{"article":{"id":195435,"heading":"Why Won't MoveOn Move Forward?","author":"JOHN STAUBER","created":"2007-03-21 02:58:56","modified":"2007-03-23 14:07:39","last_modified":"Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:07:39","article":"http:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/stauber03192007.html<\/a>

March 19, 2007

A Cynical Subsidiary of the Democratic Leadership

Why Won't MoveOn Move Forward?

By JOHN STAUBER

and SHELDON RAMPTON

This week marks the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. To commemorate the occasion, the online advocacy group MoveOn.org is organizing more than 1,000 candlelight vigils throughout the United States. \"We'll solemnly honor the sacrifice made by more than 3,000 servicemen and women, and we'll contemplate the path ahead of us,\" states MoveOn's website. \"We cannot send tens of thousands of exhausted, under-equipped, and unprepared troops into the middle of an Iraqi civil war. ... Honor the sacrifice. Stop the escalation. Bring the troops home.\"

MoveOn's 3.2 million members strongly oppose any continuation of the war, and the language above seems to suggest that MoveOn's leadership agrees. But MoveOn's organizing around Iraq has become notably ambiguous lately. Although it talks in general terms about bringing the troops home, specific timetables or meaningful steps in that direction are nowhere discussed. Most strikingly, MoveOn has adamantly refused to support the Iraq amendment from Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey and Maxine Waters, which calls for \"a fully funded, and systematic, withdrawal of U.S. soldiers and military contractors from Iraq\" by the end of 2007.

Politically, the Lee amendment cannot pass; fewer than 100 members of Congress are expected to vote for it. However, the same thing is true of weaker legislation that MoveOn is currently supporting, in league with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha and David Obey. The Pelosi bill merely establishes \"benchmarks\" of progress in Iraq, so that all Bush has to do is certify that he is making progress on those goals to keep funding flowing for the war. Instead of withdrawing troops this year, the Pelosi bill talks about beginning to withdraw them in March 2008. Even so, it faces united Republican opposition and is not expected to pass the U.S. Senate, even if it is approved by the House of Representatives. And even if it does pass, Bush has already said he will veto it. So why was the Democratic Party leadership so determined to prevent the Lee amendment from even coming to the floor - and why has MoveOn.org avoided even mentioning the Lee proposal to its members?

On Sunday, MoveOn distributed a survey asking its members to vote on three options: support the Pelosi bill; oppose it; or \"not sure.\" MoveOn's Eli Pariser described the survey in an email as an opportunity for members to participate in \"a big decision coming up this week. ... MoveOn is a member-directed organization - we believe that all of us, together, are smarter than any one of us.\"

In fact, however, MoveOn's survey was designed to conceal from its members the option of supporting the stronger anti-war amendment put forth by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

There are, of course, other ways of running a survey. When TrueMajority.org recently surveyed its members about the best way forward, they offered three choices: the Lee plan, the Pelosi plan, and the option of demanding that Congress reject any further war funding, period. Only 24 percent of TrueMajority's members supported the Pelosi plan - which appears to be the reason why MoveOn's survey gave their members no choice but the Pelosi plan.

Even MoveOn's rules for the war's fourth-anniversary candlelight vigils expressly exclude anything specifically aimed at ending it. \"There are many ways to commemorate the war anniversary - but MoveOn and other coalition members are coming together around solemn candlelight vigils,\" explains their website. \"Events other than vigils that honor the sacrifice of our servicemen and women and their families will not be publicly posted here.\"

MoveOn was not always this reluctant to demand a specific and speedy timetable for ending the war.

Just last year, in fact, its organizing slogan was \"Out in '06.\" It circulated that slogan at a time when the U.S. political environment offered less realistic opportunity to end the war than it does now. Last year, the Republican Party controlled both houses of Congress along with the White House, and when Murtha called for troop withdrawal, Republicans mocked the proposal as \"cutting and running.\" Now Democrats have retaken Congress in a watershed election in which concern about the war was the top issue on the minds of voters. According to a recent USA Today\/Gallup survey, 58 percent of Americans now want U.S. troops out of Iraq within a year.

If MoveOn were serious about ending the war, now would be an opportune moment to mobilize its millions of members and make it finally happen. Instead, its current strategy is dead weight, aimed more at fooling its members into thinking they are pushing forward when in fact they are merely lighting candles. So why has MoveOn begun to blow hot and cold at the very moment when the political winds are seemingly blowing in favor of a speedy U.S. withdrawal?

The answer boils down to some breathtakingly cynical political calculations by the leadership of the Democratic Party, with which MoveOn has aligned itself.

