than privatized banks controlling the interest rates. This system needs to be trashed, and the federal government needs to take control of the debt / interest rates of the land versus private interests controlling it. We've seen how these so called honest businessmen handle the currency to their advantage to screw everyone else.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/28/2008 @ 04:30am
and presto..I didn't raise your taxes!!! Yet the man on the street who works everyday has less money for himself to spend as HE sees fit..

Posted by JOMAMMA at 08/27/2008 @ 5:34pm

What you are telling us here is that Bush has been taxing the rich to heavily?! Because right now, the dollar is dropping in value every day and the common person has less and less to spend. Doesn't that pretty much shoot you whole line of reasoning down the drain?

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/28/2008 @ 07:13am
Has anyone ever met an honest re-puke?I haven`t.They are all in it for them selves they don`t care about our country only what they can steal from it, they put their party ahead of the needs of this country.They care nothing for the poor and low income, they say get more education, which is very exspensive, so where do they get the money?Gov`t loans credit card.Why are we such a wealthy nation that we cannot have free college education like other countries?I`ll tell you why because the re-pukes are scared of progressives and their social agenda that will gobble up the re-pukes money for a Foreign Agenda that makes them wealthy off of our soldiers.Re-pukes started to destroy our country under Ray -Gun and have continued this neo liberal trade policies that have caused jobs to be sent overseas and we here in the middle class and working class suffer and work two jobs and can`t afford a vacation and don`t tell me I need more education because I can`t afford it I have a family to feed.Re-pukes and their neocon/neolib dogmas have plauged this country long enough.We will rise up and get to the bottom of this mess of the last eight years and put this country back together the Left way where everybody gets and deseves a piece of the pie, not just the few at the top.

Posted by ams@50 at 08/28/2008 @ 10:20am
Has anyone ever met an honest re-puke?

Posted by ams@50 at 08/28/2008 @ 10:20am

No.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/28/2008 @ 10:51am
The Vietnamese had to kick US out, and alas the Iraqis will probably have to do the same.

Obama talks about residual forces, plans on letting the Green Zone remain in all its imperial splendor, and says nothing about the "enduring" bases.

The Iraqis will be doing the American people a big favor, the sooner they evict US the better.

There is NO strategic reason for the US to remain in Iraq. The Iraqis can't drink the oil & the US can always buy it on the open market.

Finally, Israel can stop dictating US foreign policy.

Posted by sloper at 08/28/2008 @ 11:31am
The Vietnamese had to kick US out, and alas the Iraqis will probably have to do the same.

Obama talks about residual forces, plans on letting the Green Zone remain in all its imperial splendor, and says nothing about the "enduring" bases.

The Iraqis will be doing the American people a big favor, the sooner they evict US the better.

There is NO strategic reason for the US to remain in Iraq. The Iraqis can't drink the oil & the US can always buy it on the open market.

Finally, Israel can stop dictating US foreign policy.

Posted by sloper at 08/28/2008 @ 11:31am

The Vietnamese didn't kick us out of Vietnam. The traiters in Congress did so by cutting off funds for our troops. We had the same kind of cowardly America hating jerks in the Democratic congress then as we do now. It seems the Dems like to recycle in bad ideas whenever they get the opportunity.

Posted by lvliberty1 at 08/28/2008 @ 1:04pm
Finally, Israel can stop dictating US foreign policy.

Posted by sloper at 08/28/2008 @ 11:31am

What, you telling us that AIPAC shouldn't dictate U.S. foreign policy?! You are obviously anti-semitic.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/28/2008 @ 1:08pm
The traiters in Congress did so by cutting off funds for our troops.

Posted by lvliberty1 at 08/28/2008 @ 1:04pm

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

kill the traitors!

kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill. kill.

Posted by frosty zoom at 08/28/2008 @ 2:42pm
sorry, lv.

jesus wants to reread page 367, however.

just kidding.

death is not the key to happiness, however.

step one in being happy is to be alive.

step number two is to make sure everybody else can enjoy step one

Posted by frosty zoom at 08/28/2008 @ 3:27pm
It seems the Dems like to recycle in bad ideas whenever they get the opportunity.

Posted by lvliberty1 at 08/28/2008 @ 1:04pm

Liv, Perhaps you can explain exactly why the U.S. was fighting in Vietnam? Did they attack us? Did they threaten to attack us? My last question is an easy one for you. How many Vietnamese people did will kill in that "police action"? Was it worth it? Now we are doing business with that same country we fought against and apparently those same evil people you thought the dem congress was so evil for stopping the war are evidently ok enough now to do business with.

So, which is it, is Vietnam another evil empire we need to kick the crap out of, that is, once we're done with Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, Russia, Iran, and China?

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/28/2008 @ 4:03pm
did will kill ..sorry, did we kill

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/28/2008 @ 4:04pm
This article wouldn't surprise me a bit. No doubt this will get JM, Liver, and Troll up in arms....only American propaganda is truth to them.

http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/29626

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/28/2008 @ 4:12pm
I thought Obama was getting us OUT of IRAQ!

Posted by bleedingheart at 08/29/2008 @ 06:31am
The traiters in Congress did so by cutting off funds for our troops. Posted by lvliberty1 at 08/28/2008 @ 1:04pm

god, are you dumb. traiters, hahahahaha, whatta jerk

Posted by emile duBois at 08/29/2008 @ 3:16pm