Don’t send Cynthia McKinney back to Washington. My cousin lives in McKinney’s district. Embarrased is too soft a word to describe the sentiment.
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For The Love Of God, Georgia
July 19th, 2006
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Caricatured as a loon by a racist and misogynist media machine, Cynthia McKinney’s courageous eloquence has been marginalized. She is not crazy. She is quite sane. She has aggressively challenged this Administration repeatedly on Iraq and did so in this term of office when she voted to redeploy U.S. Forces immediately. Her reasons for doing so are thoughtful and profound. Don’t believe me? Read for yourself. After you do so, ask yourself why you re not helping her win re-election.
“Ms. MCKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans in this House have done a heinous thing: they have insulted one of the deans of this House in an unthinkable and unconscionable way.
They took his words and contorted them; they took his heartfelt sentiments and spun
them. They took his resolution and deformed it: in a cheap effort to silence dissent in the House of Representatives.
The Republicans should be roundly criticized for this reprehensible act. They have perpetrated a fraud on the House of Representatives just as they have defrauded the American people.
By twisting the issue around, the Republicans are trying to set a trap for the Democrats. A “no” vote for this Resolution will obscure the fact that there is strong support for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. I am voting “yes” on this Resolution for an orderly withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq despite the convoluted motives behind the Republican Resolution. I am voting to support our troops by bringing them home now in an orderly withdrawal.
Sadly, If we call for an end to the occupation, some say that we have no love for the Iraqi people, that we would abandon them to tyrants and thugs.
Let us consider some history. The Republicans make great hay about Saddam Hussein’s use of chemical weapons against the Iranians and the Kurds. But when that attack was made in 1988, it was Democrats who moved a resolution to condemn those attacks, and the Reagan White House quashed the bill in the Senate, because at that time the Republicans considered Saddam one of our own. So in 1988, who abandoned the Iraqi people to tyrants and thugs?
In voting for this bill, let me be perfectly clear that I am not saying the United States should exit Iraq without a plan. I agree with Mr. MURTHA that security and stability in Iraq should be pursued through diplomacy. I simply want to vote yes to an orderly withdrawal from Iraq. And let me explain why.
Prior to its invasion, Iraq had not one (not one!) instance of suicide attacks in its history. Research shows a 100 percent correlation between suicide attacks and the presence of foreign combat troops in a host country. And experience also shows that suicide attacks abate when foreign occupation troops are withdrawn. The U.S. invasion and occupation has destabilized Iraq and Iraq will only return to stability once this occupation ends.
We must be willing to face the fact that the presence of U.S. combat troops is itself a major inspiration to the forces attacking our troops. Moreover, we must be willing to acknowledge that the forces attacking our troops are able to recruit suicide attackers because suicide attacks are largely motivated by revenge for the loss of loved ones. And Iraqis have lost so many loved ones as a result of America’s two wars against Iraq.
In 1996, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on CBS that the lives of 500,000 children dead from sanctions were “worth the price” of containing Saddam Hussein. When pressed to defend this reprehensible position she went on to explain that she did not want U.S. Troops to have to fight the Gulf War again. Nor did I. But what happened? We fought a second Gulf War . And now over 2,000 American soldiers lie dead. And I expect the voices of concern for Iraqi civilian casualties, whose deaths the Pentagon likes to brush aside as “collateral damage” are too few, indeed. A report from Johns Hopkins suggests that over 100,000 civilians have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion, most of them violent deaths and most as “collateral damage” from U.S. forces. The accuracy of the 100,000 can and should be debated. Yet our media, while quick to cover attacks on civilians by insurgent forces in Iraq, have given us a blackout on Iraqi civilian deaths at the hands of U.S. combat forces.
