Shortly before 4 a.m. today local time, the last soldiers of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry
Division crossed the border into Kuwait from Iraq. Seven years and five months after this same unit
participated in the invasion that deposed Saddam Hussein, the last American combat brigade had
left the country.

I’m grateful for those who serve in the military. I’m also reminded of the George McGovern quote:

I’m fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.

The fact that 50,000 Americans and tens of thousands of private contractors will remain in Iraq
for some time to come (indefinitely? Think of Korea, Germany, Japan, etc., to say nothing of
Afghanistan) is, I guess, a difference with a distinction. Those remaining behind won’t be combat
soldiers first and foremost, although they will be in danger of attack and they will accompany Iraqi
soldiers on missions when requested.

A larger question is, what did we accomplish at what cost? Iraq was hell under Saddam Hussein. Iraq is anarchy after Saddam Hussein - an anarchy that oil companies and other profiteers are all too eager to exploit.

And the cost?

4,415 brave American soldiers dead, as of Wednesday. More than 32,000 seriously wounded. More
than 9,000 Iraqi military and police dead. 136 journalists, 51 media support workers and 94 foreign
aid workers killed. Well over 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths, although the number varies so widely we
may never know how many died.

That’s some cost.

I’ll close with Gandhi:

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether
the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name
of liberty and democracy?

David Elliot is the Communications Director at USAction

On Monday June 7, the war in Afghanistan became the longest war in U.S. history.   Today we helped run an ad in Politico telling Congress to set a responsible withdrawal plan that’s complete no later than December of 2011.  Big thanks to all the USAction / TrueMajority members whose contributions helped make this ad possible.

Do you agree that it’s time to end the war?  Then sign the petition below and let your congress member know:

The Afghanistan war is now the longest in U.S. history.

After more than $1 trillion spent; more than 1,000 American soldiers killed; and countless Afghan people killed, injured or displaced by the fighting, it’s time to end this war.

Please support the efforts of Rep. McGovern and others to demand that no more money be appropriated for this war until the president presents a plan for a withdrawal that’s complete no later than December 2011.

Click here to add your name.

USAction, affiliates and coalition partners next week will kick off a “National Week of Action,” calling on Congress to take immediate steps to put America back to work, pass responsible tax policies and preserve the safety net during this era of high unemployment and financial distress

The National Week of Action events unofficially begin Saturday, when tens of thousands of people will rally at noon in front of the State House in Trenton, New Jersey to protest proposed budget cuts in education, health and other public services. The rally will be the largest pro-public services event of the year – larger even than the 15,000 people who turned out in Springfield, Illinois last month to chant “Show some guts! Avoid the cuts!” and demand that legislators responsibly address a $12 billion budget deficit.

Alan Charney, USAction policy director:

Americans from all walks of life are organizing and fighting back, cuts in services threaten our schools, our children, our families, our communities. Next week we will be telling legislators not just in Springfield and Trenton but across the country to show some guts and avoid the cuts. We have the resources – we just have to make the right choices.

USAction and hundreds of local, state and national groups are organizing as part of two coalitions that are leading the effort to address the economic crisis. Jobs for America Now, the country’s largest jobs coalition, and Americans for Responsible Taxes, a new coalition to be launched next week, each are leading the call for significant job creation and for an end to the irresponsible tax policies of the past ten years.

Specifically, USAction and Jobs for America Now are supporting the Local Jobs for America Now Act, sponsored by Rep. George Miller, D-CA. This measure almost immediately would create one million jobs. USAction and Jobs for America Now also are supporting extensions to UI/COBRA as well as emergency assistance to the states, including FMAP, and legislation sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-IA, that would preserve or create hundreds of thousands of teachers’ jobs.

USAction and Americans for Responsible Taxes are supporting letting the Bush tax cuts for the top two tax brackets expire (families making more than $250,000), reinstating a robust estate tax, closing tax loopholes for wealthy individuals and ending subsidies for corporate overseas earnings and oil and gas companies, and permanently extending tax relief for working families. In all, as much as $1.4 trillion in tax dollars are at stake.

Charney said the National Week of Action events will serve as a reminder that Americans support responsible, effective government, despite recent “tea party” protests to the contrary.

In this election year, some people who simply don’t believe in government would have us think that we are overtaxed,” he said. “In fact, our taxes are lower than they have been in almost 60 years.

A recent USA TODAY article, citing Bureau of Economic Analysis data, found that federal, state and local income taxes consumed 9.2 percent of all personal income in 2009, the lowest rate since 1950. That rate is far below the historic average of 12 percent for the last half century. The overall tax burden hit bottom in December 2009 at 8.8 percent before increasing slightly during the first three months of 2010.

David Elliot is the Communications Director at USAction

There’s a battle brewing in the halls of Congress. No, I’m not talking about Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan. And no, I’m not talking about offshore oil drilling, though both will prove to be knock-down drag out fights in and of themselves. I’m talking about the fourth rail of American politics: the Pentagon budget.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ speech at the Eisenhower Library last weekend was a shot across the bow to the Pentagon: it’s time to reign it in. This is big, for obvious reasons, but mostly because cutting military spending is about as politically popular as cutting Social Security and Medicare is in states like Florida or Arizona. It’s safe to say that Gates has ruffled a few feathers with this, his second speech in a week demanding spending reform within the government’s most costly department: His.

“The gusher has been turned off,” Gates said, referring to the Pentagon’s unchecked budget that has doubled since 2001. While Gates is the second Defense Secretary in the last 10 years to advocate spending cuts overall and increased efficiency within the Pentagon, (Donald Rumsfeld speech on September 10, 2001 focused on addressing the massive inefficiencies shackling the bureaucracy) he is the first to layout a laundry list of programs and military weaponry he wants to be honestly examined before blindly plowing ahead.

I’m happy to say that one of those targets is defense contractors. From the WashPo:

Gates is looking for 2-4% savings in the DoD budget (which currently sits at $547 billion) representing about $10 to $20 billion. The question here is whether or not those savings are put back into domestic public programs (like healthcare and education) or if they are simply dumped back into DoD priorities and new initiatives. We’d like to see the former, but all signs right now say the latter.

 
Judging by last year’s knock down drag out fight in the Senate about whether or not to stop production on the F-22 fighter jet (of which we may have played a role), Gates’ demands are sure to meet staunch opposition, especially from members of Congress who have Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics or Raytheon plants in their districts.

Mr. Gates has taken a big first step in challenging the military industrial complex, that of admitting to the problem (excessive spending, even during one of the most challenging economic downturns of the past 75 years). The next step? Actually finding the political will to make these important changes a reality.