Do something on Friday to end the war

Not even General Petraeus can see any light at the end of the tunnel.

There’s no exit plan, no timetable, not even any criteria to know when we’ve achieved the “victory” that George Bush keeps promising.

The Pentagon keeps sending the same troops into the combat zone, over and over and over.

And as long as that continues, the antiwar effort must continue just as doggedly, month in and month out, over and over and over.  There is no other choice except to surrender to the warmongers.

Friday is Iraq Moratorium #8, a day to do something to show that you want the war and the occupation to end.  Please do something.  

The Iraq Moratorium is a loosely-knit national grassroots effort to end the war and occupation of Iraq.

More than 70 events are listed on the national website, from sea to shining sea. There have been 800-plus since the Moratorium began in September, ranging from street corner vigils to more militant actions.

You can easily check at IraqMoratorium.org for one near you.But you don’t need to participate in an action to be part of the Iraq Moratorium.  All it requires is that you do something — anything — on the Third Friday of the month to show that you want to end this war and bring the troops home.

While you’re on the website, you can take the simple pledge, which will also get you on the email list for updates:

I hereby make a commitment that on the Third Friday of each and every month, I will break my daily routine and take some action, by myself or with others, to end the War in Iraq.

Or not.  That’s the beauty of the Iraq Moratorium.  You can participate at whatever level you’re comfortable with.

If that means just wearing a button or a black armband to work or school, fine.  If it means writing or calling your member of Congress, writing a letter to the editor, putting a sign in your yard, or any of dozens of other things, that’s fine, too.

Just do something.

Will wearing a button, or putting up a sign, or standing at a vigil, stop the war?  Not likely.

But is doing something better than doing nothing?  Infinitely better.

Two-thirds of the people in this country want this bloody, pointless war to end.  But they don’t do much about it except tell the pollsters.  That’s obviously not enough.

Many seem to be waiting for a new Democratic president to end the war, and have decided to put all of their energy and resources into electoral politics.

But we shouldn’t take anything for granted, even if we get a Democratic president and bigger Congressional majorities.

We’ve got to keep the heat on, all during this campaign, to keep the war issue on the front burner.  John McCain’s going to try to make this election a referendum on national security.  We need to make it a referendum on the war, and in the process to make it obvious, even to the most cautious, fence-sitting politician that support for this war is unacceptable.

How do we do that? There are a variety of ways.  But for starters, how about doing something on Friday?