Dennis Kucinich should go to Iraq!

[IndianaGreen]

I thought about this while replying to a thread in LBN. Someone had mentioned those Senators that just got back from Iraq, John Warner was one of them, that said that the troops moral was high. We know this to be a false statement.

How about a Dennis Kucinich fact-finding mission to Iraq that bypasses the official briefers in Qatar?

If any of you are Kucinich supporters, pass the word! That would be such a coup for Kucinich. Eisenhower did the same thing when he first ran for President in 1952 when he said that he was going to Korea to see for himself what was going on.

Ike got a lot of press for his Korea trip.

I don't expect the GOP is going to let Dennis go to Iraq and meet with the real grunts, but Dennis could then say "What are they trying to hide?"

An announcement by Kucinich that he is going to Iraq to find the real facts about US casualties, etc., would be a PR bonanza. It will also force the Pentagon to address the fears and concerns of the military families back home, and it will tell the public that the Bush regime has been lying to them about what is going on in Iraq today.

If Dean were a sitting member of Congress, I would be advising him to go. The problem is that unlike Kucinich, Dean cannot claim that his job in Congress gives him the right to ascertain the facts about the occupation of Iraq.

[Voltaire]

1. Excellent idea

As you well know, I am a Dean supporter. But a Kucinich visit to Iraq would help all of us who are on the progressive end of the party to prove our point that the war was at least unnecessary and at worse an illegal invasion for the seizure of Iraq's natural resources.

Of course the wingers would paint Kucinich as a nut. But who cares what they think?

[IndianaGreen]

2. It will also highlight what the grunts are going through

Getting one bottle of water a day as many of them are getting is an outrage, even to those of us that opposed this war from the very beginning.

Going to Iraq will also provide Kucinich for a platform to call for bringing the troops home and letting the Iraqis run Iraq, not Paul Bremer.

The real "Support the Troops" is to bring them HOME!

[bryant69]

3. Well, . . .

Three things--first of all, Morale is different from Soldier to Soldier, and from Unit to Unit--so its entirely possible that some units do have high morale. And these senators statements and the statements from the Guardian and elsewhere constitute only the most circumstantial of proof.

Second, going to Iraq would be very dangerous--and for those more paranoid types out there isn't it kind of easy to imagine an "accident?"

Third--I personally think that we should care what all American's think--that's part of living in a Democracy. It feels a bit like our ideology is becoming more rigid. While I don't agree with the Republican prescription for America, and while I think some Republican Ideologues are mean-spirited nuts, most Republicans are trying to make this country better--they just are wrong headed in how they go about it. In order to educate them, we need to at least try to understand where they are coming from--that's part of the political process.

Bryant
check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Voltaire]

5. In that case. . .

Good Republicans (oxymoron?) should repudiate their party as the money-laundering, shakedown operation it is and vote with the American People instead of The Hammer and the Chimp. Democrats cannot do that for them, and if they insist on voting with their party then they have to share the blame of the most extremist elements of that party. Just my opinion.

[bitchkitty]

14. My thoughts exactly -

kind of easy to imagine an "accident?"

[markbark]

4. THINK!

By sending Democratic presidential hopefuls to a war zone, wouldn't it be easier for the BFEE to arrange an "accident" for them?


Don't let anyone else get "Wellstoned!"

--MAB

[IndianaGreen]

7. Kucinich is a member of Congress

He has a Constitutional duty to go on fact-finding trips, even to a war zone!

Kucinich could even take some members of the Black Caucus and other liberals with him. Why should the prowar crowd be the ones that get their faces and message on TV, such as Senators Warner & Co did last week.

We need someone we trust, and someone that knows when he is being fed bullshit and is not afraid to expose it for what it is. Kucinich is our guy for this sort of mission!

[tinanator]

10. what Dean shouldnt go?

hmmmmmm...

-you are giving some really bad advice here, come on. There would be NO upside to it through the press, you dont need to risk his safety to find out what we all know already vis a vis press coverage of non Republican candidates, and everyone that really cares about peace already knows Kucinich is the one. Like a corporate candidate can be sincerely anti-war.

-on the same tip, so far Ive seen no reason to believe Kucinich wont be COMPLETELY blacklisted by pro-corporate Democratic websites like MWO. Not that that means squat, just watch the corporate coverage of Kucinich, IF you can find it.

[IndianaGreen]

11. Dean is not a member of Congress

He would find himself in the same shoes as then Michigan Governor George Romney did when he went on a fact-finding trip to Vietnam in 1967 when Romney said that he had been brainwashed. The prowar Johnson Administration seized on those words to make Romney look like a bumbling fool, which he was not.

The truth was that the Johnson Administration had been lying to the American people from Day One of the Vietnam war.

Kucinich is Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and as such, he can bring other House members with him to find the truth about the US occupation of Iraq, and the living conditions of the troops in the field.

[tinanator]

13. cool now its 1967!

