Hope Out of Quagmire: New Peace Movement Opportunities

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Although the war has created precisely the kind of mess we predicted, we need to do more than just repeat, "I told you so." Or gloat about how Bush's imperial dream is unraveling. It's important to keep pushing on the ways Bush lied to Congress and the American public. We also need to offer our own vision of what needs to be done. We can do this by supporting European initiatives to end US control over Iraq's political and economic future, and instead place the country under UN charge, policing it with a multinational force with significant Islamic representation.

To most Iraqis, US troops have become symbols of colonialism and chaos. The longer they stay, the more they become targets, and the more Iraqis will resent the US for imposing our will and grabbing for oil while failing to secure basic needs like electricity, clean water, and physical safety. Because the UN represents the entire international community, including eighteen Arab states, a UN administration, in contrast, would be far less likely to be seen as a foreign military occupation. Although the new forces would probably still face some opposition, both armed and unarmed, they won't be tarred with the same neocolonial agenda. Iraqis wouldn't view them as simply in it to dominate their country or project American power. Without the disruption of a growing armed insurgency, efforts at restoring basic services, maintaining stability, and setting up a democratic and representative Iraqi government would be far easier. A UN Mandate might even allow a similar transition to when UN forces finally ended Indonesia's bloody occupation of East Timor and supervised that country's return to democracy.

A shift away from unilateral US control already has broad potential support. In a late-June Knowledge Network poll, 64% of Americans wanted the UN to take a leadership role in Iraq, up from 50% in April. Pushing for such a shift will also let us reach out to American soldiers who are increasingly frustrated at being given a mission with neither a defined end nor any clear boundaries between friend and foe. And to military families angry that they see no clear timetable for the return of their loved ones. We could contrast Bush's chickenhawk bluster of "Bring them on," with our own call to "Bring them Home," and include a vision that demands more than just abandoning Iraq to chaos.

Ideally, this campaign would be as broad-based as possible, encouraging citizens to reach out both in our communities and to elected officials. We'd circulate petitions, table, canvass, and vigil in local neighborhoods, write letters to local papers, pass civic resolutions, and resume all the other kinds of outreach we began so successfully on the eve of the war. We'd build to more visible rallies and marches. We'd work to ensure the Iraqi quagmire remains a front-and-center issue, so the Bush administration can't just move on and ignore it.

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