Jim McGovern posts on Raed in the Middle blog - REQUIRED READING

[Benbow]

Representing the Third Congressional District in Massachusetts, he begins,

"Trust me when I tell you things are so much better in Iraq," said one US military official to me on my recent visit to that war-ravaged country. I didn't know whether to scream or pull the remaining two strands of hair out of my head. I was in Iraq as part of a delegation of eight members of Congress, led by House minority leader Nancy Pelosi. Everything we have been told about Iraq by the Bush Administration has either been an outright lie or overwhelmingly false.

You will need to scroll down to his entry posted 24 April 2005 18:25 (I don't know in which time zone the comments section of Raed's blog is).

Our young men and women in uniform are performing their difficult duties extraordinarily well. Indeed, the only honest and direct responses I got from any American in Iraq were from the soldiers. They told me they had been instructed by their superiors not to share any complaints with visitors.

What worries me almost as much as our misguided policy in Iraq is that so many of my colleagues and so many citizens have become resigned to the fact that the war will go on. Congress is not being inundated with letters and phone calls and faxes and e-mails and street protests demanding an end to our presence in Iraq. President Bush's re-election seems to have taken much of the energy out of the antiwar movement. My recent visit to Iraq only strengthened my belief that this war is wrong. And only renewed, passionate dissent by the American people can end it.

[cry baby]

1. I'll start sending letters and emails - does anyone know

who we would send those to that might actually make a difference? I'm also ready to hit the street against the war. I'll check the activism forum here to find out if there are any protests in my area or big ones scheduled in DC. The problem with protests is that corporate media doesn't cover them so nobody knows that they even took place. Can't get a movement started if nobody knows about it!

[NMDemDist2]

2. We need to re-energize the antiwar movement

I looked over the causality report as I scrolled down to this entry and found two Arizonians (one a woman MP)

How many of our people need to come back maimed or in coffins before the populace wakes up and starts SCREAMING!!

:argh: :banghead: :grr:

[Benbow]

3. Point of information -

The above, by McGovern, appeared first in The Nation on 14 April 2004

What I Didn't See in Iraq

where you can find other articles about Iraq and its "reconstruction".

See also new DU threads,

How do we get out of Iraq?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3535096

To leave Iraq now
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3535064