Eight Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have signed a pledge to act to bring America’s “Forever War” to “a responsible and expedient conclusion.”
The pledge was also signed by Rep. Mark Pocan, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus; Reps. Ilhan Omar, Ro Khanna and Rashida Tlaib; and Senator Jon Tester, who’s considered a moderate, but was elected on an anti-war platform.
The pledge reads as follows:
The United States has been in a state of continuous, global, open-ended military conflict since 2001. Over 2.5 million troops have fought in this ‘Forever War’ in over a dozen countries – including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Jordan, Niger, Somalia, and Thailand.
I pledge to the people of the United States of America, and to our military community in particular, that I will (1) fight to reclaim Congress’s constitutional authority to conduct oversight of U.S. foreign policy and independently debate whether to authorize each new use of military force, and (2) act to bring the Forever War to a responsible and expedient conclusion.
I applaud the signers of this resolution. I also point out that the words “responsible and expedient” are doing a lot of work. Was the U.S. exit from Vietnam “responsible and expedient”?
President Nixon said he wanted “peace with honor,” but this was not achievable. Those who supported the U.S. cause suffered a terrible vengeance. But I don’t see how this could have been avoided by prolonging the war even longer than it was.
There aren’t any good choices for the U.S. military in winding down its wars. Innocent people will suffer no matter what. There is no substitute for victory, and victory in these wars is out of reach.
This is a good reason not to start new wars.
One important point about the resolution is that it mentions Yemen, Somalia and other wars in which U.S. is involved without large-scale commitment of troops.
The resolution was sponsored by Common Defense, an organization of anti-war veterans and military families.
LINK
Sanders, Warren, Ocasio-Cortez and Other Lawmakers Sign Pledge to End America’s “Forever Wars” by Alex Emmons and Ryan Grim for The Intercept.
War Weary: Why Washington Needs to Bring Its Troops Home by Doug Bandow for The National Interest.
Talkin’ Bout My Generation: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman by Alan Brown for Tor.com. The Forever War is the title of a classic science-fiction novel by Vietnam veteran Joe Haldeman.
Tags: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Common Defense, Elizabeth Warren, Forever Wars, Military intervention
Phil Ebersole's Blog 
March 5, 2019 at 9:42 am |
Phil:
Thanks for this article. It is good to know that some of our representatives are taking an anti-war stance. The “War on Terror” was a terrible metaphor to begin with and continues to be. We have all kinds of wars: War on drugs; War on poverty; War on obsesity; War on ___________.
Not only do we have to change our militarism in the U.S. from war and killing to peace and compassion, we need to change our ways of communicating about topics that need addressing if we are to improve our quality of life on this planet.
Thanks for all you good work making these concerns visible on your blog.
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March 6, 2019 at 10:29 am |
I second the motion and can also highly recommend Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War. It was published in the early 70s, won the Hugo award, and continues to be discovered by new readers. Haldeman focuses on the dehumanizing effects of war and the toll it takes on the people who fight it. Shockingly relevant today.
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