t. r FETI THE US IRAO OUT OF Since the Abu Graib torture revelations, US casualties in Iraq have doubled, and attacks on their troops have increased from one hundred and fifty a week to over seven hundred. Military recruitment is dropping and there is a majority against the war. Here Jeff Mackler and George Saunders (of Socialist Action, US argue that the potential to get US out of Iraq has never been greater.
November, Democratic Congressman John Murtha, a right-wing • ex Marine, proposed to the House Representatives to 'redeploy' the nearly 160,000 US troops out of Iraq within six Pandemonium followed. He had months. previously presented his proposal in a speech to a closed session of House Democrats and received a standing ovation. has done everything asked of them,' Murtha stated, 'It is time to bring them home.' Outraged Republicans countered following day with an amended motion to bring the troops home designed to a manoeuvre Democrats for the posturing pro-war fakers that are. Murtha's they proposal initially drew the ire of George Bush, while Vice President Dick Cheney •similarly defended US policy in Iraq. But the tone of the exchanges soon changed as both ruling-class parties realized that the political bomb that Murtha had dropped had more substance than the usual Democrat Party not conducting the war more efficiently. of day later the Just 'Our military in US politics. Both warmongering the compelled to press immediately, expose the 'redeployment' and elite have been achieved. But the disingenuous Party rhetoric criticizing the Republicans for Democratic Party leaders reversed gears. A near unanimous vote against the fake Republican 'Out Now' motion followed, with all but three in the hall voting it down. But the Iraq War had once again taken centre stage parties then were on with their sham debate over a variety of resolutions for a 'phased withdrawal' of US troops. Each of these proposals is designed to assuage the now evident majority opposition to the war each effectively allows US troops to remain in Iraq until the political, military, opponents. and economic objectives of America's ruling those an Republican motion to immediately withdraw from Iraq did more to crystallize the issues involved in the failing US imperialist venture in Iraq than the plethora of 'phased withdrawal' resolutions now flooding the House and Senate. With a single 'yes' vote, in the eyes of the American people, US troops might have been brought home immediately. While Murtha's position lost the day, it signaled a new awareness that the Iraq War was a losing proposition. Bush: More specialized operations Later in November President Bush announced his administration's shift on the war, which The New York Times headlined, 'Bush Gives Plan For Iraq Victory and Withdrawal'. Bush's tone stood in marked contrast to his previous denunciations of his Democratic He characterized sincere as whom he claimed had advocated 'artificial timetable' for withdrawal, while being fully aware that no resolution existed that did not contain restrictions in its wording so as to make any proposed withdrawal dates meaningless.
- a change from the past, Bush admitted a series of mistakes in the conduct of the war and a pledge to change the deployment strategy of the US military. 'We will increasingly move out of Iraqi cities, reduce the number of bases from which we operate, and conduct fewer patrols and convoys.' This is a reference to US troops who are easy targets for the Iraqi resistance, now operating with the approval of large portions of the population. Bush continued, 'We will continue to shift from providing security and conducting operations against the enemy nationwide to conducting more specialized operations targeted at the most dangerous terrorists.' The plan is to withdraw US forces from the immediate scene and to substitute bombing raids, missile attacks, or special teams of death-squad killers to eliminate Iraqi fighters while suffering minimal loses. This shift in policy parallels the position outlined two weeks earlier by Murtha. Why did Murtha break from the phony debate over phased withdrawal and call for US troops to leave Iraq in six months? He explained, 'The US cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It's time to bring the troops home. ... They have become the enemy.' These words were chosen carefully. Murtha speaks for a well-informed section of US rulers who hope to accomplish by political means what has proven impossible to achieve by military means. Murtha's resolution provides that US troops be off-shore, as Murtha says, "just over the horizon', as in Kuwait or on nearby ships, organized in 'action ready' units, and aided by specialized missiles in case the US message is not understood by the now contending Sunni, Shiite, Kurdish, and other forces in Iraq. Public majority against the war A week after his November speech, Murtha said, 'The American people are ahead of Congress in recognizing that we must give the Iraqis incentive to step up and seize rather than their own destiny-sooner later-so that our young men and women in uniform will not continue paying such a heavy price for an indefinite period.' (our emphasis) Of course, should the Iraqis fail to 'seize their own destiny' in accord with US imperialist aims, new justifications for the war may well be found. Bush's speech reveals that he too seeks to remove US troops from the immediate field of battle to both lower the casualty rate and lend more credence to the justified charge that they are a permanent army of occupation. But the outcome will be a product of the ongoing struggle in that country, in the US, and worldwide. With the knowledge that almost every US opinion poll indicates a growing majority of Americans now opposed to the war and that the war's continuation can only deepen this sentiment, Murtha feels safe in speaking out for bringing the troops that 78 percent of home. He reported the responses he received to his position were favorable. 18 And this opposition keeps growing - in proportion to the mounting number of US troops being killed and wounded without accomplishing anything - not even for the imperialists' aims. Murtha himself states that oil and energy production in Iraq are below prewar levels, and the US presence itself is a catalyst' for the growing insurgency. All this reflects the growing pressure from military families who have lost of over 2,100 of their sons and daughters and 15,000 or more wounded. Groups like Cindy Sheehan's Gold Star Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans against the War, and Veterans for Peace are the tip of the iceberg, expressing widespread opposition to the war inside the military, active and retired, and among military families. The opposition to the war is been driven by the lies used as a pretext for the neo-colonial invasion and occupation of Iraq. The effect is magnified by the expenditure of unending billions of dollars while vital domestic programs are slashed to fuel the military. Despite the political and very real organisational limitations of the present OIL AND ENERGY PRODUCTION IN IRAQ ARE BELOW PREWAR LEVELS, AND THE USPRESENCE ITSELF IS 'A CATALYST' FOR THE GROWING INSURGENCY US anti-war movement, United for Peace and Justice and ANSWER, and despite the absence of a broadly-organised, democratic, national, united-front-type antiwarcoalition, thousands have nevertheless taken to the streets to oppose the war to demand, 'Bring the Troops Home Now!' The gap between the immediate potential to mobilize what could prove to be decisive forces against the war and the movement's political weakness, especially its reliance on the pro-war Democratic Party, has never been greater. Military recruitment is sagging Other factors weighing heavily on military Murtha. The anti-war specialists like movement's growing counter-recruitment efforts and the war's exposure as a fraud have taken a toll on the military's capacity to recruit new cannon fodder. 'All told, ' says Robert B. Reich, 'the military has failed to fully staff over 40 percent of its combat and non-combat specialties.' He continues, military is offering signing The bonuses up to $30,000 for jobs in high demand. You can get up to a $150,000 cash bonus for re-enlisting if you're with the Special Forces. And all recruits are eligible for up to $50,000 to offset the costs of higher education and up to $65,000 to pay back college loans. Not to mention generous housing, child care, and health benefits.....According new report from Congress's General the Pentagon Accounting Office, is falling far behind its targets for recruiting and re-enlisting soldiers for vital combat positions-including as few as a third of the Special Force soldiers and intelligence specialists it aimed for last year.' asks Reich. His answer is to the 'According to military experts, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan is scaring many potential recruits away. Even though only a portion of our 1.4 million active-duty personnel serve in a war zone or hardship area, the job of a soldier seems far more dangerous these days.' Murtha, a previous advocate of reinstituting the draft, might have changed his position on this issue as well. Reich argues, 'Don't White House and Congress expect the to reinstate the draft. That would bring public hostility for the Iraqi War to the boiling point,' what Murtha precisely seeks to avert. Murtha's well-known close connections to the military establishment have likely informed him that the war, is not winnable. The in its present form, across-the-board hatred among Iraqis for the American army's ceaseless bombings, torture, oppression, stealing of resources and failure to restore Iraq's near defunct infrastructure is at a high point. Among Iraqis, 80 percent or more want an end to the occupation - according to a poll taken by the British occupation forces. Murtha all but stated outright on National Public Radio in December that his sources in the military believe that the Army itself is broken and that the war cannot be won. He declined to cite the top commanders
from whom he had gathered his facts, but no one was willing to challenge him to come up with names. 'US troops are the common enemy' Murtha's turnaround is partly a recognition that the social and political consequences at home are rapidly to pay rising, indicated revulsion by the majority against the government's handling of the events surrounding the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe - where billions were diverted from levee repair to finance the war and where US-paid mercenary organizations in Iraq were transferred to New Orleans to terrorize Black residents on whom the label 'looters' was placed to justify indiscriminate murder. A significant portion of the opposition to the war is a reflection of the Iraqi people's amazingly determined fight against the occupation, despite the terrible costs of such resistance. They are fighting a guerrilla war against the most powerful military in the world, with all its computerized technology of destruction, yet their fight is having a profound, worldwide impact. Murtha puts it this way, Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency. They are united against US forces and we have become a US troops are the catalyst for violence. common enemy.../ believe with a US troop redeployment, the Iraqi security forces will be incentivized [sic] to take control. A poll recently conducted shows that over 80 percent of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition troops, and about 45 percent of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified. I believe we need to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis. the false Of course, "insurgency' for what is actually a national to an attempt at renewed colonial conquest of a population that won its independence from de facto British rule with the 1958 revolution against King Faisal. since 1958. It nationalized its oil wealth and made significant progress in building an infrastructure and improving economic conditions for much of the population, despite the fact that Iraq's history since independence has been precarious - subject to major US military, covert (CIA), and diplomatic influence. Iraq's independence has been circuitous and dictator-filled, but still it was independence, and the majority of Iraqis want their sovereignty back. League-sponsored conference in Cairo attended by the three main Iraqi factions (Shiite, Sunni, and Kurd) agreed on demanding a timetable for US withdrawal and asserted that resistance to occupation is legitimate. 'The perception of As Murtha puts it, occupation in Iraq is a major driving force behind the insurgency.' But it's not just a 'perception.' Foreign, colonialist occupation is real, and the Iraqi resistance fighters, however desperate and flawed some of their tactics may be, are taking a heavy toll on the occupation forces. Military wants mobility worldwide While Murtha is not really against war, Democratic Party leader Nancy Pelosi, who initially opposed his proposal, reported that she now agrees with Murtha's position that US troops should be withdrawn, 'as soon as practicable'. But whatever Murtha's position might be, he is worried that US imperialism will not be able to fight other wars if it is tied down in Iraq. He believes that the increasing likelihood of a disaster for US policy in Iraq requires a shift in tactics. Those who follow world events understand that revolt against two centuries of US (and European) corporate, financial, and military domination is spreading rapidly across Latin America. US troops are deployed in Colombia, Ecuador, and Central America. The United States has recently established a base in Paraguay - near the border with Bolivia, where a mass movement and THE POTENTIAL TO FORCE THE US TO TOTALLY, LAMEDIATELY, AND UNCONDITIONALLY WITHDRAW FROM IRAQ HAS NEVER BEEN GREATER general strike nearly toppled a US-backed and corrupt government last May and June, and where elections in December may bring into office a government that could defy corporate, financial, and military dictates from Washington.? Above all, the revolutionary process in is deepening. US imperialism fears the further development of a Cuba- Venezuela alliance that could challenge capitalist prerogatives. Such a development could provide a base for the encouragement of anti-capitalist struggles not only in Latin America but elsewhere in the world. While US imperialism finds its military mired in an increasingly unwinnable war in Iraq, it is hampered in its desire to deploy its forces to derail or crush the revolutionary upsurges in Venezuela and throughout Latin America. Driven by the terrible poverty of the urban and rural masses the Latin American masses pose a continuing and powerful challenge to the world capitalist status quo. John Murtha then, the new voice of a more cautious and rising wing of America's ruling rich, is worried about US imperialism's ability to maintain its domination elsewhere in the world, being bogged down and 'overcommitted' in Iraq. He says, '...we have other threats that cannot be ignored. We must be prepared to face all threats. The future of our military is at risk. Our military and their families are stretched thin. Many say that the army is broken.' Murtha prefers a tactical retreat in Iraq, to try to buy time for secret negotiations with Iraq's own ruling-class over the division of the spoils, rather than an outright defeat. With time bought, some US troops could be redeployed to adjacent areas while others would be freed for assignments to other hotspots where imperialist domination is being challenged. The anti-war movement While the US anti-war movement must not defer to Murtha, it can learn from the very revealing debate under way. The potential to force the US to totally, immediately, and unconditionally withdraw from Iraq has never been greater. Such a victory would afford the Iraqi people their fundamental right to self- determination, a right that would maximize the possibility of an outcome that meets the needs of the broad masses of Iraqi workers and peasants. The United States and other imperialist nations have propped up virtually every dictatorship on earth. Without imperialist intervention, the oppressed people of the world would likely have disposed of their tyrants long ago. They may well have a major opportunity to do so once again. The construction of a broadly movement to realize this potential is within our reach. In the interim, the two major US antiwar coalitions have called for nationwide days of action on the weekend of March 18, part of an international mobilization, to demand immediate withdrawal from Iraq. 3 If we are successful in forcing the US to withdraw from Iraq, as the anti-war movement was during the Vietnam War era, the ability to send troops elsewhere will be severely restricted. The Vietnam Syndrome will become the Iraq Syndrome, thereby opening the way for US working people to better organize to defend their own interests against the capitalist assault under way at home. 1. Robert B. Reich, 'The End of The War, ' November 30. Common Dreams.org 2. This article was written before the eiection i* Morales in Bolivia, Ed. 3.Stop the War Coalition is also calling a demonstration in London on March 18