By now even the politicians in Washington, and certainly their advisors, understand that Iraq is a lost cause. Even the Bush administration understands it. Its much-touted current \"surge\" is a delaying tactic, not a serious attempt to bring order to the chaos that now exists in Iraq. \"Even if we had a million men to go in, it's too late now,\" says retired four-star Gen. Tony McPeak, who served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War. \"Humpty Dumpty can't be put back together again.\"

It's not a question, therefore, of whether the U.S. leaves Iraq. It's a question of when.

Bush and his advisors are continuing the war in Iraq because politically, they have no other choice. To admit defeat now would win Bush no support at all from Americans who oppose the war, and it would erase his remaining credibility in the eyes of the 35% of Americans who continue to support him.

The Democrats, however, do have a choice, and the choice that they are making is to offer symbolic statements of opposition, while in practice allowing the war to continue, and funding it. This choice is based on their realization that the war has become a political liability for Republicans. If the war ends this year, the debate during the 2008 congressional and presidential elections will turn to \"who lost Iraq.\" If the war continues into next year, however, Democrats will benefit as the de facto \"anti-war party,\" no matter how feckless their opposition in the meantime.

Part of this calculation is based on a common expectation, expressed by many analysts, that a U.S. withdrawal will be followed by an explosion of Iraqi-on-Iraqi bloodletting that is even worse than the current violence. \"Even in the best-case scenario,\" says Michael Scheuer, the former chief of the CIA's Osama bin Laden unit, \"the disaster we're seeing now is nothing compared to the disaster that we'll see after we leave. The real issue here is American interest: The longer we stay, the more people we get killed. I don't think the longer we stay, the better we make Iraq. Probably the reverse.\"

In the short run, a U.S. withdrawal followed by the expected Iraqi national implosion will be spinnable by conservative pundits as proof that the war should have continued, and this is what Democratic politicians fear. Instead of campaigning as the party that will end the war, they are afraid that they may be labeled responsible for allowing a bloodbath to happen. But the bloodbath is happening anyway, and the longer U.S. troops stay, the worse the ultimate reckoning.

What may seem like clever politics, therefore, produces horrible policy. When politicians and advocacy groups like MoveOn play anti-war games of political theater while effectively collaborating with the war's continuation, they merely add one more deception to the layers of lies in which this war has been wrapped. Like Bush and his supporters, they are sacrificing human lives simply for the sake of perpetuating an illusion.

As several anti-war veterans' and soldiers' families organizations noted earlier this month in an open letter, \"There is a tragic parallel here with the Vietnam War. The last 28,000 troops who died in that war were abandoned to political game-playing long after Congress and the President knew that it was time to bring the troops home. This was a tragedy that you must not allow to be repeated.\"

John Stauber is Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy in Madison, Wisconsin.

Sheldon Rampton is co-author (with Stauber) of Weapons of Mass Deception and The Best War Ever.

