Thanks to Karen Pomer for the top article "Public approval of Bush's handling of Iraq tumbled eight points in just the last week, to 32 per cent."
http://www3.cjad.com/content/cp_article.asp?id=/global_feeds/CanadianPress/WorldNews/w092173A.htm The Canadian Press, 2005 Public pressure mounts for Bush to curtail Iraq war after Katrina disaster Updated at 18:30 on September 21, 2005, EST. WASHINGTON (CP) - President George W. Bush says he can wage war in Iraq and still pay most of the huge bill for rebuilding the hurricane-lashed Gulf Coast. Most Americans don't agree with him. And for the first time, Bush is facing a serious revolt in his own party over how to pay for hurricane relief. Republicans already edgy about the estimated $200-billion US price tag to clean up after Katrina were bracing for more damage by week's end as hurricane Rita hurtled toward Texas and the battered Louisiana coast. For now, they're split on whether to cut domestic programs or add billions more to the whopping $333-billion U.S. deficit, options that Americans clearly aren't favouring in opinion polls. And with congressional elections looming next year, analysts say legislators are increasingly feeling the heat from voters who tell pollsters the Iraq war was a mistake and Bush is spending too much there. If the tide of public opinion doesn't budge, Bush may not be able to withstand an abrupt change in priorities, said Charles Cushman, a politics professor at George Washington University. "His supporters in Congress could abandon him if he's not going to be able to help them get re-elected," he said. "There will be tremendous pressure to declare victory no matter what's going on in Iraq and go home." A new Gallup survey Wednesday reported a record high in the percentage of Americans favouring a reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq, with 63 per cent saying some or all of them should come home. The opinion shift on troop withdrawal was similar among Republicans, Democrats and independents. And 54 per cent of Americans chose less spending on Iraq over other means of paying for Katrina, including increasing the deficit, cutting domestic programs or raising taxes, an option Bush has ruled out. Public approval of Bush's handling of Iraq tumbled eight points in just the last week, to 32 per cent. An Iraq backlash from Katrina was evident in other recent polls, including an Associated Press-Ipsos survey this week in which two-thirds said Bush was spending too much on the war. As well, a recent New York Times survey suggested more than eight in 10 Americans are concerned about the $5 billion US spent each month in Iraq, with support for the war falling to an all-time low. Still, only 26 per cent said they expected U.S. troops to be withdrawn within two years. "Technically, it is possible for the administration to continue to wage war in Iraq and launch huge domestic efforts," said Will Dobson, managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine. "The question is whether either can be done to the expectations of the public," he said. "And now Bush is in complete damage control mode." The president's record low approval ratings after the bungled response to Katrina didn't improve following a nationally televised speech last week where he promised to fund one of the world's largest reconstruction efforts. In a recent editorial, Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said the aftermath of Katrina will "inevitably" increase pressure on Bush to reduce his involvement in Iraq and spend more to rebuild or improve the country's capacity to deal with future disasters. Even before Katrina stuck, there were increasing concerns about the effectiveness of the Iraq effort, which has gobbled nearly $200 billion US and claimed the lives of nearly 2,000 U.S. soldiers. Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan's vigil last month near Bush's Texas ranch also renewed national focus on the war and its toll on the 140,000 soldiers there. But analysts say it was clearly Katrina that sparked an abrupt spike in discontent, against the backdrop last week of the deadliest day in Baghdad since the March 2003 invasion, when more than 150 people were killed in suicide bombings. And the hurricane catastrophe has supplied renewed energy for anti-war groups planning massive rallies in the U.S. capital this weekend. Some groups are now specifically targeting individual U.S. legislators on the issue of whether they're soft on national security. "The terrible tragedy of Katrina brought a silver lining and that's more scrutiny of Bush's foreign and domestic policy," said Bill Dobbs, media co-ordinator for United for Peace and Justice. "We've got to put Congress on the hot seat. Congress gave George Bush the authority and money to wage this war. Now they have to hold him accountable." And that's exactly the president's weak spot, said Cushman, who notes that much of the war costs have been borrowed and China holds a lot of the U.S. debt. "Even considering the Reagan deficits, which were enormous, these guys make them look like pikers," he said. "They're spending money like drunken sailors." The question, said Cushman, is whether Democrats can mount an effective case against waste and abusive government in next year's elections. That kind of campaign worked well on the flip side for former speaker Newt Gingrich, credited with in 1994 with marshalling the electoral success that allowed Republicans to