Yet let us remember that the United States and its allies imposed a severe policy of sanctions on the people of Iraq from 1990 to 2003. UNICEF and World Health Organization studies based on infant mortality studies showed a 500,000 increase in mortality of Iraqi children under 5 over trends that existed before sanctions. From this, it was widely assumed that over
1 million Iraqi deaths for all age groups could be attributed to sanctions between 1990 and 1998. And not only were there 5 more years of sanctions before the invasion, but the war since the invasion caused most aid groups to leave Iraq. So for areas not touched by reconstruction efforts, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated further. How many more Iraqi lives have been lost through hunger and deprivation since the occupation?
And what kind of an occupier have we been? We have all seen the photos of victims of U.S. torture in Abu Ghraib prison. That’s where Saddam used to send his political enemies to be tortured, and now many Iraqis quietly, cautiously ask: “So what has changed?”
A recent video documentary confirms that U.S. forces used white phosphorous against civilian neighborhoods in the U.S. attack on Fallujah. Civilians and insurgents were burned alive by these weapons. We also now know that U.S. forces have used MK77, a napalm-like incendiary weapon, even though napalm has been outlawed by the United Nations.
With the images of tortured detainees, and the images of Iraqi civilians burned alive by U.S. incendiary weapons now circulating the globe, our reputation on the world stage has been severely damaged.
If America wants to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, we as a people must be willing to face the pain and death and suffering we have brought to the Iraqi people with bombs, sanctions and occupation, even if we believe our actions were driven by the most altruistic of reasons. We must acknowledge our role in enforcing the policy of sanctions for 12 years after the extensive 1991 bombing in which we bombed infrastructure targets in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions.
We must also be ready to face the fact that the United States once provided support for the tyrant we deposed in the name of liberating the Iraqi people. These are events that our soldiers are too young to remember. I believe our young men and women in uniform are very sincere in their belief that their sacrifice is made in the name of helping the Iraqi people. But it is not they who set the policy. They take orders from the Commander-in-Chief and the Congress. It is we who bear the responsibility of weighing our decisions in a historical context, and it is we who must consider the gravest decision of whether or not to go to war based upon the history, the facts, and the truth.
Sadly, however, our country is at war in Iraq based on a lie told to the American people. The entire war was based premised on a sales pitch–that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction menacing the United States–that turned out to be a lie.
I have too many dead soldiers in my district; too many from my home state. Too many homeless veterans on our streets and in our neighborhoods.
America has sacrificed too many young soldiers’ lives, too many young soldiers’ mangled bodies, to the Bush war machine.
I will not vote to give one more soldier to the George W. Bush/DICK CHENEY war machine. I will not give one more dollar for a war riddled with conspicuous profiteering.
Tonight I speak as one who has at times been the only Member of this Body at antiwar demonstrations calling for withdrawal. And I won’t stop calling for withdrawal.
I was opposed to this war before there was a war ; I was opposed to the war during the war ; and I am opposed to this war now–even though it’s supposed to be over.
A vote on war is the single most important vote we can make in this House. I understand the feelings of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who might be severely conflicted by the decision we have to make here tonight. But the facts of U.S. occupation of Iraq are also very clear. The occupation is headed down a dead end because so long as U.S. combat forces patrol Iraq, there will be an Iraqi insurgency against it.
I urge that we pursue an orderly withdrawal from Iraq and pursue, along with our allies, a diplomatic solution to the situation in Iraq, supporting the aspirations of the Iraqi people through support for democratic processes.”
1) Is she arguing that we need to remove all US troops from all Muslim controlled lands?
2) BTW, if she can make that argument, then we can also state that there is a 100% correlation between suicide attacks and Islam.
I am from Cynthia Mckinney’s district in georgia. I am very liberal, so you would expect me to support her. However, Ive been to a few of her press conferences and speeches and I’ve come to one conclusion….she is insane. She is horrible for the democratic party, and horrible for us, her constituents. She does nothing for us. I feel like all she wants is attention. She is outlandish for the sake of being outlandish. She doesnt care about us, heck she didnt even bother to show up to her last debate. I think the moment that made me realize that she didnt truly represent her constituents was last year, when she wrote a bill attempting to reopen the investigation into tupac shakur’s death. This at a time of war. We did not send her to congress for that, and hopefully my fellow voters will see that she doesnt represent us, but rather her own interests.