They can be reached at: john@prwatch.org<\/a>\n","contact":"john@prwatch.org","link":"http:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/stauber03192007.html","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"What may seem like clever politics, therefore, produces horrible policy. When politicians and advocacy groups like MoveOn play anti-war games of political theater while effectively collaborating with the war's continuation, they merely add one more deception to the layers of lies in which this war has been wrapped. Like Bush and his supporters, they are sacrificing human lives simply for the sake of perpetuating an illusion.","numcomment":13,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2007\/03\/195435.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":195449,"heading":"Why Won't MoveOn Move Forward?","article":"Why Won't MoveOn Move Forward? \r\n\r\nYou still don't know?\r\n\r\nOkay now listen up! THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS !\r\n\r\nMoveOn took down its own forum because too many members were posting articles about Israeli apartheid terrorism.\r\n\r\nThe circle is complete. The American public knows that they do not have a true democracy. The sad thing is... there isn't a damb thing you can do about it, short of just refusing to pay your taxes.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nJOIN US IN THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST ISRAELI APARTHEID TERRORISM\r\n\r\nTake Action, sign on to the letter at http:\/\/www.cflweb.org\/ political action and tell Congress to stop using your tax dollars to support apartheid terrorism. \r\n\r\nFor further political action and information see:\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.cnionline.org --- http:\/\/www.endtheoccupation.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.stopthewall.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.rachelcorrie.org\/action.htm --- http:\/\/www.astandforjustice.org --- http:\/\/www.palestinesolidaritymovement.org\/ --- http:\/\/bigcampaign.org.uk\/ \r\n\r\nWhat the Media hopes that you never learn about the apartheid terror state of Israel\u2026 \r\n\r\nImportant informational websites: \r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.voicesofpalestine.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.palsolidarity.org\/main\/ --- http:\/\/www.washington-report.org\/index.htm --- http:\/\/www.al-awda.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.palestineremembered.com\/index.html --- http:\/\/electronicintifada.net\/new.shtml --- http:\/\/www.globalexchange.org\/countries\/mideast\/palestine\/ --- http:\/\/www.stop-us-military-aid-to-israel.net\/ --- http:\/\/zionismexplained.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.palestinehistory.com\/ --- http:\/\/www.pchrgaza.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.rafah.vze.com\/ --- http:\/\/rafah.virtualactivism.net\/news\/todaymain.htm --- http:\/\/www.americanintifada.com\/ --- http:\/\/www.ifamericansknew.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.ussliberty.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.nowarforisrael.com --- http:\/\/www.ipsc.ie\/ --- http:\/\/www.palestine-info.co.uk\/am\/publish\/ --- http:\/\/www.thepeoplesvoice.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.ipc.gov.ps\/index.asp --- http:\/\/www.imemc.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.stopaipac.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.monabaker.com\/ --- http:\/\/kurtnimmo.com\/ --- http:\/\/www.rense.com\/ --- http:\/\/bostontopalestine.org\/ --- http:\/\/they-are-still-here.blogspot.com\/ --- http:\/\/www.normanfinkelstein.com\/index.php --- http:\/\/www.a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com\/ --- http:\/\/bethlehemghetto.blogspot.com\/ --- http:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/index.pl --- http:\/\/bodyontheline.blogspot.com\/ --- http:\/\/peacepalestine.blogspot.com\/ --- http:\/\/www.umkahlil.blogspot.com\/ \r\n\r\n\r\nIsraeli terrorism in pictures \u2026 \r\nhttp:\/\/www.informationclearinghouse.info\/article14069.htm\r\n\r\nChristian organizations that oppose the Zionist apartheid terror regime:\r\nhttp:\/\/www.cmep.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.hcef.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.hcsn.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.al-bushra.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.cpt.org\/hebron\/hebron.php --- http:\/\/www.biblestudysite.com\/\r\n \r\nJewish organizations that oppose the Zionist apartheid terror regime:\r\nhttp:\/\/www.jewsagainstzionism.com\/ --- http:\/\/www.nkusa.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.nimn.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.jewsnotzionists.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.btselem.org\/English\/index.asp --- http:\/\/www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org\/ --- http:\/\/www.icahd.org\/eng\r\n\r\nThe Israeli lobby AIPAC counts on your ignorance. Iraq, Palestine, Neocons - how all of it ties together can be found in this report entitled "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy". A condensed version can be found here at the London Review of Books. \r\nhttp:\/\/www.lrb.co.uk\/v28\/n06\/print\/mear01_.html \r\n\r\nSee the Stop AIPAC site\u2026 http:\/\/www.stopaipac.org\/\r\n\r\n\r\nEVERYONE SHOULD SEE THE DOCUMENTARY \u201cTERROR STORM\u201d BY ALEX JONES. It exposes Government sponsored terrorism, False Flag Operations, the Pro-War Zionist Media and The New World Order. \r\n\r\nThroughout history, criminal elements inside governments have carried out terror attacks and psychological operations (psy-ops) against their own populations as a pretext to enslave them. TerrorStorm reveals how, in the last hundred years, Western leaders have repeatedly murdered their own citizens while posing as their saviors.\r\n\r\nThis powerful documentary explores the mindset of the average brainwashed Westerner. It delves deeply into the systems of control which have been scientifically-crafted to imprison their minds and keep their eyes closed to the realities of the world around them.\r\n\r\nAlex Jones has agreed to let everyone see \u201cTerror Storm\u201d under not for profit and for educational purposes free of charge. Jones should be commended for exposing the New World Order on such a large scale. His website is http:\/\/www.infowars.com \r\n\r\nA Must See Film\u2026TERROR STORM\u2026 "The DVD Of The Resistance": Watch Free, Spread The Word!