Boycott the Democratic Party wing of the War Party
Columbus Free Press, OH by Chuck Zlatkin March 26, 2007
Friends, Romans, Countrymen,
I’m sorry that I haven’t been up-to-date with every ebb and flow of this disaster, but believe me I have been following it all. A little background, please forgive me if you have heard this before. At my neighborhood peace group, Chelsea Neighbors United to End the War, back in November we were discussing what to do with Congress member Jerrold Nadler (NY 8th CD). We were considering making him our target. We were just about to challenge him on the issue of the war, considering sitting in at his office, etc. Then he came and stood with us at our weekly action: Chelsea Stands Up Against The War. He stayed a good while and we got to express ourselves on the need to stop funding the war. On January 12th he came out with his “Protect The Troops and Bring Them Home Act of 2007. We thought that this was as good as anything we had seen, endorsed it and started working for it.
We are all familiar with what has happend since January 12th. Here is my take:
The Democrats have narrowed the debate on the war. There are now two positions. One extends the war until August of 2008 and gives another $96 billion for the war in Iraq, the other is Bush’s position, open ended war with another $96 billion for the war in Iraq. For those of us who wanted an immediate end to the war and to bring the troops home now, there is no difference between the two positions. As I have believed for some time, when it comes to war there is only one party — the War Party.
The Democrats have played us well and will continue to do so. When you have an immoral and illegal war, the only way to oppose it is to take the moral position. The brilliance of Nadler’s idea to state that the troops would not be abandoned, but the war would be defunded and a firm date would be set was compelling to all of us. [more]