How Can They Get More Money?

Illustration by John Blackford. By Peter van Agtmael/Polaris (desert), Konstantin Inozemtsev/Alamy (money).

President Bush says he has no doubts about launching the unpopular war in Iraq despite the "high cost in lives and treasure," arguing that retreat now would embolden Iran and provide al Qaeda with money for weapons of mass destruction to attack the United States.

Um ... k, dude? How could they get more money? We're the ones giving it to them now.

~Lila Schow

Because Responsible Citizens Clean Up After Their Government http://goodusgov.org/

The Sweet Smell of Success...

Vice-President Darth Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq today on his swing through the Middle East on his mission of... peace. Insert your own punchline here. Ahem. So why was Cheney's visit to Iraq kept secret? Well, because divulging that information ahead of time would be far too dangerous, of course. Even though Cheney sees "phenomenal" progress and noted the "remarkable turnaround" in regard to quelling the violence and stepping up the security in Iraq, the Vice-President apparently still thinks it might be a wee bit too dangerous for him to disclose the when's and where's of his agenda while in Iraq.

Speaking from inside the heavily secured and heavily fortified Green Zone, Cheney said he believed the war was a "difficult, challenging, but nonetheless successful endeavor that has been well worth the effort."

Well worth the effort? Tell that to the just about 4,000 American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians that have been killed in your dirty little war.Let's take a measure of that "phenomenal" progress and the "remarkable turnaround" in Iraq, shall we?

This is from just from yesterday and today in Iraq:

-Five people were killed and another 12 injured when mortar shells hit a soccer field in Baghdad...

-A minibus packed with explosives killed three people and wounded eight others in Karrada district...

-A roadside bomb killed one policeman and wounded another as they patrolled Mansour district in western Baghdad...

-Three bodies of U.S.-backed neighbourhood police were found two days after they were kidnapped in the town of Udhaim...

-Two days after their kidnapping, the bodies of three members of a U.S.-allied group fighting al-Qaida in Udaim have been found...

-Four civilians were injured when a roadside bomb that was targeting a U.S. convoy deonated...

-Two U.S. soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in northern Baghdad...

-In different districts throughout Baghdad, Iraqi police discovered the bodies of at least 5 different people...

-A roadside bomb killed one policeman and wounded another as they patrolled Mansour district in western Baghdad...

-According to Iraqi police, a roadside bomb wounded one person in Mansour district...

-A female suicide bomber killed 40 and wounded another 71 in an attack on a cafe near the revered Imam Hussein mosque in Karbala...

-A roadside bomb in the eastern Baghdad district of Zayouna detonated, wounding three people...

-Gunmen kidnapped two off-duty Iraqi soldiers at a fake checkpoint in western Tikrit...

Wow, now that is just an overwhelming display of success. Take a big whiff of it... success, my friends, just smells so sweet, doesn't it?

Let me just step back and take a moment to refresh everybody's memory. In a 1994 interview, Cheney proved to be prescient beyond words when he said the following:



With the war set to climb over the 5-year hurdle, with nearly 4,000 American lives lost and with no end to this war in sight, I'm hard pressed to understand in exactly what universe Cheney could possibly see a "remarkable turnaround" or say that it's been "well worth the effort."

If this is what they consider success, I'd really hate to see what abject failure looks like.

~Kevin S.

Protesting Strategies

First I'd like to say that I have great respect for those that do this their entire lives. I've been working toward social change (namely to end the wars) for six years and honestly, I gave up about four years ago. Kind of been putting in a half-assed effort since then.
But the people who organize the protests and stage sit-ins in Congressional offices and work tirelessly to benefit people other than themselves, I'm not sure how they don't lose enthusiasm.
This weekend, I went to Boulder for the five-year protest of the Iraq war. I should have known better. The protest had been combined with Ceser Chavez day. (Back in 2003, the Martin Luther King Jr Day Marade was co-opted by peace groups so this was kind of similar but ... oh yeah ... without any impact.)

As I stood in the cold for an hour, trying not to listen to the speeches and wondering when the hell the march would start, I looked around at the group.

Cesar Chavez, Natives in traditional dress (did I mention it was 40 degrees out?), End the War, 9-11 was and Inside Job, Free Palestine, Free Tibet, even some Rocky Flats. While I agree with most of these groups and support their goals, I cringe at how they promote their message. It got me wondering, what are the end goals for the protest organizers and attendees? To get out and make some noise? To get people thinking about issues? To make a change?
How can an organization do this? I've come up with a list (Yes! A list!) of seven changes protesters need to implement to reach their goals. I'll be protesting the protests until I start seeing them. In fact, I've scheduled a day and secured the permits so that on President's Day, 2009, we can protest the protest methods while at the same time celebrate Washington/Lincoln, examine voting machines, end global warming and invite our senators to lick DU munitions to prove they're safe.
Sorry, got a little off track. Here are my Seven Demands For More Cohesive Protesting:

1. Dress nicely. Business casual at the very least ... oh wait, these are liberals -- business. Stuffy business. I know this is a really petty one. (Start with petty first, that's what I always say) Still, nobody wants to listen to a bunch of derelicts. Image is a key to success in this society.

Don't like it? Me either. And it can be our next cause after Iraq/Bush/Palestine/NAFTA/CAFTA/US foreign policy etc...

Dress like you respect the issue, not like you're advertising your bong club. That is, if you really want to start attracting people, be taken seriously, and have people stop to listen to you.

2. Stay on Target. Protest the war. All subjects are to be directly related to this. Not a tangent. Not some 'we are all connected' bullshit.
3. Don't Preach to the Choir. We show up because we care. That means we are informed. We know Bush lied. We know soldiers died. We know what the subjects are about. So you need to ask yourself, who's this speech for? The passersby? The protesters? What is the end goal?

If you want to get people fired up for the march, you need to choose a different tactic. Tell us something we don't know. Tell us when protesting has worked. Or if you want to provoke thought among the crowd, then find a different angle. Don't just read to us from a list printed from your website.

4. Provoke Without Provoking. Is their anyway to discuss these topics and generate discussion without being a complete douche bag?
If so, I'd really like to see some speakers find it. Let's draw people in, instead of having them run screaming from the protest. I know you're angry. I'm angry too. Can we bottle that rage up and save it for throwing eggs at Bush when he's in town?

5. Stick to a Timeline. Come on. No one really wants to hear you talk. Make it brief, make it short, and give clear directions.
6. Be Original. I protest the genocide in Darfur. What really sucked was going to a protest and hearing the same speech I'd heard the year before. Word for word. Even the death count was the same. So, if you're just trotting out the same old diatribe (and it isn't even funny) -- might want to rethink that. Hell, try having new facts that none of us know. Or, invite some right-winger in for a debate. God, then we at least would have good use for those eggs...

7. Have a contact booth. Here's an idea. Instead of many disjointed hubs running fifty agendas and stepping on people's feet, organize! People could sign up for email alerts to the next protest. Preplanning items could be sent out. A schedule of events even!
Those are my seven demands. I'll be holed up here until they're met. Or until the candlelight vigils on Wednesday, whatever comes first.

Lila Schow
Because Responsible Citizens Clean Up After Their Government
http://goodusgov.org/