by John Murphy
Norwich Bulletin - May 23, 2007
As a member of Connecticut Opposes the War and in solidarity with the Southeastern Connecticut Peace and Justice network and anti-war activists throughout Connecticut, we will gather today at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in New London. We will then engage in a silent march and vigil to send a singular message to President Bush: End the war in Iraq now.
We are engaging in a silent march and vigil so our message will rise above the cacophony of the day. We will have many banners and signs to tell George Bush visually to end the war in Iraq now because it is clear he doesn't listen and he doesn't hear.
George Bush refused to listen to the intelligence community about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the reason given for invading Iraq in the first place. He refused to hear the concerns of other nations and plunged America recklessly into a war that has made our country less safe. He didn't listen to our military experts who told him it would take at least nine years to quell an insurgency. Instead, he stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln more than four years ago and naively announced, "Mission accomplished."
George Bush has refused to listen to the Baker Hamilton Iraq Study Group (filled primarily with advisers from his father's administration), the U.S. Congress and the American public. With all due respect, our message is quite simple:
Mr. President, the people of the great state of Connecticut have had enough of your reckless war without end. We gave you four years to implement a successful policy in Iraq and you failed. Now it is time to bring a responsible end to this quagmire.
We march and vigil in silence because it is our patriotic duty to show George Bush he has stubbornly gone it alone and continued his failed policy of unending war.
Connecticut spoke loudly and clearly in the Democratic primary last Aug. 8 -- we soundly rejected the misguided war of Bush, Cheney and Joe Lieberman. The primary victory of Ned Lamont sent shock waves around the world and emboldened timid Democrats who didn't know how to talk about the war in Iraq, to oppose it and win, in spite of the Chuck Schumers and Rahm Emmanuels of the Democratic election committees. Democrats never would have retaken the House and Senate without opposing the war in Iraq. We need to remind Democrats they need to keep sending legislation to George Bush to end the war in Iraq now.
Cynics say George Bush will never see our signs, so why bother? We do this to send a critical message. End this senseless war and start taking care of our priorities at home: health care, education, housing and, most importantly, the needs of our veterans and their families. The scandal of Walter Reed is part of the systematic destruction of the social safety net for our veterans.
We were told a hundred different times George Bush would never replace Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense. The day after America spoke at the polls last November, Bush did just that. Our collective voice and actions DO make a difference. It is our patriotic duty to make our voice heard in our representative democracy. Don't let George Bush, our senators and members of Congress off the hook. Demand they end the war in Iraq now.
John Murphy of Coventry is an organizer with Connecticut Opposed to the War and the political director for Connecticut Citizens Action Group. He is protesting against the war.
