Northern California Meeting on the Iraq War, the Peace Movement, and the November Presidential Election

• Obama has said he will have troops out by the end of 2009 -- the antiwar movement must organize to hold him to it.

• A Democratic victory in the election will be a second "Peace Mandate," even stronger than 2006.
• It might serve the antiwar movement and other forces not visibly inside the Democratic Party apparatus to create something like "Progressives for Obama" to highlight the existence of folks to Obama's left who support his election. This will only work if folks are willing to work on the campaign.

• Everyone in the antiwar movement does not have to throw themselves into the election; parallel tracks can also help create the post-November 4 climate.

• One advantage of an Obama candidacy is that it has been embraced by the African American community; progressive things have happened in U.S. history when African Americans are on the move.

• Peace activists should join MoveOn if they haven't already. MoveOn constantly polls its members; this is one arena in which to make ourselves heard.

Democrats in Congress are not going to be eager to oppose war funding this year. One possible tactical fight to take up might be to push Congresswoman Maxine Waters' measure to end US support for the Iraqi Security Forces -- essentially death squads -- as a violation of the 1997 Leahy Amendment barring assistance to known human rights violators. Hayden laid out the whole rationale for such a project here.

Activists conducted brainstorms on possible tactical initiatives after Hayden's speech.

In addition to Hayden, Leslie Cagan, coordinator of the national coalition United for Peace and Justice brought further thoughts on organizing.

Leslie Cagan, coordinator of the national coalition, United for Peace and Justice focused on the condition of the peace movement itself. Nobody is better placed to have a sense of what organized peace forces exist in the U.S. UFPJ has over 1000 member groups, ranging in size from national organizations like the American Friends Service Committee to little local vigils. As Leslie kept saying: "There are many strands to the movement. And there are probably as many peace groups not in UFPJ as inside UFPJ -- it is a big country."

Some of her points:

• At this time of political transition, we need to understand that the interior work of strengthening our movement is legitimate, important work -- as much so as our public agitation.

• The Obama phenomenon means that a large new group of people have come to believe that what they do can make a difference. He organizes for hope and people respond.

• We can't let the election completely overrun the peace movement. There will be a Congressional vote on additional funding for the war in April. We must push back against the instinct of Democratic legislators to just get it out of the way. They need to hear from us: NO MORE.

• The peace movement must work to overturn the very notion that we are in a "war on terror." We must repudiate the underlying assumption that the U.S. can freely use military force anywhere in the world.

• The peace movement has to be genuinely open to younger people and people of color -- that means it won't look like this room. It's good that the people who are here are here -- but we can't hold on to all the space.

• Paradoxically, the movement does not talk enough about what Iraq is actually like for Iraqis -- what is really happening there. The 4.5 million uprooted refugees are often invisible, even to the peace movement. We do better at focusing on the war's harm to U.S, troops, probably better than peace movements have in the past. But we cannot be U.S.-centric. The U.S. has made a desperately dangerous failed state of Iraq.

• In the United States, we need to drive home an understanding of the costs of the war. The weakness of the U.S. economy, people's struggles to get by, are a direct result of the war. Good money thrown to mercenaries and contractors is the reason our bridges are crumbling and so many don't have health insurance.

UFPJ is promoting a new slogan on stickers and buttons like the one pictured above. Available here. Several activists from progressive Democratic clubs, while agreeing heartily with the message, questioned the wording. The allusion to the Clinton campaign mantra of 1992 -- "It's the economy, stupid" -- seemed to them insider-ish. They worried some people would think they were being called "stupid." It was interesting to hear this response to a peace coalition trying to be clever.

This was a meeting of serious, competent people very determined to find ways to carry antiwar agitation through the election season.

Jan Adams has done a multitude of things in progressive California politics since 1973. She blogs at Happening Here where this article first appeared.