take control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. "Democrats might actually get their act together now. There's a counter-case to be made," said Cushman. "It could be a very compelling indictment of malfeasance and incompetence in office." The Canadian Press, 2005 *** http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/347908p-296915c.html New York Daily News September 20, 2005 Errol Louis She knows the game You launch a political movement with the activists you have, not the activists you wish you had. Those who want America out of Iraq have Cindy Sheehan, and while she's not perfect, history will likely record her as a key leader in the growing movement to end the war. Sheehan was just one more grief-stricken suburban mother of a serviceman killed in Iraq until last month, when she set up a protest vigil outside President Bush's vacation ranch. Since then, she has been speaking in dozens of cities on the Bring Them Home Now Tour, which will culminate in a giant anti-war protest in Washington this weekend. More than 100 buses of protesters will be leaving from New York City alone in the next few days. She has become a regular target for right-wing pundits. "Cindy Sheehan is on a mission to figuratively urinate on her son's grave and make his death stand for nothing," said Mark Williams, a conservative radio talk show host, on Fox News. Another pro-war conservative, David Horowitz, has called Sheehan "a woman who exploits the death of her own son and doesn't respect her own son's life." Sheehan often provides ammunition to her opponents by using over-the-top rhetoric. In a typical comment, her Web site calls the Bush administration "murderous thugs who have caused so much mindless mayhem." But despite her verbal excesses, Sheehan has humanized what the polls say is now a majority position among citizens: that the Bush administration has been untruthful about the reasons for the war, wildly wrong about forecasts of success and is committed to staying put in what increasingly looks like a military quagmire. Anti-war activists compare Sheehan to Rosa Parks, the Alabama seamstress whose 1955 arrest for refusing to obey Montgomery's segregated bus seating laws helped spark the civil rights movement. The analogy is spot on. Sheehan, like Parks before her, is accused of going beyond respectable dissent and turning political and militant. In the process, say critics, Sheehan has been co-opted by sinister leftist organizations, including the Communist Party. Critics said exactly the same thing about Rosa Parks, who was an active member of the NAACP, fully versed in the growing movement to end segregation and well-aware of the group's search for a good test case. Segregationists howled over a photo showing Parks - along with a young Martin Luther King - at the Highlander Folk School, a Tennessee-based training school for social activists that conservatives called a Communist front. Sheehan, like Parks, is no political novice. Shortly after her son was killed in action last year, Sheehan joined a group called Military Families Speak Out. Months later, she formed a new organization, Gold Star Families for Peace, and began pushing anti-war groups to turn up the heat on Bush. When they declined, Sheehan headed for Crawford, Tex. This woman will enter the history books not as a leftist dupe, but as an extraordinary, if infuriating, catalyst who was right on the merits and courageous enough to stand her ground. Just like Rosa Parks. Originally published on September 20, 2005 *** Don't stop at the portentious headline. A law has been passed which disallows the brutal DC police actions of 2002 and there is currently an accord promising a peaceful gathering. Of course, there's always that possibility, but highly unlikely - in DC or in LA. Ed The Washington Post - Sep 18, 2005 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/17/AR2005091701217_pf.html Police Fortify Numbers for War Protests Demonstration Will Be the First Since the District Passed Arrest Law By Del Quentin Wilber Washington Post Staff Writer D.C. police have canceled days off and are planning to deploy several hundred officers during an antiwar demonstration next weekend that will include a march near the White House, but officials said they expect no trouble. Saturday's rally, part of a weekend of protests and counter-protests, will be the first demonstration allowed to surround the White House in more than a decade. It is the first major rally to occur since a D.C. law that requires police to give clear warnings before arresting demonstrators took effect. Passed in response to the much-criticized mass arrests of protesters at a downtown park in 2002, the law also restricts the use of police lines to contain nonviolent demonstrators and requires that police wear clearly identifiable badge numbers. Police also may not stop spontaneous rallies -- as long as such incidents do not clog sidewalks or violate traffic laws -- by arresting demonstrators for protesting without a permit. Organizers said they are mobilizing nationwide for what could be the largest war protest since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq more than two years ago. Various coalitions are organizing buses, vans and carpools to bring in protesters from across the country. "We can anticipate 100,000 people," said Cmdr. Cathy Lanier, who supervises the police department's special operations division. "There will be mothers, grandmothers