War is how we rule the world
"Why Democrats Won't Stop the [Iraq] War"
by David Sirota
[note: i despise hearing the words The Iraq War; the US Attack on Iraq is the War ON Iraq]
Sirota's piece will be online May 26th: http://www.inthesetimes.com
He begins by talking about the groundswell of anti-war sentiment in the country and then about the 2 sides of the 'antiwar movement'.: the ineffectual Protest Industry, (which i've called the 'P&J Industry), a good example of which is UPJ; and the professional side that he calls The Players - "a group of organizations and apparatchiks that have launched an operation called Americans Against Escalation in Iraq (AAEI) - a coalition of mainly Washington DC-based advocacy groups, pooling cash and staff ..." who are playing their game in Washington, for Washington.
"...The cripling problem for The Players is the increasing difficulty of operating in Washington without being corrupted by it. ... The same consultants they need to hire to play this Washington game and to influence these people who 'set the parameters of the debate' are often simultaneously paid by the very politicians who should be in their crosshairs."
"Take the leadership of AAEI. The group is guided by Hildebrand Tewes, a consulting firm named for its original partners, Steve Hildebrand and Paul Tewes - both longtime Democratic Party operatives.
"The firm is one of a new breed of companies that attempts to bring to uprising politics the ease of the microwave TV dinners. Don't feel like making dinner? Throw a Hot Pocket into the microwave. Don't feel like doing the hard work of local organizing to build a sustaining, durable movement that lasts beyond the issue du jour? Put together a pile of money to hire a firm like Hildebrand Tewes and you can have your 'instant uprising' - one that provides about as much nutrition to your cause as microwave junk food does for your body."
"While the firm is supposedly leading an independent antiwar uprising by pressuring politicians in both parties, about half its employees - including the firms two principals - were staffers for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), [btw led by two zionists, one an Israeli citizen] the re-election arm of the same Democratic US senators that the antiwar uprising now needs to pressure to end the war."
"But the conflict of interest only starts there.
"At the same time Hildebrand Tewes is working with AAEI, the firm is being paid by various Democratic politicians for its services - Democratic politicians who have a vested interest in avoiding attacks from an antiwar uprising.
"...You would think that the central focus of any antiwar organization - whether inside Washington or out - would be on forcing Democrats to use their constitutional power to end the war to do just that: end the war. But you would be wrong."
"... Beyond its mission statement, AAEI does not even try to hide its partisan biases. In one classic display, Woodhouse used his AAEI position to defend Democrats when they refused to stop a war funding bill."
"... the consensus in Washington is that all the American casualties and the killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iraq would be acceptable had Bush just been a better military strategist.
"... Put another way, favoring a narrow criticism of just the Iraq War" [there we go again] "over an attack on Washington's more general prioritization of war as a foreign policy tool has laid the groundwork for neoconservatives' next hairbrained military fantasy."
"As media critic Glenn Greenwald wrote, 'The Grand Beltway consensus, one that encompasses both parties, is that War is how we rule the world. ... The only debates allowed are how many [wars] we shoud fight, where we should fight them, and how wisely we prosecute them."
cont > http://www.inthesetimes.com
see also :
The War Party: Democrats Lie to Prolong Iraq; Reporters Go Along
http://www.commondreams.organd
Conflict of Interest Redefined: U.S. Politicos Invested in Iraq, Afghanistan
Political class stands to rake it in by continuing occupations.
http://www.alternet.org/audits
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