Can't See Peace for the Trees? Please :)

This came out this morning, about peace activists in Maine. They are urging the two Democratic Representatives in their state to think about funding the war, and the representatives are clearly thinking about it.
Anti-War Groups Urge Pingree and Michaud To Reject Further War FundingBack
May 11, 2009 Reported By: Keith Shortall

Congress is expected this week to take up a supplmental spending bill costing nearly $97 billion, almost all dedicated to war funding. Maine's two Democratic representatives are being urged by peace groups to just say "no." Representative Chellie Pingree says she's concerned about the lack of withdrawal timelines attached to the money.

The Democrat-controlled House is expected to approve its own version of the spending bill this week, having added more money to the $83 billion request that had been submitted by the Obama adminstration. Anti-war activists in Maine are calling on Representatives Pingree and Mike Michaud to vote thumbs down on any more military spending in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

"We're concerned about this endless war cycle and the obvious cost at a time when we have so many people without healthcare, people losing their jobs day-in and day-out across this country," says Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nulcear Power in Space, based in Bath.

"We're asking for our congressional delegation in Maine to stand up, represent the people who really want to see us get out of there, and I think that it's the majority of people now in this country and in this state that oppose these wars and want to see our very hard-earned tax dollars go for dealing with the problems right here at home," he says.

Democrats in Congress appear to be willing to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan though, at least through the end of September. But some are raising questions about conditions that will accompany the money.

"I haven't decided how to vote yet," says 1st District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree. Pingree says in her short time in Washington she has voted for all of the President's budgets and stimulus package plans. But Pingree says she's concerned that the latest supplemental budget lacks any timelines for withdrawal.

Pingree says she doubts the $97 billion number will change, and that the bill will likely pass with ease. "But I am looking at a bill sponsored by Congressman McGovern of Massachussetts that actually does look at some conditions for withdrawal and a little bit more of a timeline," she says. "It was an issue I heard so much about during my campaign, the concerns that people have that we don't continue to find ourselves in an endless war. And as we move into more activity in Afghanistan I just think that people want to have a sense of what the President's final withdrawal plan will be."

Second district Congressman Mike Michaud's office says Michaud is still reviewing the bill, and has not yet decided how to vote. Activist Bruce Gagnon says it's important to note that the nation's military industrial complex is a major force in the economy, and that, he believes, is a factor in the continued funding of the war efforts.

"The only real growth area in our industry in America is in the military industrial compex, and we're seeing that in the state of Maine where members of our congressional delegation from both parties are doing everything they can through these earmarks to bring in more money for military production, money into the University system for militarization, essentially, of education," he says. "So we're becoming a military culture, and I think it's very dangerous."

President Obama has pledged to withdraw all American combat troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010. The US/Iraq security agreement calls for all U.S. forces to leave the country by the end of 2011.

The House is expected to take up the supplemental spending bill on Thursday.