An exit strategy for Iraq now - Tom Hayden

[Kevin Spidel]

An exit strategy for Iraq now
By Tom Hayden
TOM HAYDEN is a former state senator and the author of "Street Wars" (Dimensions, 2004).

August 16, 2005

PRESIDENT BUSH HAS so far fended off Cindy Sheehan, a grieving mother demanding to know the "noble purpose" of her son's death in Iraq. However, Bush has been forced to address the existence of the antiwar constituency for perhaps the first time, if only to distort and discredit its message of "troops out now." It is the right moment for the peace movement to turn its slogan into a strategy.

The rallying cry of "out now" expresses the belief that the Iraq war is not worth another minute in lost lives, lost honor, lost taxes, lost allies. But its very simplicity makes the demand easy to ignore or dismiss.

Meanwhile, the administration focuses on the appearance of progress in Iraq (thus its desperate interest in an Iraqi constitution, any constitution). It may well order a token withdrawal of troops to pacify peace sentiment through the 2006 congressional elections. Then, as with Vietnam in 1969, the war is likely to continue.

Those who have been proved right in opposing this war deserve a hearing alongside the military and national security "experts" who have dominated commentary since the March 2003 invasion. It is time to explain "out now" and for peace advocates to propose exit strategies of their own. Otherwise, both political parties will be stuck with the mind-set that an exit is possible only after "stability," meaning a military victory years from now (if ever).

more here: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-hayden16aug16,0,7169089.story

Online Petition here: http://www.pdamerica.org/petition/iraq-withdraw-petition.php

[SteppingRazor]

1. Ah Tom Hayden... one of the few constants in the antiwar movement.

Gotta give props to a guy that was a major face in the peace movement a decade before I was even on the planet. :toast:

[katty]

2. Tom is a constant-he has been through this hell before