Guest blogged by Ernest A. Canning
“We cannot afford these wars. We cannot afford the loss of lives. We cannot afford the cost to taxpayers. We cannot afford to fail to exercise our constitutional right to end the wars.” So said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) in an email on Wednesday, announcing his intention to introduce a privileged resolution in the House in January to “End the War.”
He appeared on MSNBC with Ed Schultz (video below) the night before to explain that under President Obama’s plan to immediately increase troops levels by 30,000 before beginning a withdrawal in July of 2011 (pending “conditions on the ground” which could extend the occupation for years, as Sec. of Defense Robert Gates recently admitted) we have an “orgy of crime.”
“We will be spending at least $150 billion a year, at the costs of many lives, to be able to subsidize a criminal undertaking.” What criminal undertaking was Kucinich referring to?…
In “Beyond Afghanistan” on Monday, we exposed the extent to which the President’s justifications for expanding the war in Afghanistan stood in marked contrast to the realities of Empire and the military-industrial complex.
Citing extensive sources, we not only traced the disturbing parallels between Afghanistan and Vietnam but delved into the manner in which links between the CIA and both torture and drug smuggling have been consistent features of the U.S.-led, corporate global project over the past 60 years. We noted how, during the 1980s, President “Reagan’s Afghan ‘freedom fighters’…turned Afghanistan into the world’s single largest exporter of opium and the source of half the heroin consumed in the US;” that “opium production would drop off dramatically under the Taliban only to return with a vengeance following the late 2001 invasion;” how B.C.C.I., with the aid of George H.W. Bush, laundered money from the Afghan heroin trade. We observed that the brother of Hamid Karzai, who had been on the CIA payroll for the past eight years, was directly linked to the heroin trade.
We also criticized the President’s “peace with honor” strategy, noting that it was unrealistic to expect to train an effective Afghan force in the span of 18 months when 19 years proved insufficient when it came to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.
President Karzai has now suggested that the U.S. should remain in-country, training and assisting Afghan security forces, for the next 15 – 20 years.
On Dec. 7, the Los Angeles Times reported that the drug cartels and corrupt officials were extracting some $10 million/day from Afghanistan, most flowing not by way of secret routes through the mountains and deserts, but directly through Kabul International Airport — a hiding-in-plain-sight approach that calls to mind past CIA shipments of heroin from Vietnam to Dover Air Force Base inside the body bags of dead U.S. service personnel. The Times reported that some of these smuggled funds are received by the Taliban.
In his Dec. 9 announcement email, Kucinich revealed his “Resolution to End the War,” stating…
Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States makes it Congress’ responsibility to determine whether or not we go to war or stay at war. Consistent with Article I, Section 8, the privileged resolutions will invoke the War Powers Resolution of 1973. I ask for your support of these resolutions, which will be introduced in the House in January.
Yesterday, with the U.S. Secretary of Defense at his side, the President of Afghanistan declared that his country’s security forces will need financial and training assistance from the United States for the next 15-20 years.
We cannot afford these wars. We cannot afford the loss of lives. We cannot afford the cost to taxpayers. We cannot afford to fail to exercise our constitutional right to end the wars.
Please sign onto the privileged resolutions to end the wars and to bring our troops home.
Stand up for our troops. Stand up for the truth. Stand up for the Constitution and Congress’ responsibility.
The War Powers Resolution of 1973, passed by a 2/3 vote of Congress overriding a Presidential veto, “requires that the President notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days, with a further 30 day withdrawal period, without an authorization of the use of military force or a declaration of war.” President Obama is presently relying upon the Sept. 18, 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force against Terrorism.
UPDATE 12/14/09: For those who are interested, you can sign a petition opposing the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, right here.
Here is the 12/8/09 segment of MSNBC’s The Ed Show during which Kucinich appeared…
Ernest A. Canning has been an active member of the California state bar since 1977. Mr. Canning has received both undergraduate and graduate degrees in political science as well as a juris doctor. He is also a Vietnam vet (4th Infantry, Central Highlands 1968).
“What criminal undertaking was Kucinich referring to?…”
How about the fact that it was never proved that Osama Bin Laden committed 911 therefore America’s war of choice has no justification ,period.
I think the criminal undertaking just might have involved WTC7, as well. But face it, there must be scads of ’em. I hope those foul toads are roasted and tossed back into the cisterns from which they were surely spawned. Just my opinion…
It’s perpetual war….perptetual criminality. That’s what Obama announced with his escalation speech.
Obama has now become a willing accomplice to W Bush’s criminality.
No way will America be out of Afghanistan by July ’11….Another false flag atrocity will be manufactered to keep the U.S. in the middle east, Iraq, Afghanistan and most likely an invasion of Iran isn’t out of the question. Big oil needs a heavy mideast military presence…and now they have it.
U.S. occupation of middle eastern countries has nothing to do with terrorism…and everything to do with imperialism.
BlueHawk – Just to keep history accurate here, at least for another minute or two 🙂 He didn’t promise that we’d be “out of Afghanistan by July ’11”, but that that’s when we’d start leaving (pending “conditions on the ground”, natch)
FWIW. I’m sure the wingers will start lying about it soon enough, so we might as well be accurate on that point until then 🙂
Brad @4
Okay “out of Afghanistan by July ’11” is hyperbole…but I’ll be surprised if the whole mid-east fiasco isn’t expanding by July ’11…
As you know Brad concerning occupations…”conditions on the ground” are never pacified enough to start winding down.
Occupations end by…either the occupiers being kicked out…or total subjugation of the population…given world history; subjugation has never happened in Afghanistan.
We’re looking at another 10-15 years in Afghanistan. If world history is any indication.
The Obama doctrine of just (in case) war is more like the Bush Hog’s Dicktrain, starting with Cheney’s. STILL on the WRONG TRACK!
This resolution is just one of many reasons that Dennis Kucinich should have been elected Predident of the U.S.A. Single Payer health Care is another good reason,as well as indicting the Bush Administration war criminals.
How about an independent Feingold/Kucinich ticket for 2012? Feingold can run for prez — he comes across more acceptably, I think — and VP’s can be a little more out there. Think the voters would go for it? I think I would! Change we might actually be able to believe in.
I love Kucinich, but he seems to only really speak up when he is up for re-election – and then nothing ever comes of it. Good sound-bites but little more.
Obviously, Lah, you haven’t followed the career of Rep. Kucinich closely. He does not only “speak up” when he is “up for re-election.” To the contrary, he has been a tireless advocate of a host of progressive causes. He is a co-sponsor of HR 676 — single-payer (Medicare for All), and unlike many of his counterparts, had the courage to vote against the sham health care “reform” passed by the corporate Dems.
In the face of the illegality that was the Bush regime, it was Kucinich, and Kucinich alone, who had the courage to stand up and read into the record his Articles to Impeach Richard B. Cheney.
Kucinich has been a tireless advocate for peace and for speaking truth to power.
If you are only aware of “sound-bites” it would be because you are apparently tethered to the corporate media. Try watching Democracy Now or reading the many articles pertaining to Rep. Kucinich which have been posted at this blog. I believe you’ll find the process enlightening.
Right on, well said, Ernest! Thanks for your eloquence.
I’m not ignorant of Kucinich. I fully support his point of view. I’ve contributed to his campaigns. I’ve read his autobiography. I get his e-mails. But the truth is that, while he is correct on the issues, and he makes good speeches, those controlling the govt. are not about to let him or Ron Paul or any third party ever get any of their programs implemented. I admire the heck out of the guy, but he will never have the power to get anything done. So what’s the point?
Excellent question, Lah. I think you will find the answer in the next piece I will be posting.