Four US soldiers were blown up in Baghdad yesterday, pushing the US military death toll in Iraq to 4,000 just days into the sixth year of a war that President George W. Bush says the United States is on track to win.
The recent flurry of coverage marking the latest tragic milestone in Iraq belies the decreasing reporting on the war in our major (and minor and alternative) media of late. Despite this media neglect the death count in the country continued unabated. As of last week’s fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, 1,189, 173 Iraqis had died as a consequence of the invasion, according to this count. Yet in April, Congress will vote to give George Bush another $102 billion blank check for military operations in Iraq on top of past spending of more than $562 billion.
Congress has the power to stop this funding but our reps must be persuaded that their livelihood depends on doing the right thing in Iraq. One great way to convince your elected legislators to stand firm on war funding is to join the efforts of Democrats.com to convene Town Hall meetings nationwide. Passionate citizens willing to speak out and hold their reps accountable are a great way to get a pol’s attention.
Democrats.com has 500,000 members, roughly 1,000 in each district. That’s more than enough to fill 435 Iraq Town Halls, if just two committed activists in each district take the lead in organizing an event. If a bunch of Nation.com readers jump in it’ll make it easier still. Democrats.com has created easy-to-use web tools and assembled useful links to help activists in their organizing. Click here to help organize a Town Hall on the Iraq War.