\r\nPlease help us get Terror Storm to as many people as possible!\r\n\r\nTerror Storm can also be viewed on-line here\u2026 http:\/\/www.informationliberation.com\/?id=12638\r\n\r\nWhat is a False Flag? \u2026Committing an atrocious act and then blaming it on another party or nation. The point is to turn public opinion against an entity and have someone else fight your battles for you. \r\n\r\nWill America demand that Israel surrender its illegal nuclear weapons and other WMDs before it can detonate one in the United States under another False Flag Operation? \r\n\r\nSign the Petition Opposing An Attack on Iran! http:\/\/www.afterdowningstreet.org\/iran \r\n\r\nJOIN THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT\r\n\r\nJoin us in the streets and halls of Congress as we protest war and occupation! Sign up for the political action alerts at http:\/\/www.answercoalition.org and http:\/\/www.unitedforpeace.org \r\n\r\nIMPEACH BUSH THE WAR CRIMINAL\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.impeachbush.org \r\n\r\nWhat CNN and FOX would rather you not see or know anything about\u2026 http:\/\/www.robert-fisk.com\/iraqwarvictims_mar2003.htm\r\n\r\nNote: The mainstream media refuses to address and fairly report on the tragic events in the Holyland which is Palestine, this in spite of the fact that it is the most important issue on the global stage.\r\n\r\nResist The Corporate Owned Pro-War Zionist Media\u2019s 24\/7 Campaign To Brainwash And Manipulate The American Public. Render Them Irrelevant. Get Your News Uncensored and Unfiltered From Independent Sources. \r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.informationliberation.com\/\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.thepeoplesvoice.org\/cgi-bin\/blogs\/indx.php\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/index.pl Listen to Amy Goodman\u2019s show everyday\u2026 a must. \r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.whatreallyhappened.com\/index.html\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.freespeech.org\/fscm2\/genx.php?name=home\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.americanfreepress.net\/\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/english.aljazeera.net\/HomePage\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.imemc.org\/\r\n\r\nImportant and Vital: Find A Pacifica Network Station Near You. Listen to Democracy Now with Amy Goodman and support the station that carries it\u2026\r\nhttp:\/\/pacificanetwork.org\/radio\/content\/blogsection\/7\/83\/\r\n\r\n\r\nSPOON-FED NEWS CAUSES BLINDNESS \r\n\r\nFOX and CNN 24 \/ 7 propaganda machines are undermining objective media.\r\nTake action: Call your cable provider and tell them that they have 30 days to carry the Al Jazeera \u201cEnglish\u201d Channel on \u201cbasic cable\u201d and if they refuse to, boycott them by cancelling their service.\r\n\r\n\u201cIf everybody watches CNN, what does CNN watch? The Al Jazeera English Channel.\u201d\r\nFriends of Al Jazeera\r\nhttp:\/\/www.friendsofaljazeera.org\/\r\nhttp:\/\/english.aljazeera.net\/HomePage\r\n\r\n\r\nBOTH REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT PARTIES SUPPORT ISRAELI APARTHEID TERRORISM AND THEIR MEMBERS RECEIVE MONEY FROM AIPAC INFLUENCED PRO WAR PRO ISRAEL PACS.\r\n\r\nSee AIPAC Influenced Pro-Israel, Pro-War PAC Contributions to 2006 Congressional Candidates\u2026 \r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.washington-report.org\/index.htm\r\n\r\nVote for the Party of Peace and Justice. The \r\nGreen Party USA \u2026 http:\/\/www.gp.org \r\n\r\nIt bears mentioning that no Green Party USA candidate is supported by the Neo-con pro war AIPAC lobby. See http:\/\/www.gp.org \r\n\r\n\r\nYour \u201cRepresentatives\u201d in Congress are supposed to work for YOU not lobbies of evil foreign regimes. Call or write them today. Tell them to stop all aid to the apartheid terror state of Israel\u2026 \r\n\r\nCall U.S. Capitol\u2026 202.225.3121 \r\nE-mail Your U.S. House Representative (you have only one)\u2026 http:\/\/www.house.gov\/writerep\/\r\nE-mail Your U.S. Senators (you have only two)\u2026 http:\/\/www.senate.gov\/general\/contact_information\/senators_cfm.cfm\r\n\r\nWhite House\u2026 202-456-1414 \r\nWhite House\u2026 FAX: 202-456-2461 \r\nE-MAIL\u2026 comments@whitehouse.gov\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Ben-Gurion told Nahum Goldmann, the president of the World Jewish Congress:\r\n\u201cIf I were an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country . . . We come from Israel, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them? There has been anti-semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\nMust reads: Beyond Chutzspah, Finkelstein. A Pretext For War, Bamford. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Simons. Must see: Rachel - An American Conscience, Barakat.\r\n\r\n\u201cIn a world of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.\u201d - George Orwell \r\n"The people will believe what the media tells them they believe." - George Orwell\r\n\r\nPlease copy, e-mail, re-post and distribute this as widely as possible. Also for those without Internet access. \r\n\r\n\r\n ","author":"You still don't know?","parent_id":195435,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2007-03-21 10:08:12","modified":"2013-11-11 00:47:32","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2007\/03\/pelosi4.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2007\/03\/pelosi4.jpg"}},{"id":195466,"heading":"Well how about posts promoting sexist water fowl?","article":"Or posts that link to Daisy Duck? Or would that be speciesist? \r\nDuckist?","author":"Maid Marrian","parent_id":195435,"mime_type":"image\/gif","created":"2007-03-21 14:31:52","modified":"2007-03-21 14:31:52","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2007\/03\/daisy_duck.gif","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2007\/03\/daisy_duck.gif"}},{"id":195637,"heading":"infowars, rense, etc.","article":"Why is this crap on Indymedia?","author":"just wondering","parent_id":195435,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2007-03-23 14:07:54","modified":"2007-03-23 14:07:54","fileurl":""}]}