Iraqi Protests Again

Well, this one looks much angrier than the one I posted earlier. It is from the same group of protests, however.

PHOTO:

Iraqi students march past Iraql soldiers at the Hurriyah neighborhood in Baghdad Thursday, March 22, 2007, during a protest against the US military presence and operations in the area. (AP Photo/Asaad Mouhsin)

Today, the US House of Representatives is considering a bill that will continue the funding of the Iraq occupation. It has certain provisions, such as troops must be rested before being sent back to Iraq, and that certain 'benchmarks' must be met - however, there are all set up so that bush/cheney can ignore them. It is being touted by the anti-war left as a great bill because it sets a date for withdrawal by September 2008. First, this date is not final. Second, it has a loophole - one large enough to put the entire US military through. It says that bush can keep troops there if they are need to train Iraqi troops or fight al Qadea. There will always be al Qadea in Iraq as long as there are US troops there, and it looks like they will go on attacking innocent civilians that are working with or a part of, the new Iraqi government. This administration could claim (and they will) that the entire US military in Iraq is needed for these two purposes.

Those of us who have been against this occupation all along (Code Pink, United for Peace & Justice, Gold Star Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and countless smaller groups around the country) are also strongly against this supplemental bill that will fund more occupation in Iraq. Military Families Speak Out had made a certificate to give to all Democratic members of the US House of Representatives who vote for this bill. It says "You bought it, you own it" on the Certificate of Ownership. You can download that certificate at their website HERE.

It looks like the occupation will continue until after bush is out of office in 2009. The only ways to change that is to cut the funding and to impeach him. The Democrats are going to sign on to this war and take responsibility for an evil and failed disaster. They are making a big mistake.