[Mb-civic] The Iraq War and MoveOn

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

Today's commentary:
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-08/19solomon.cfm

==================================

ZNet Commentary
The Iraq War and MoveOn August 19, 2005
By Norman Solomon 

The day after Wednesday night's nationwide vigils, the big headline at the
top of the MoveOn.org home page said: "Support Cindy Sheehan." But 
MoveOn
does not support Cindy Sheehan's call for swift withdrawal of U.S. troops
from Iraq.

 Many groups were important to the success of the Aug. 17 vigils, but the
 online powerhouse MoveOn was the largest and most prominent. After a long
 stretch of virtual absence from Iraq war issues, the organization
 deserves credit for getting re-involved in recent months. But the
 disconnects between MoveOn and much of the grassroots antiwar movement
 are disturbing.

 Part of the problem is MoveOn's routine fuzziness about the war -- and
 the way that the group is inclined to water down the messages of antiwar
 activism, much of which is not connected to the organization.

 Consider how the MoveOn website summarized the vigils: "Last night, tens
 of thousands of supporters gathered at 1,625 vigils to acknowledge the
 sacrifices made by Cindy Sheehan, her son Casey and the more than 1,800
 brave American men and women who have given their lives in Iraq -- and
 their moms and families." Such a gloss excludes a key reason why many
 people participated in the vigils: They wanted to express clear
 opposition to any further U.S. involvement in the war.

 Despite its high-profile role in the vigils this week, MoveOn is still
 not giving a high priority to addressing the Iraq war in its ongoing
 work. When I went to the MoveOn website today and looked at its roster of
 "Current Campaigns," just a single item on the list was focused on Iraq
 -- and that one, from June, involved "demanding that Bush address the
 evidence in the 'Downing Street Memo.'"

 The political action wing of MoveOn has committed itself to supporting
 congressional legislation, co-sponsored by Reps. Walter Jones and Neil
 Abercrombie, which would require the president to start withdrawing
 troops from Iraq ... by October 2006.

 In contrast, MoveOn never supported Rep. Lynn Woolsey's resolution,
 introduced early this year, stating that "the president should develop
 and implement a plan to begin the immediate withdrawal of United States
 Armed Forces from Iraq." (Despite the lack of MoveOn's support, the
 measure received 128 votes in the House.) Nor has MoveOn gotten behind
 Rep. Barbara Lee's more recent bill to prevent the establishment of
 permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.

 What if MoveOn were to directly ask its 3 million members (people who've
 signed up for its e-mailings) whether they favor the idea of waiting till
 autumn 2006 before the start of U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq -- or
 whether, on the other hand, those members would prefer that withdrawal
 get underway before the end of this year? I believe that most MoveOn
 members would opt for the latter scenario. But MoveOn policy is set by a
 few individuals who have not been willing to put such options in front of
 members for a vote.

 On Tuesday, the day before the vigils, Cindy Sheehan said in a conference
 call that the Jones-Abercrombie timeline is "not soon enough." She
 doesn't see any good reason to continue the U.S. military occupation;
 she's opposed to any delay in pulling out. And while it's all well and
 good for MoveOn to tell people to "Support Cindy Sheehan," the MoveOn
 leadership should publicly explain why the organization refuses to join
 her in supporting a swift withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq.

 During the next few weeks, MoveOn will have an opportunity to devote some
 of its appreciable resources to strengthening the antiwar movement. With
 an umbrella theme of "End the War on Iraq -- Bring the Troops Home Now,"
 protests in Washington and elsewhere are on the calendar for Sept. 24-26.
 The national coalition United for Peace & Justice is playing a key role
 in creating momentum for those demonstrations, which will begin an autumn
 of historic antiwar activism. Hopefully, MoveOn will catch up with its
 grassroots base and get involved in a supportive way.

__________________________________

Norman Solomon is the author of the new book "War Made Easy: How
Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death." For information, go to:
www.WarMadeEasy.com


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