Demo Hopeful Kucinich Promotes Candidacy As Chance To Get Out Of Iraq

[Khephra]

Democratic Hopeful Kucinich Promotes Candidacy As Chance To Get Out Of Iraq

By MADISON J. GRAY
Associated Press Writer

December 2, 2003, 7:10 PM EST


NEW YORK -- Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich said Tuesday his candidacy represents the only opportunity voters will have to voice their support for a swift end to the United States' involvement in Iraq.

The Ohio representative, who ranks behind most democratic candidates in state and national polls, has been a consistent critic of President Bush's policy in Iraq and has accused other Democrats of wavering in their opposition to the war.

On Tuesday, he reiterated his position, saying the U.S. should withdraw from Iraq and let the United Nations administer and rebuild the country.

"Ending the occupation in Iraq is going to be the defining issue in the Democratic primaries," Kucinich said at a news conference. "And I'm standing alone right now with a plan to get out of Iraq within 90 days, but it involves going to the U.N. and taking a new approach."

more...........

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--democrats-kucinic1202dec02,0,1337381.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

[DUreader]

1. the silence is deafening

[xJlM]

2. Everyone seems to think we should stay in Iraq

None of the other candidates have an actual plan for getting out, and some seem intent on staying. I guess America thinks we need that oil, too.

[Say_What]

4. That's because the others are bought-and-paid for by the corps

[robbedvoter]

5. Clark: a real plan for success in Iraq:

http://Clark04.com/issues/iraqstrategy/
You said:
"None of the other candidates have an actual plan for getting out". Clark does.
We are already in the process of creating new OBL's in Afghanistam - we cannot keep the cycle of abandoning what we started.
In short, Clark wants to cede control to the Iraqis right away, and then involve the international community in a transition.
Dennis says pretty words, but grown-ups need to think of consequences. With all due respect for his anti-war activism - and I mean that!
Also, when you say: the only one, what about Sharpton? Are you falling in the same habits like Dean? (I'm the only anti-war candidate here?)

[DemBones DemBones]

7. Your implication that Kucinich is

not a grown-up but simply someone who says pretty words is unfair, untrue, and an unwarranted attack. Some people can be grown-ups and say pretty words at the same time. I would bet that Wesley Clark knows that. He has impressed me so far as an intelligent man and a good communicator.

BTW, this is the first time I've heard that "Clark wants to cede control to the Iraqis right away and then involve the international community in a transition." Has he said this in any of the debates? How would he involve the international community? I don't quite understand why the Iraqis would want the int'l community sticking its nose in once they had control of their own country. Maybe you can clarify that. I'm delighted that he wants to get the U.S. out, just don't quite understand the plan.

[Terwilliger]

8. truly pathetic

I hope Dennis wins the nomination, just to piss you off.

[xJlM]

10. What is Sharpton's plan?

It's really easy to take half of a statement and misconstrue it. You seem to have learned that pretty well. Meanwhile, while you may have stroked your own ego you've added nothing substantive to the discussion.

What is Clark's position? I think I've heard three different versions now. Which one is for real?

[Say_What]

3. The ONLY candidate with any character at all

I like Kucinich more and more all the time. His remarks about our presence in Iraq helping Al Qaeda were echoed by a UN report, published in the last day or so, that basically said that the war on terra was a failure.

Also about the privatization of Iraq's oil industry--this is nothing but a flat out rip off of the Iraqi resources. We're also seeing this in Colombia, but little of that is published in the corporate owned US press. We're stealing Colombia's oil with a *war of drugs* as a front. What happened in Central America is now happening in Colombia--murder, torture, disappearances, and displacement of indigenous peoples all for the sake of OIL and it's being done with our tax payer dollars.

Concerning our own country, I particularly liked these quotes:

"Right now the insurance companies own us," Kucinich said. "They can raise copays and deductibles, they can limit your area of coverage.

"It doesn't matter who you are they have control. I'm talking about taking control away from the insurance companies and putting it in the hands of the American people."

[DemBones DemBones]

6. It's surprising that everyone who opposed the war

is not opposing the occupation just as strongly.

One of the many reasons that Dennis John Kucinich is the best Democratic candidate is that he opposed the war long before it began. He decided to run for president after receiving thousands of e-mails and other communi-cations urging him to do so after his speech "A Prayer for America" was widely read. This speech was given to Southern California Americans for Democratic Action on February 17, 2002, in Los Angeles, CA. Probably most DUers read this speech back in the spring of 2002.

Reading it again is a good way to see that Dennis Kucinich has the same concerns that we have, and that he had these concerns in February, 2002, long before the Bush administration, in the fall of 2002, declared its intent to invade Iraq.

Here's an excerpt from "A Prayer for America":


"Let us pray that our country will stop this war. "To promote the common defense" is one of the formational principles of America. Our Congress gave the President the ability to respond to the tragedy of September the Eleventh. We licensed a response to those who helped bring the terror of September the Eleventh. But we the people and our elected representatives must reserve the right to measure the response, to proportion the response, to challenge the response, and to correct the response.

Because we did not authorize the invasion of Iraq.
We did not authorize the invasion of Iran.
We did not authorize the invasion of North Korea.
We did not authorize the bombing of civilians in Afghanistan.
We did not authorize permanent detainees in Guantanamo Bay.
We did not authorize the withdrawal from the Geneva Convention.
We did not authorize military tribunals suspending due process and habeas corpus.
We did not authorize assassination squads.
We did not authorize the resurrection of COINTELPRO.
We did not authorize the repeal of the Bill of Rights.
We did not authorize the revocation of the Constitution.
We did not authorize national identity cards.
We did not authorize the eye of Big Brother to peer from cameras throughout our cities.
We did not authorize an eye for an eye.
Nor did we ask that the blood of innocent people, who perished on September 11, be avenged with the blood of innocent villagers in Afghanistan.
We did not authorize the administration to wage war anytime, anywhere, anyhow it pleases.
We did not authorize war without end.
We did not authorize a permanent war economy."


The entire speech, as well as information about Dennis Kucinich's proposals for our country, is available at his campaign website:

http://www.kucinich.us

[Say_What]

9. Stand on Colombia is also very encouraging

What happened in Central America is now happening in Colombia but you won't find anything about it in the US press. Hundreds of thousands died in Central America and Colombia is currently the third largest recipient of United States military aid in the world. 85% of the millions in aid that goes to Colombia goes to the military who in turn trains and advises the paramilitaries. Kucinich points this out in his speech.

<clips>

Speech by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), July 23, 2003

...Aid to Colombia has failed to end the drug flow to America, and it has failed to protect human rights. Strong ties between the Colombian military and the paramilitary group AUC, which has been listed by the United States as a terrorist organization, are deeply disturbing, given the atrocious human rights abuses committed by the AUC. Most interestingly, The Washington Post recently published the findings of a report commissioned by President Uribe that showed the AUC, which frequently fights alongside the Colombian military, is a drug-trafficking organization. The report estimated that as much as 80 percent of the AUC's funding comes from drug trafficking. This means that the U.S. is funding a military that is working with a terrorist drug-trafficking organization in an effort to eradicate drugs. Does this not seem a little paradoxical?

The AUC's close relationship with the Colombian military is also disturbing because it implicates the United States in human rights abuses. How can the U.S. fund a military which has combined forces with a terrorist group responsible for torture, executions, and disappearances of innocent Colombian citizens? Until the Colombian government ceases its relationship with violent paramilitary groups that terrorize ordinary citizens, the United States must not directly fund it.

http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/030723kuci.htm