Im getting younger yet, and I get to do some more Anti-Vietnam marchin! Help me Mr Wizard!!!!!!!

[IndianaGreen]

17. An American government lied to the people about 'Nam

just as another American government has lied to the people about Iraq and WMD.

Same issue, different historical points in time!

I don't want to see another 58,000 names etched in black marble that died because their government lied to them and to the American people.

[tinanator]

20. I believe its the same government

remarkably enough, 35 years doesnt change much more than demographics. Hell at least Im still alive to be included in one segment.

[kayell]

6. Great idea

although I would worry about his safety, and not from the Iraqis. As for repukes painting Kucinich as a nut, they will slam anyone who goes against their hardline views. Clinton was hardly a progressive, yet look at the hell they put him through. The repukes are working hard to either ignore or marginalize the candidates with the most challenging messages now, but will turn viciously on whoever eventually wins the nomination.

I think a Kucinich trip to Iraq would gain some much needed publicity both for his campaign and also for the plight of our troops.

[IndianaGreen]

8. A Kucinich trip will also highlight the issue of US withdrawal

from Iraq, sooner rather than later. A Kucinich call for US troops and administration being replaced by UN troops and an Iraqi government, will also show the military families and the grunts that being antiwar is also the real "support the troops"!

[revcarol]

9. Undecided. Would be tarred with "unpatriotic" brush,

but, what the hell, he is already!!

He spoke about Iraq at the Santa Fe rally. I WAS THERE!!
Obviously upset that we had waged an aggressive war and obviously concerned about the troops and civilians.
From the ABQ Journal July 4 article:
"Kucinich said the United States needs to ask the United Nations to establish a peace-keeping force in Iraq. 'The United States needs to get out of there as a singular force.'
However, the U. S. has an obligation to help rebuild Iraq, Kucinich said. 'WE BROKE THAT COUNTRY,' he said.'And now we have an obligation to make the country WHOLE.'"(Caps mine, but he did emphasize that.)

(Not in the article)He also said that we must have Iraq have the OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF ITS OWN RESOURCES, including water and oil. Big cheers from the crowd.(No more low-ball prices paid by U. S. companies to Iraq for their oil-HERESY!!) (No Enron-water companies-HERESY!!)

He also said that the big cozy-to-the-Bush-administration-companies had their profits lined up BEFORE the war, but that's another story for another day.

On edit, also not in the article, he said that our troops should not leave until there are UN peacekeepers in place. And we could be a small part of the peacekeepers.His message was more don't abandon Iraq, do the right thing, get the UN in there ASAP!!

[tinanator]

12. Now HERE'S an IDEA!

Send Kucinich to the UN! THAT would be an act of maturity and statement of purpose. WHY in the hell would you want Dennis following Arnold's footsteps?

[IndianaGreen]

15. As a member of Congress, Dennis can go to Iraq

with a fact-finding group of liberal House members.

I am glad you mentioned Arnold. The Pentagon had no problems flying Hollywood's Terminator to Iraq, perhaps to enhance his prospects as future governor of California. The Pentagon had no problems flying a group of Senators to Iraq, and keeping them under a tight leash. Why would the Pentagon deny Kucinich the right to find out how the soldiers are faring that have families in his District?

Kucinich has a Constitutional right and obligation to find out for himself what is going on in Iraq.

I wish Dean were a member of Congress, I would be telling him the same thing!

[tinanator]

16. because they will put him on a helicopter

and it will have a "HARD landing" and you know it.

-So Dean cant go? Or is there simply no percentage in that? His "broader appeal", and "fierce opposition" wouldnt be more effective in the same role? Which progressive and black caucus members did you want to get rid of, I mean send?

[IndianaGreen]

18. Bobby Kennedy was not afraid the day MLK was shot!

Bobby Kennedy was not afraid the day MLK was shot! Bobby was here in Indianapolis at a rally in a Black neighborhood when news came that Dr. King had been assassinated. Rather than being whisked away as most politicians would have, Bobby stayed and spoke at length to the crowd about the great loss America had suffered, and he shared the grief with the people there.

There were no riots in Indianapolis that day!

Bush is the one that is a coward!

[tinanator]

19. EXCELLENT point

Who is the first candidate since RFK to come from the same spiritual and moral place as Bobby? Now we know who that is, and he's not running for President of Iraq or Governor of California. The truth is, aside from the quagmire and loss of life, Iraq is behind us, NOBODY has to prove it was a bad idea based in lies from the Bush criminal enterprise. No way does he need to go over there and remind the troops of that fact. Better to stay healthy and work against the next phases in their imperial plans.

btw, what made you say that? I thought I missed a post or something it doesnt respond in any way to what my points were. Sorry if I dont merit that much courtesy.

[IndianaGreen]

21. I e-mailed this proposal to the Kucinich campaign

I don't know if they are as quick to respond as the Dean internet people are, but as an antiwar activist, I think this proposal has merit in itself.