STDD>HO! goes mainstream

I know you've heard about the letter sent to Shrub on January 12 by 16 Democratic members of the House calling for withdrawal from Iraq. It is, as many others have noted, an important political milestone. It has been said openly and clearly by forces in officialdom that we should get out. Not at some vaguely-defined future date, not based on vapid assurances that "we don't want to stay forever," but on a declared policy of withdrawal. A political firewall has been breached and it's up to us to storm through the opening with more feet on the street.

It has become clear[, the letter says,] that the existence of more than 130,000 American troops stationed on Iraqi soil is infuriating to the Iraqi people - especially because Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction and did not have a connection to the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 or to the al Qaeda terrorist organization. Indeed, the very presence of Americans in Iraq is a rallying point for dissatisfied people in the Arab world. The events of the last two years have not only intensified the rage of the extremist Muslim terrorists, they have also ignited civil hostilities in Iraq that have made Americans and Iraqis substantially less safe. Therefore, by removing our troops from the country, we will remove the main focus of the insurgents' rage.

I would note, though, that some have characterized it as an "Out Now!" letter: United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), for example, headlined its email notice to supporters "'Out Now' Hits the Mainstream." That's actually inaccurate or perhaps better, imprecise. The letter does not say "out now," rather, it urges the White House to "take immediate steps to begin the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq" and adds

while it may be logistically difficult to immediately remove every American soldier, we urge you to take immediate action to begin the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

When I first explicitly called for withdrawal from Iraq, back in April, I said that "out now" was not a viable slogan because of the physical impossibility of removing 130,000 troops "now" - but that "set the date" is viable. Which, it seems to me, is a lot closer to what these members of Congress said.

Woolsey spokeswoman Susannah Cernojevich said only logistical factors prevented Woolsey from calling on Bush to immediately withdraw all the force.

"If she had her way, they would leave now," she said of Woolsey.

Precisely!

So ya know what? "Out Now!" hasn't gone mainstream, "Set the Damn Date and Get the Hell Out!" (STDD>HO!) has! I'm a trend!

Footnote: While you're surely aware of the letter, you might not have seen the list of signers, so here they are:

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA, 6); Danny Davis (D-IL, 7), Lane Evans (D-IL, 17), Sam Farr (D-CA, 17), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ, 7), Alcee Hastings (D-FL, 23), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY, 22), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL, 02), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH, 10), Barbara Lee (D-CA, 9), John Lewis (D-GA, 5), Jim McDermott (D-WA, 7), Grace Napolitano (D-CA, 38), Major Owens (D-NY, 11), Jose Serrano (D-NY, 16), and Pete Stark (CA-13).

If your rep is not on that list (mine isn't), you might want to ask them why.