McKinney is an insane anti-semite. She brings shame to the Democratic party and Georgia.
…she is insane…
…This at a time of war.
Which war are you referring to, deets, the one in Iraq that was started based on lies and greed? Or the phony “war on terror,” which has no specific enemy and no specific goals? Well, McKinney has a clear position on both those ‘wars’:
I have opposed the war in Iraq because it was based on lies, was illegal under international law and is the most ill-conceived foreign policy agenda in our nation’s history. Terrorism is a tactic not an enemy, it cannot be ended or defeated by military means. Terrorism is the continuation of war by other means. If we want peace we must pursue peace. But our foreign policy agenda has been hijacked by war profiteers whose primary concern is profit, not patriotism.
Is this the insanity to which you are referring? Perhaps you’d prefer another Rethuglican-friendly ‘centrist’ like Denise Majette, who will have the decency not to say harsh or controversial words about the policies of the a–holes who are driving our nation into the septic tank.
Now maybe Rep. McKinney is a little excitable at times, but anyone with a brain and a conscience should be excited– no, pissed off right now. I wish she were my rep here in Illinois, instead of the DLC ringer my district is stuck with. I know– as McKinney does– that no matter how ‘respectable’ you try to appear to the extremists and bigots infesting the Rethug Party, it won’t make them straighten up and fly right. Or maybe you ‘centrists’ and ‘liberals’ don’t mind a little dirty war and homobigotry, as long as your creature comforts aren’t threatened and you don’t get your own hands dirty at the voting booth.
look alex, if you have ever seen her in person, then you would understand what i mean. those sound bites are all nice and good, but oliver is right. She is an anti semite, she exploits the gay community here and she is only interested in furthering her own power and position in politcs. dont tell me i dont know my own representative. I am against the war, and respect her for speaking out against it. however, being anti war does not make one a good politician automatically.
if you have ever seen her in person
Is it her clothing, her hair, or her vocal inflection that bothers you? Why would this make a difference? Every speech of hers I’ve seen has shown me a tough, principled, uncompromising figure. She’s no milquetoast, platitude-filled Rethug appeaser like Obama or
She is an anti semite
Bullsh-t! Because she has the gumption to criticize Israeli policy? Or is it her bizarre presumption that Palestinian Arabs are human beings? Well, then, call me an “anti semite”, too. (By the way, nearly all Palestinians are Semites, while probably only about half of Israelis are Semites.)
she exploits the gay community here
Does she support gay marriage measures? Does she speak in favor of gay rights? Is that the ‘exploitation’ of which you speak? Maybe she should hem and haw around the issue of gay human rights like the DLC shills (Hillary included), never straying off the fence of not offending the Bible thumpers and homobigots. Then would her stances on gays be more palatable to you?
I am against the war, and respect her for speaking out against it
Congratulations, that qualifies you as a card-carrying sensible liberal.
Finally:
dont tell me i dont know my own representative
I really don’t want to get inside your head, Mr./Ms. Sensible Liberal. I do know that McKinney’s been getting the right wing smear and the corporate media Howard Dean Scream Treatment for her entire career, and it appears to have been successful in her own district.
See, OW, this is why the Dems have trouble gaining traction, even in the face of staggering (and almost comical) Rethuglican corruption and incompetence. Most of them avoid the appearance of standing for anything, and maybe it isn’t to avoid offending the Rethug base. Maybe they’re trapped on a tightrope between their corporate donors and their constituency of Sensible Liberals, and growing a spine would cause them to lose balance and fall into George McGovern’s lap (God knows no Sensible Liberal wants to be there).
Good luck with your next Denise Majette, deets. I’d be happy to loan you a Rahm Emanuel, if you like; I’ve got one too many.
Oops! Not quite…here are a few examples:
April 21, 2004
A suicide bomber detonates a car bomb in Riyadh at the gates of a building used as the headquarters of the traffic police and emergency services. Five people die and 148 are injured.
December 29, 2004:
Two suicide car bombs explode in Riyadh. One outside the Interior Ministry Complex, the other near the Special Emergency Force training center.
February 24, 2006:
Saudi security forces have thwarted an attempted suicide attack at an oil processing facility(attackers detonated their explosives after security guards fired on them)
April 11, 2006:
A suicide bomber explodes himself in Karachi, Pakistan kills 57 Sunni worshippers.
July 14, 2006:
Suicide bomber in Karachi, Pakistan kills a Shiite Islamic cleric Allama Hasan Turabi and his nephew.
Cynthia McKinney always reminds of me of the Democrats ploy of pretending care of and interest in ‘first responders.’ Thats one thing they would do different than bad ol’ Jawj Bush. Then Jihad Cindi comes along and smacks a cop for having the temerity to do his job.
And lets not forget her assertion that Bush had pre knowledge of 9-11.
And actually it is her dad who made the famous remark about the ‘jooos…”.
Just the other day, the AJC had a front page picture of her with C Sheehan and Medea Benjamin. There’s a group.
Dugger
I’m holding out hope that the Dems in GA and CT will do the right thing and that neither Lieberman nor McKinney will be back in their seats next year. Notice that Republicans in TX did not manage to rid themselves of the corrupt Tom DeLay by voting him out in their primary election.
As noted at TPM, the real question is where are the pundits that are up in arms over the blog’s and Kos’ purge of Lieberman? How come they aren’t all getting behind McKinney and why aren’t they upset with her constituents who are supporting her primary opponent?
Two words: Tamil Tigers.
C’mon, people, you’re starting to read like the tangent-surfing wingers here. If you want to nitpick McKinney’s off-kilter assertion about the statistical correlation of suicide bombing… blah blah blah, go right ahead. But are you going to dispute her actual point? She quite clearly states an obvious fact: suicide bombing just did not occur in Iraq prior to the Bushie invasion/occupation. So there is clear correlation between the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime and the rise of suicide bombing.
Are there any other pimpy, nitpicking smears that anyone wants to toss at McKinney, besides vague characterizations?
It seems to me she has as much foresight and insight as say George Bush. They both do some nutty stuff. The both say some nutty stuff. The only difference is that Bush fucked up Iraq and is totally owned by large corporations.
Thanks. I didn’t know they used suicide attacks. I’ll add “secular Marxist-Leninist” groups to the list!
BTW, this further demonstates the inaccuracy of the statement about the “presence of foreign combat troops” being 100% linked to suicide attacks.
I’m also still waiting to find out from Trevorwells how many Muslim lands from which the US needs to withdraw. Just Iraq?
Yea Alex, and the trains ran on time in Mussollini’s Facist Italy. Great point….if we only had the good old days back….
But the Saddam government did terrorize the population…they just did it without killing themselves in the process. Are you only concerned about terrorism that involves suicide?
So, Mr Willis, you’re looking for what? A congressman to represent that district who votes precisely the same way as the lovely Mrs McKinney, but just doesn’t run his mouth as stupidly?
Mrs McKinney is a godsend to the GOP. We know that whomever is elected to represent that district is going to be to the far left end of the political spectrum, so, since we are never going to get the votes of that representative, might as well have one who’s as obviously nuts as Mrs McKinney!
Oliver, I am deeply offended by your sweeping statement that Cynthia McKinney is an anti-semite. You have tarred her with the brush of prejudice unfairly and tainted anyone associated with her campaign with the same taint.
It is an unconscionable insult to her hundreds of campaign contributors and workers. Former Atlanta Mayor, Congressman, and U.S. Ambassador to the Untited Nations Andrew Young contributed to her campaign in 2004. Is he an Anti-Semite too? A trusted lieutenent of Dr. King, Young risked his life many times to provide you a platform to call him an anti-semite. Lt. Governor Mark Taylor didn’t think Ambassador Young was an anti-semite because he featured Ambassador Young in his TV advertising in his run for Governor.
