To a Democratic candidate for Congress

2006-06-23

(We have a local Democratic candidate for Congress [named Dan Seals] who has a credible chance to defeat the local Repuglican Bush clone who holds the seat now [Mark Kirk]. So there will be a meeting between Dan Seals and the local North Shore "left" groups -- apparently Seals asked for the meeting. And one of the lefty organizers asked the people on his email list for suggestions on what we should be asking -- or telling Seals we want him to do -- (knowing full well that after Democrats get elected they usually ignore their base -- unlike what Repuglicans do.) But nonetheless, I respond below for all such candidates.)

The discussion should inform him or her not only of our strong feelings against this war, but should show the candidate that we are aware of the REAL conditions of HOW this war is being waged -- conditions that do NOT get described in our media. That we are aware that Haditha-type atrocities occur CONTINUALLY, and a fortuitous report by a journalist on the scene brought attention to just ONE incident out of by now probably hundreds, but that the lack of coverage of the POLICY of using AIR POWER, as well as tanks, cluster bombs, etc., against populated areas obscures the widespread nature of civilian death, the indiscriminate civilian death -- which is the ESSENCE of this war, not to speak of the new US policy of institutionalization of massive prison and torture camps.

We should show the candidate that we are informed of the moral emptiness of the bland media non-reporting on the LACK of democracy in the new Iraqi Constitution -- which essentially re-incorporated the TAL, the Transitional Administrative Law of the Bremer period that gave carte blanche to a grand larceny by the US.

If that is too detailed or technical, we should then inform the candidate that we reject the empty phraseology of the Bush administration -- AND the Centrist Democrats -- that this war is being fought "in a War against Terrorism" -- but that we recognize that the invasion of Iraq (and soon Iran too) as purely and simply an illegal aggressive war of occupation/colonization -- and as

Scott Ritter stated it:

America has collectively walked away from the rule of law, and in doing so has become the greatest perpetrator of war crimes in modern times. The scope and scale of our crimes, as manifested in Iraq and elsewhere, are mind-boggling...

The candidate should be informed of our seriousness in pursuing the truth; he should hopefully be inspired to do so too.