Bring the Troops Home Now!

I was at an organizing meeting of a brand new coalition yesterday in San Francisco. There must have been 40 or 50 people there, most with ties to prominent lefty organizations on the West Coast or nationally. Medea Benjamin and the Coup's Boots Riley were both there, along with a woman who lost her son in Iraq and at least 3 Veterans for Peace who had spent time in Iraq. There were also folks from ANSWER, major labor organizations, United for Peace and Justice, and so on.

The meeting was called to form a broad coalition around the simple proposal to bring the troops home from Iraq now. Though even that was immediately controversial as some people argued for broadening the coalition to impeachment, Haiti, Sudan, the environment and beyond before the coalition was even officially formed. Eventually we agreed to the original idea - simple and reflecting the current majority opinion.

Some might ask why this happened now. It does seem that the anti-war movement is doing the same sort of thing it was doing in 2003. Since then the biggest change, and greatest hope, has come from the counter-recruitment movement. That will continue, but even so, Bush seems as determined as ever to remain in Iraq and possibly even expand his efforts. He faces little opposition, indeed some of the strongest official opposition comes from a handful of Democrats who call for removing troops but increasing other kinds of operations (can't we just bring democracy to Iraq by firing missiles from a battleship miles away?), or using resources to invade Iran and other nearby countries rather than remain in Iraq. Meanwhile, the war has dragged on much longer than most average Americans ever expected and now most have turned against the war. Yet the majority who want us out now or immediately have no voice either in Washington or on the corporate media. Some of the organizations that have done the most work to oppose the war remain isolated, divided or do not appeal to the average American.

So this happened now because the need existed and the time was ripe. I had to leave early but it seems that this new coalition will likely host an anti-war conference, support and build large rallies that are already planned for March and April, and maybe someday adopt a name. It was an incredible task just to get all those folks in one room. Whatever happens I have a lot of hope for a sharp increase in political activity that either ignores the two major parties or forces them to listen or face consequences.

By the way, at this particular union hall - in the SOMA of San Francisco - there was this moving painting (mural?) on the wall (see below). This image was greatly enhanced with photoshop because the actual painting was pretty faded and reflected a lot of light.