At least now we know who's on our side

The antiwar movement retreats by Sharon Smith at Socialist Worker

Well, at least now we can tell the people who really oppose the wars apart from the Democrats who were only faking opposition for political advantage.

THE U.S. left has failed to effectively oppose the war in Afghanistan from its onset, when the U.S. population overwhelmingly supported the war on the pretext that "we were attacked."

That support has severely eroded, and polls show that a clear majority now wants to end the occupation. Yet many on the left have remained confused for the last eight years--ardently opposing the war in Iraq while remaining silent about the equally immoral war in Afghanistan.

This confusion has apparently been compounded by the election of Barack Obama, who initially opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Obama's Nobel Peace Prize notwithstanding, however, he has since embraced the aims of U.S. imperialism with gusto. U.S. troops and, perhaps more importantly, U.S. military bases remain in Iraq with no deadline for complete withdrawal.

Obama authorized a surge of 21,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan soon after taking office and is now pondering whether to send at least 40,000 more. These are no longer George W. Bush's wars. Obama has claimed them for himself. So far, the only consequence of the surge has been the resurgence of the Taliban resistance against U.S. occupation. Even his pledge to close the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay remains unfulfilled.

Warning, its dangerous to your health to pay too much attention to the positions of Democrats. You can suffer severe whiplash when they suddenly change direction. In this case, as the Democrats shift from campaign rhetoric that sounded vaguely antiwar to policies that escalate and expand the wars, the only way Democrats can even pretend to be in favor of 'peace' is if they espouse George Orwell's famous slogan that "War is Peace."

At what point will the people who vote Democrat because they want peace realize that they don't get peace when they elect Democrats?

So, what's Code Pink doing these days?
A waste of $30,400

AT A recent event hosted by the Democratic Party, Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans wasted $30,400 to have a dinner and then a photo-op with President Obama.

Code Pink used this as an opportunity to deliver a petition to the president signed by Afghan women stating that they want a say at the negotiating table and a commitment or time frame for the U.S. to leave Afghanistan.

The reply from Obama, at first, was incredulous stupidity. "What do you mean?" he said. "We have Hillary (Clinton) as my secretary of state."

Did they expect a different result? And, they spent $30,000 on that? Of course, I'm sure the Democrats loved that these suckers gave them $30,000. The really sad part is that this $30,000 will be used to elect more pro-war Democrats, and probably parts of it will be used to attack and defeat real candidates for peace. Great job Code Pink, you just helped to finance more of the pro-war politicians that we need to be trying to defeat.

BTW, remember back during the election when the Democrats were trying to tell us that it would be better for the left to have Obama as President, because he'd be more open to talk with the left and more receptive to its ideas? Well, here's the reality. If you want to waste $30,000, you can pay to attend an event with the President, and say something to him quickly in the receiving line. He won't have a clue what you are talking about, and there's not a chance this will change policies.

And notice what you do not see with Obama. This President that is willing to constantly meet and talk with Republicans never invites a group like Code Pink into the office to have a discussion on policy. Code Pink has adjusted is goals to suddenly support Obama's war in Afghanistan, and they give $30,000 to the Democrats, and they still can't talk to him beyond a meaningless few seconds at a photo op. What are the odds of a real anti-war group having its voice heard in this Democratic White House?

Well, at least we know by now for sure that the Democrats are not on our side. And if Code Pink is on our side, they have a particularly clueless way of trying to help since what they are doing is financing the pro-war candidates.

As the song lyrics used in the banner say, "Its all too clear we are on our own."

But that's not a bad thing. The biggest weakness of 'the left' in my time has been its constant willingness to be subservient to the Democrats. Its all too clear we are on our own. So, let's start organizing and acting like it. We'll quickly find that we have more power than we think.