Was Mrs. Coretta Scott King an anti-semite? She gave Cynthia $600.00 in 2004. As I stood with thousands to pass by her casket to honor her memory, I didn’t go to honor an anti-semite but a woman of courage and conviction. She opposed war, racism, prejudice and bigotry of any kind against anyone.
Is Danny Glover an anti-semite? He gave Cynthia over $4,000 dollars in 2004. He is known world-wide as a human rights activist more than as an actor. I’ve personally never known any actor who harbored anti-semetic views to be able to work in Hollywood.
Is the pollster John Zogby an anti-semite? He gave Cynthia a $1000.00 in 2004. What you imply is that the hundreds of Arab-Americans on her contributor lists are also Anti-Semetic.
Finally, are Taro Gold, Bruce Katz, Andrew Silver, or Daniel Lobnitz anti-semites? I doubt it because they are most likely Jewish according to their surnames. They have all contributed to Cynthia’s campaigns.
Brother Alex, thanks a million for your comments here on this topic. Your arguments are excellent.
As a conservative, I urge all voters in her district to please, PLEASE, re-elect McKinney!
She’s one our most favorite useful idiots!
So any country’s military force will always be a “foreign occupying force” to a group of ethnic insurgents seeking autonomy within the country?
Well, yes and no. The Tamils are an insurgent group seeking autonomy. To the Sri Lankan government, they’re rebels, but the Tamils see themselves as occupied by outsiders.
Brother Oliver,
I am still waiting for a response to the comments made by Alex and I regarding Cynthia McKinney.
You claim that she is an embarrassment to the Democratic Party and Georgia.
Does it embarrass Democrats when she joins with fellow House members to vote against the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill boondogle? How about when she votes against the Patriot Act, elimination of the estate tax, the bankruptcy bill, votes for redeployment of our troops, or stands up against racial profiling?
While detached liberals drink latte’s and lament the state of affairs without getting involved to change anything, she has used her office to become a professional activist and organized thousands of voices for change.
People are listening to her. When she defends Arab Americans against racial profiling, they have deluged her with campaign contributions. She doesn’t seem to be an embarassment to them. Don’t believe me, read for yourself.
HON. CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY
OF GEORGIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Friday, October 11, 2002
Mrs. McKINNEY “Mr. Speaker, I was disturbed to read that two Sikh men were detained after a flight simply for using the bathroom. This is ethnic profiling of the worst kind and it must be stopped.
Apparently, what happened was that the two men, Gurdeep Wander and Harinder Pal Singh, were flying to Las Vegas for a convention and they missed their connection. They were a bit late the next morning so they ran onto the plane. Apparently, this made the flight crew suspicious.
Then Mr. Singh, Mr. Wander, and another man, who was Hispanic, used the same bathroom on the plane. When Mr. Singh, the last of the three, went to use it, the flight attendant tried to convince him that it was locked and unavailable. She claimed that she had read that people could make bombs in the bathrooms by bringing the parts on separately. I wonder if three white people using the bathroom in quick succession would have made her think the same thing.
After the plane made an emergency landing, the two Sikh men and an Egyptian man were detained on the plane while police dogs surrounded it and sniffed for weapons. Then the Sikh men were arrested for interfering with a flight crew.
Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of Transportation must take appropriate action against this airline and its discriminatory employees. This kind of racial profiling cannot be allowed. I call on the Secretary of Transportation to take appropriate steps to end this racist practice and to make sure that the victims of this incident are fully compensated. We must make it clear that we will not tolerate racial profiling.”
Oliver, I believe that you are a stand-up guy a and very, very talented brother. You are “good people” as we say. On this matter however, you are dead wrong and you know so.
I’ve seen Cynthia McKinney in action several times on C-SPAN now, and I’ve always thought she came off as a bit of a flake. However, the speech that trevorwells posted (about Iraq) is just about the most intelligent and courageous thing I’ve heard an American politician say in a while. I’ll be damned.
