Ending the War in Iraq

This is one of the most useful books on the struggle for peace. Tom Hayden, a veteran of the anti-war movement in the 1960s and 1970s, draws lessons from the experience of opposing and helping to end the US war of aggression against Vietnam. He aims to apply public pressure to erode the eight pillars sustaining the war on Iraq: a stable ally in the form of an Iraqi government, sufficient public support in the USA, compliant American media, strong political support from the US Congress, an adequate supply of US troops and recruits, ample budgetary resources over a decade-long period, a moral reputation drawing respect at home and abroad, and a network of international alliances. He points out that Iraqi support for the resistance has risen steadily since 2003. 78% of the Iraqi people oppose the occupation. 70% want a timetable for the US troops to leave, as do 60% of the US public and 72% of the US troops serving in Iraq. Hayden sums up that Iraqi resistance to the occupation is `permanent and undefeatable'. The US and British occupation forces use divide and rule, backing Shia Muslims and Kurds against Sunni Muslims. The Interior Ministry is virtually all Shia. The occupation forces use dirty tricks, death squads and mercenaries. As Vice President Dick Cheney said, "we also have to work ... on the dark side ... in the shadows ... without any discussion." The USAF carries out hundreds of air-strikes every month, but when did you last see any TV footage of bombing? As neocon Robert Kaplan said, "We can dominate the world only quietly: off camera, so to speak." By January 2007, US casualties, including wounded, in Iraq and Afghanistan, were 50,508. Also, 770 private security forces personnel had been killed in Iraq by the end of 2006. The war is hugely unpopular. 90% of the American people oppose cutting health or education spending to pay for it. In November 2006, the majority of the American people voted against a war in progress, for the first time ever, deposing the Republican Congressional majority. We must continue to press for the occupation troops to leave.