No, there hasn’t been a tidal wave of Dem voices, but there are some important Democrats who are demanding we leave Iraq. John Murtha was the first, and still the most frequently outspoken Democratic politician to call for a withdrawal from Iraq, but lately he has been joined by another prominent Democrat in the Senate: John Kerry.
I know many of us have been critical of Mr. Kerry for failing to make leaving Iraq the centerpiece of his campaign in 2004 (I know I was), but lately he has begun to call bullshit on our entire policy in Iraq, and for that I salute him. Many of you have no doubt heard of his demand that we pull our troops out of Iraq within a year at the latest, but perhaps you haven’t read yet the speech he gave at Faneuil Hall in Boston last week.
Well, you should (excerpts below):
. . . I have come here today to reaffirm that it was right to dissent in 1971 from a war that was wrong. And to affirm that it is both a right and an obligation for Americans today to disagree with a President who is wrong, a policy that is wrong, and a war in Iraq that weakens the nation.
I believed then, just as I believe now, that the best way to support the troops is to oppose a course that squanders their lives, dishonors their sacrifice, and disserves our people and our principles. When brave patriots suffer and die on the altar of stubborn pride, because of the incompetence and self-deception of mere politicians, then the only patriotic choice is to reclaim the moral authority misused by those entrusted with high office.
I believed then, just as I believe now, that it is profoundly wrong to think that fighting for your country overseas and fighting for your country’s ideals at home are contradictory or even separate duties. They are, in fact, two sides of the very same patriotic coin. . . .
Dissenters are not always right, but it is always a warning sign when they are accused of unpatriotic sentiments by politicians seeking a safe harbor from debate, from accountability, or from the simple truth.
Truth is the American bottom line. Truth above all is fundamental to who we are. It is no accident that among the first words of the first declaration of our national existence it is proclaimed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident…”.
[snip]
The War in Vietnam and the War in Iraq are now converging in too many tragic respects.
As in Vietnam, we engaged militarily in Iraq based on official deception.
As in Vietnam, we went into Iraq ostensibly to fight a larger global war under the misperception that the particular theater was just a sideshow, but we soon learned that the particular aspects of the place where we fought mattered more than anything else.
And as in Vietnam, we have stayed and fought and died even though it is time for us to go.
[snip]
So we must set another deadline to extricate our troops and get Iraq up on its own two feet.
Iraqi politicians should be told that they have until May 15 to deal with these intransigent issues and at last put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military. If Iraqis aren’t willing to build a unity government in the five months since the election, they’re probably not willing to build one at all. The civil war will only get worse, and we will have no choice anyway but to leave.
If Iraq’s leaders succeed in putting together a government, then we must agree on another deadline: a schedule for withdrawing American combat forces by year’s end. Doing so will actually empower the new Iraqi leadership, put Iraqis in the position of running their own country and undermine support for the insurgency, which is fueled in large measure by the majority of Iraqis who want us to leave their country.
In addition to these prominent voices are the members of the Out of Iraq Caucus in the House of Represenatatives who also deserve credit for their brave and patriotic stance in demanding an end to our occupation of Iraq:
Rep. Maxine Waters, Chair, Co-Founder;
Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Co-Founder;
Rep. John Conyers, Co-Founder;
Rep. Charlie Rangel, Co-Founder;
Rep. Barbara Lee, Co-Founder;
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Co-Founder;
Rep. William Delahunt, Co-Founder;
Rep. John Lewis, Co-Founder;
Rep. Neil Abercrombie;
Rep. Tammy Baldwin;
Rep. Xavier Becerra;
Rep. Corrine Brown;
Rep. Sherrod Brown;
Rep. Lois Capps;
Rep. Michael Capuano;
Rep. Julia Carson;
Rep. Donna Christensen;
Rep. William Lacy Clay;
Rep. Elijah Cummings;
Rep. Danny Davis;
Rep. Peter DeFazio;
Rep. Lloyd Doggett;
Rep. Lane Evans;
Rep. Sam Farr;
Rep. Chaka Fattah;
Rep. Bob Filner;
Rep. Barney Frank;
Rep. Raul Grijalva;
Rep. Luis Gutierrez;
Rep. Maurice Hinchey;
Rep. Rush Holt;
Rep. Michael Honda;
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee;
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones;
Rep. Marcy Kaptur;
Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick;
Rep. Dennis Kucinich;
Rep. John Larson;
Rep. Stephen Lynch;
Rep. Jim McDermott;
Rep. James McGovern;
Rep. Cynthia McKinney;
Rep. Michael McNulty;
Rep. Carolyn Maloney;
Rep. Edward Markey;
Rep. Marty Meehan;
Rep. George Miller;
Rep. Gwen Moore;
Rep. Jim Moran;
Rep. Grace Napolitano;
Rep. Richard Neal;
Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton;
Rep. James Oberstar;
Rep. John Olver;
Rep. Major Owens;
Rep. Frank Pallone;
Rep. Donald Payne;
Rep. Nick Rahall;
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard;
Rep. Bobby Rush;
Rep. Linda Sanchez;
Rep. Bobby Scott;
Rep. Jose Serrano;
Rep. Hilda Solis;
Rep. Pete Stark;
Rep. Bennie Thompson;
Rep. John Tierney;
Rep. Ed Towns;
Rep. Nydia Velázquez;
Rep. Diane Watson;
Rep. Albert Wynn
All of these politicians deserve our support and our pledge to work for their re-election this Fall. They get it, even if some of the Democratic leadership (Pelosi, Clinton, Schumer, Reid, to name but a few) do not. It is time for us to leave Iraq, and these Democrats are the vangiard for the movement to put an end to George Bush’s dangerous fantasies regarding the Middle East.
