Encampment to Stop the War

Today, Sept. 10, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, gave his much-anticipated assessment of the results of the "surge." The recommendations General Petraeus made were no surprise. As expected, he said that that U.S. troop levels need to remain at high levels until next summer.

This report by General Petraeus, who has consistently supported and echoed the failed policies of the Bush administration, is just the latest ploy to continue the occupation by creating phony deadlines that provide political cover for members of Congress--from both parties--to continue voting to fund the war.

Last November, after voters in the U.S. gave Congress a clear mandate to bring the troops home and end the criminal occupation, the Bush administration and its allies in Congress repeatedly said, "Wait for the Baker-Hamilton report."

After the report was published, rather than bring the troops home the Bush administration deployed more troops to Iraq in a "surge" supported by both parties in Congress.

Then, in March, as anti-war sentiment continued to grow, the response from Bush and Congress was: "Wait until September for the report by General Petraeus."

Now that report has been made and Petraeus is proposing a new vague deadline: next summer, when he says that it may be possible to reduce troop levels.

We should recognize that these deadlines and reports are political theater, designed to dampen anti-war mobilizing. Even the way the "debate" is framed is a lie. The administration and its generals are saying that the surge is meant to stem the violence; critics in Congress are saying that it has failed. But the surge IS violence, at an unprecedented level. It is the U.S. occupation that has brought this daily blood-letting to Iraq, along with the total disruption of daily life.

Every day that the war continues, more Iraqi people and U.S. soldiers are killed.

Every day that the war continues, the Pentagon spends another $720 million on war in Iraq--money that is robbed from working people here, who need healthcare, education and affordable housing, not war and occupation.

While Congress pretends to debate whether or not the surge is working, it is important to note that the invasion of Iraq was a crime from the very beginning, and that “success” means the subjugation of the people of Iraq, along with Wall Street’s control of their vast petroleum reserves.

We must demand that the troops be brought home now. Not another day. Not another dollar. No more phony deadlines.

We call upon activists to support the many acts of protest and resistance planned for this month. We should escalate the protests as they have escalated the war.

The protests started with anti-war chants as Petraeus was speaking.

Then, on Sept. 15, a march in Washington organized by the ANSWER coalition will demand an end to the war and the impeachment of Bush.

On Oct. 1, current funding for the war expires. This spring, the Democratic leaders in Congress betrayed their mandate and voted to continue to fund the war against the people of Iraq. As Congress debates Bush's new funding request, we must be there to let them know that we're not going to let them betray us again.

During the week of Sept. 22-29, activists from across the U.S. are organizing an Encampment to Stop the War, directly in front of the Capitol. The Encampment, sponsored by the Troops Out Now Coalition, will include daily acts of protest and resistance, building for a massive March from the Capitol to the White House on Sept. 29.

We cannot wait for more phony deadlines--we need to set a deadline and demand that the troops be brought home now. Here's how you can help:

1) Help get the word out - download leaflets: http://troopsoutnow.org/downloads.html

2) Donate to help with organizing expenses: http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml

3) Become a local organizer:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/sept2207volunteer.shtml

4) Link to us - graphic buttons available at:
http://troopsoutnow.org/buttons.html

It's time to move from Protest to Resistance: