Beware the September Song

Although my disappointment with the Democrats rests heavy on my shoulders this week, I have already spotted another worry on the horizon - I am very wary of the September chorus that sings about a bi-partisan solution concerning the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The song goes something like this - after General Petraeus makes what is now clearly expected by nearly everyone to be a report of little progress in the ongoing disaster (read "surge") that has already become our country's occupation of Iraq, we will magically join hands and the congress and the president will come together to finally pull an exit plan for Iraq out of their collective arses - yeah, right, if you believe that, you either have been living in the White House or under a rock for the last six years. Here's an e-mail I sent to Steph a few days ago:

Hey there Steph & Crew,
You all know how much I love Chris, yet I feel compelled to offer up a thought or two about Mr. Lavoie and his highly troubling anticipation of the future of this country's occupation of Iraq. Pardon me if I sound cynical (it may have something to to do with the last six years...), but Chris, Chris, Chris, what makes you think that Bush and company will be ready to leave Iraq by September? I firmly believe that we must KEEP the PRESSURE ON and let our Senators and Representatives know that we are taking note of the vote that they cast last week and all future votes that each one of them casts regarding Iraq funding and the continued occupation. As Stephanie said yesterday, "Waiting until September just gives the Repubs and Neo-cons time to 'manage expectations,'" in other words, more time to come up with their next big lie. Give me a break, if you honestly believe that in September we're all going to come together and magically vote for a real exit plan to truly bring the troops home - YOU GOTTA KNOW THAT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN! Not without relentless pressure from all 75% of us who know that this war is wrong. I'm just afraid that if we all adopt Chris's attitude, we're gonna wake up on September 1st or 30th or any day inbetween, and there will still be 100,000 + American troops in Iraq, and they will still be dying, and our money will still be going to pad Halliburton's coffers. President Bush will come up with yet another phrase with which he will coax us along until December, then it will be spring, and we will still be there, and then summer will roll around, and before you know it, we will be heading into the election, and nobody will pay any attention to what's going on in Iraq (or Afghanistan), save for the various campaign phrases in which each candidate sums up his/her hopefully more nuanced foreign policy in some catchy slogan. Grow up, Christopher, and realize that the Bush administration cannot be trusted. Can't you smell a KarlRovian con game when it's the same damn trick over and over again? Wake up!!!
Cheers - your radical militant librarian,
Faye

For up-to-the-minute facts that you can use when you are composing your e-mails or planning your phone rants to your Congress people, see U.S. War Watch.