Tom Hayden's Blog, page 59

Hawks Pushing for U.S. Troops in Iraq

American hawks are blaming President Obama for a premature withdrawal from Iraq, as if a few thousand American troops could prevent the country's current sectarian convulsion. The peace movement needs to unite against the framing of this blame game in which Obama "is likely to draw new criticism for failing to negotiate an extension of the American troop presence in Iraq."

Possible Sectarian War in Iraq

Another war in Iraq may begin, a sectarian war spurred by Shiite revenge and reflecting the geo-political tensions of the region, Shiite versus Sunni, Iran versus Saudi Arabia. While America bears responsibility for stirring the sectarian cauldron, a next war will not be America's to fight. Despite global pretensions, the mythic days of Laurence of Arabia, when Kipling's heroes saved the Arabs from themselves, are over.

The Next Three Years: Ending the Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Obama has set 2014 as the timetable for withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan, a date endorsed by NATO forces as well. While far short of peace movement demands, the date already is being blurred and subverted by Obama's ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, who said last week that the American troops could stay longer if invited by the Afghan government. (New York Times, December 11, 2011) Coming immediately after President Hamid Karzai's appeal at the Bonn conference for another ten years of military and economic support, there is potent opposition to Obama at very high levels.

THE NEXT THREE YEARS: ENDING THE WARS IN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN

The relatively smooth withdrawal of American troops from Iraq is a major boost for the faction of the national administration who want to accelerate the US departure from Afghanistan. The internal conflict is between progressive Democrats, including the White House civilian advisers, versus the military establishment and most of the Republican hierarchy. The stance of CIA director David Petraeus, a potential Obama rival on the national stage, is unknown.

Ron Paul, A Force for Peace

Iowa polling for now shows Rep. Ron Paul leading the Republican pack. Peace and justice advocates should re-examine the profound establishment demonizing of Paul's "isolationism" and realize that the Congressman represents a genuine strain of opposition to empire – in the long tradition of populism and progressivism, Robert LaFoillette and Mark Twain.

The Legend of the Quetzal by Robert García

In my Guatemalan roots the Mayans hold the quetzal sacred. The resplendent quetzal is a parakeet-sized bird with a blood red chest and a shimmering emerald green body and a three foot tail with iridescent blues and greens above and white below with a small yellow beak.

In Iraq, Peace at Last

America owes a debt of gratitude to the activists who opposed the Iraq war from the start, and who kept the pressure on.

Peace Demands Will Intensify as War Effort and Economy Falter

Dying for Karzai is becoming hopelessly unpopular as hopes for Afghanistan sharply decline and the US economic crisis deepens.

Americans Demand Withdrawal in Polling

As Obama pulls out of Iraq and considers the same course in Afghanistan, overwhelming majorities of Americans are with him.

The American Gulag

As Congress moves to authorize the US military to intervene against dissidents at home, it is well to remember the scale of the gulag already bulging with incarcerated terrorism suspects, mostly Muslim, already on permanent lockdown.