and children -- a huge, diverse group. They are very peaceful. We have been meeting with them regularly." The umbrella organizations staging the rally -- United for Peace and Justice and the ANSWER Coalition -- say they represent thousands of people and dozens of causes. They obtained permits for public areas that can hold about 100,000 people. Organizers are asking protesters to gather at 11 a.m. Saturday on the Ellipse, where the rally is scheduled to take place. The march will cover a stretch of streets in the blocks surrounding the White House and Justice Department and wind up at the Washington Monument, organizers said. Counter-demonstrators, who are planning rallies before and after the antiwar gathering, are expected along the march route. To control crowds, D.C. police officials said they will have dozens of officers directing traffic at 110 spots. Other officers will be stationed along the march route. D.C. police said staffing levels in the city's police districts will not be affected by the special deployment. U.S. Park Police will join D.C. police in the crowd-control effort. Park Police also have canceled days off for officers who patrol the Ellipse and other federal areas where the main antiwar rallies are to be held. Scores of Park Police officers will be in uniform Saturday, including some on horseback and bicycles. Undercover officers will mingle among demonstrators. Others in riot gear will be ready to respond to an emergency, said Park Police Sgt. Scott Fear. "We prepare for the worst but hope for the best," Fear said. He echoed Lanier's view that police anticipate no trouble from people associated with the main antiwar groups. He said police were keeping an eye on splinter groups that could cause problems. "Our intelligence unit has been working with other agencies to gather as much information as possible," Fear said. Besides the rallies related to the war in Iraq, D.C. police are preparing for demonstrations at the downtown headquarters of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which are scheduled to hold meetings next weekend. The semiannual gatherings often draw anti-globalization and other protest groups, and D.C. police said they will close some streets and station about 300 officers near the buildings to handle crowds and traffic. The police warning law, passed in April, came in response to police handling of another IMF-World Bank protest. In September 2002, police rounded up about 400 demonstrators and bystanders in Pershing Park and arrested them, even though they had not been given an order to disperse. This year, the District government agreed to pay $425,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by seven people who the city acknowledged were wrongfully arrested. A class-action lawsuit against the city is pending. Lanier said there will be subtle changes in the police response next weekend, most of them not visible to bystanders. Among the differences, the department educated officers about the new law's requirements and restrictions. If officers need to don riot gear, they will be required to display badge numbers clearly on their helmets, she said. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, co-founder of and a lawyer with the Partnership for Civil Justice, has been working closely with police to obtain permits for the antiwar demonstration. She said she did not expect problems at the rally or with the police response. She is taking her 7-month-old son to the rally, she said. "I think police are going to try to show that they are trying to abide by the Constitution," Verheyden-Hilliard said. [Staff writer Petula Dvorak contributed to this report.] © 2005 The Washington Post Company ### Join Mass March and Rally in L.A. >From Iraq to New Orleans Fund People's Needs, Not the War Machine STOP THE WAR IN IRAQ, MARCH & RALLY! SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th MARCH: 12 NOON at Olympic & Broadway, Downtown LA RALLY: 1:30 PM at the Federal Building, Los Angeles & Temple Call ANSWER for more information: 323-464-1636 Co-Sponsors: L.A. County Federation of Labor, Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines, Coalition for World Peace, Committee for Justice to Defend the LA 8, Free Palestine Alliance, Frente Unido de los Pueblos Americanos, Gabriella Network, Global Resistance Network, Global Women's Strike, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, International Socialist Organization, Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, KMB - Pro-People Youth, Korean Americans for Peace, Latino Movement USA, Muslim Students Association-West, National Council of Arab Americans, National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, National Lawyers Guild, Office of the Americas, Palestinian American Women's Association, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Peace and Freedom Party, South Asian Network, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), U.S. Labor Against War, Youth & Student A.N.S.W.E.R. --- Demonstration in Washington, DC - Sept 24, 2005 INFO: Bus Drop Off, Parking, Maps, Tabling, Contingents, Housing & More! Click on link below to obtain essential information for the September 24th rally and demonstration in Washington, DC. Courtesy of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=6793 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Help save the life of a child. 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