On March 21 a contingent from Buffalo State Students for Peace participated in a March on Washington marking the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war. The anniversary resonated with the thoughts of more than 1,300,000 Iraqi dead; 2,118 Afghani dead in 2008; 4,926 dead US soldiers combined; and the untold thousands of dead Palestinians. Despite the 10,000 marchers, the “mainstream” seemed to take a political and intellectual vacation.

Rightfully so, the economy is the foremost issue on our collective mind; in a recent NPR poll 56 percent of the respondents said the economy was their main concern, against three percent for the war in Iraq, yet the injustice is one and the same. As a student, along with many other students organizers working to take back our education (tuition has risen by $620 per year), March 21 more than any other day in the year reflects the absurdity of our economic priorities. The global war on terror that has cost $861.1 billion (FY 2001-2009, Congressional Research Service), after subtracting the lowest figure on the list—VA expenditures.

Although, what does this mean? In his article “Moved on From the Struggle” Anthony Arnove quoted a recent email from Moveon.org:

“I’m sure you’ve heard about President Obama’s plan to finally bring an end to the disastrous war in Iraq. It will bring most of our troops home by August of next year—and by the end of 2011 there wont be any more troops left in Iraq…This war is coming to an end in part because of what you did.”

Are we this thick? It is true that the Left has made significant electoral gains in the last six years, but our man at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has not ended the war and he has not committed to ending the war on (of) terror.

Obama’s surge in Afghanistan and “residual force” in Iraq are regressive. Obama inherited this war but he did not inherit the airstrikes into Pakistan. It is damnable if we allow Democratic hawkishness and complacency to dampen “new hope” in the White House, especially since we supported Obama and organized his campaign.

This past weekend 10,000 (down 490,000 from 2007) marched on the Pentagon and demonstrated on the doorsteps of KBR and General Dynamics, two notorious war profiteers. The Left is on the march and we should continue marching, and that includes an ideologically diverse range of people—from Marxists, to Socialists, to liberals/progressives;.

As a politician, Obama has his own agenda, entrenched and competing interests foisted upon him, and a centrism that won’t quit. Therefore the Left needs to re-organize and fortify itself by taking stock of its victories, failures, all of the issues and ideological prejudices, and become emboldened.

Cliff Cawthon
Buffalo State Students for Peace

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