And leave it to the wing-nuts to pick out one statistic to tar the entire address with. Most of it is right on.
She s one our most favorite useful idiots!
As opposed to the genius that is the Rethuglican Party, I take it? How do you measure that keen intellect? With dead soldiers’ caskets, or with Iraqi civilian body counts? I don’t suppose you measure that governing acumen with our skyrocketing budget deficit, do you?
I’m no fan of the Dems, but it appears the right wing is overloaded with useless idiots. Useless except as cannon fodder, maybe.
But the Saddam government did terrorize the population& they just did it without killing themselves in the process. Are you only concerned about terrorism that involves suicide?
Is this what passes for logic in what you call a brain? If we’re comparing states of ‘terror,’ I’ll bet most Iraqis would welcome a return to the pre-Bushie organized terror; you know, the terror where they also had electricity and working plumbing most of the time, and there were no suicide bombers.
Actually Cynthia McKinney scares us greatly. She’s the one woman that gets at Bush the most. We really, really hope the guilt-ridden enclaves of Decatur and Emory U don’t return this intellectual giantess back to Congress.
I’ll take that bet…show me some Iraqi polls to support your opinion.
JWG, you missed the point: to our liberal friends (you know: the oh-so-tolerant ones), Arabs don’t really deserve freedom, Arabs really can’t live without some strong dictator telling them what to do.
JWG, you missed the point: to our liberal friends (you know: the oh-so-tolerant ones), Arabs don t really deserve freedom, Arabs really can t live without some strong dictator telling them what to do.
Are you really this stupid? You know good and well that that’s not we’re saying. We’re saying that democracy can’t be forced onto other countries via military action. And even if it could, we’re doing a terrible job at it. Warping the opposition’s arguement a valid point does not make. When you get a little older, you’ll understand.
Here’s some homework for you. Name ONE country that has a successful and stable democracy solely though outside military force.
Maybe France?
Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, oh, and Grenada…..
Germany, Japan, Italy
Ok, I’ll grant that I should have been clearer. Unlike Iraq, those countries were active instigators, and attacking them was an act of self defense. Also, I won’t be so fast to describe post-WWII Germany as a success story.
Maybe France?
That was more of putting an existing democracy back in power.
Spain
Explain.
Hypothetically, let’s assume that democracy CAN be successfully implemented by outside military forces, that doesn’t change the fact that the U.S. is doing a crap-tacular job at it. Nor does it change the fact that Dana “arguement” was complete garbage.
zython….ultimately I suspect I agree to an extent.
The idea that we are going to go into a foreign country and set up a representative democracy without the extreme act of actually occupying that country a’la post-war japan is probably not realistic. The current situation is that we are doing things in half-measures again. And for good reason. The big concern is that we not be occupiers. As such, we can’t put a marine sniper team on every street corner, and start writing the law as we did in Japan.
But to assume that Iraq was just sitting around minding its own business is also ridiculous
I suspect that Iraq will end up with more of a theocracy than we like, but it will have to fit the Iraqi sensibility….and will also have to respect its neighbors and its people. If we can get that much out of it we will be doing well.
Zython complained:
I know that isn’t what you think you are saying, but it really is what has been said, once the liberal bovine feces has been stripped away.
Let’s try Japan, Italy, Germany, Nicaragua, Grenada, Panama, and the Philippines. I could even make the argument that Israel qualifies, although the outside military force was more of a conquering than occupying one.
You conceded on a couple of those already. You might have a point that we haven’t done quite as good a job as we might have in Iraq, but that doesn’t mean the war was the wrong thing to do.
No. It was the wrong thing to do.
I know that isn t what you think you are saying, but it really is what has been said, once the liberal bovine feces has been stripped away.
I know that you think you’re saying the U.S. is in Iraq to liberate its people, but once you remove the conservative BS, you just want to kill Muslims.
Wee, strawmanning’s fun!