The "American Street" Speaks: Will the Democratic Party Listen?

[struggle4progress]

As more and more Americans turn against Bush's Iraq war, Democratic politicians remain silent.

Their play-it-safe strategy isn't just cowardly, it also won't work.

by Juan Cole

<snip> Indeed, members of the Republican Party provided some of the protesters in Washington. The St. Petersburg Times reported on Sept. 25 that among the attendees was Paul Rutherford, 60, of Vandalia, Mich., a Republican who said, "President Bush needs to admit he made a mistake in the war and bring the troops home, and let's move on." Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford support Bush on other policies, and both termed the removal of Saddam Hussein "a noble mission." But they said that when no weapons of mass destruction were discovered, the U.S. troops should have left. Opinion polls suggest that a significant percentage of Republicans have come to agree with the Rutherfords.

In a mid-September CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, about a third of respondents wanted to bring at least some troops home, and another third wanted a complete withdrawal. Only 26 percent wanted to just keep the same number of soldiers there, while a gung-ho 8 percent were in favor of sending yet more troops. Many of the protesters on Saturday were similarly divided between those who wanted immediate withdrawal and those, like MoveOn.org, that advocate beginning a phased withdrawal next year.

The American movement to withdraw from Iraq is being called "the American street" on the Arabic satellite news networks. Although many Shiite and Kurdish Iraqis have mixed feelings about it, other Iraqis have taken heart. Khalida Khalaf, 52, told the Los Angeles Times of Cindy Sheehan, "Of course she's a mother, and just like our people are hurting, she's hurting too ... Just as she wants America out of Iraq, so do we." Khalaf, a Shiite of Sadr City in Baghdad, lost her Iraqi son, Majid, to the same clashes between the U.S. military and the Mahdi Army that took the life of Casey Sheehan. About 120 members (out of 275) of the elected Iraqi parliament have called for a short timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. The Sunni Arab political elite wants the U.S. to get out of Iraq yesterday, as does the puritanical Shiite Sadr movement. There may be an increasing convergence of opinion on the prospect of the U.S. troops staying in Iraq, between the Iraqi public and the American. <snip>

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0929-31.htm

[EST]

1. They will have to be beaten severely with the truth to have any

inkling. Their notion of "leading" is to do al they think best and ignore public opinion, while pretending they are actually listening. Remember Kerry's "I hear you" declaration?
We ARE the American street and the fourth arm of government, at least theoretically out voting the other three, combined.

[Poppyseedman]

2. Only if the streets are paved with GOLD

[AX10]

3. Sad thing is, that Pelosi, Dean, Conyers, and a few others...

stand alone in calling for change. The rest of the Dems are statists comfortable with their cushy jobs.

[drduffy]

4. Repugs and many Dems

know that the US will not leave Iraq (and will surreptiously - along with Brits_ create some of the terror) until the oil is gone. That the US has to have control of the oil to maintain the illusion of our lifestyle. If autonomy were achieved too soon, the Iraqi govt might take over control of their own oil. The US cannot abide that.

[buzzsaw_23]

5. nominated n/t