Laboring for Peace

As labor day approaches, I am convinced that the most important thing to do on this holiday this year is to use it to labor for peace. Glenn Greenwald at Salon Magazine has written an alarming essay about Bush's escalating rhetoric. Here are the paragraphs that worry me most:

The two most extremist factions when it comes to the Middle East -- Israel-centric neoconservatives and Christian evangelicals -- have long been telling the President that stopping Iran is his most important mission, the ultimate challenge that history will use to judge his strength, character and conviction. And it is beyond question that those are the groups who continue to hold the greatest sway over the decision-making process of the Commander-in-Chief himself.

Who is going to match the zeal and influence of these warmongers in order to stop them? The notion of attacking Iran may be insane, but it is not considered such by our mainstream establishment. Those who muse about it openly -- Lieberman, McCain, Giuliani, Kristol, Max Boot -- are not considered fringe extremists or unserious radicals, even though they are. Their views are comfortably within what is considered to be the realm of serious and responsible foreign policy advocacy.

As we march step by step with barely a debate towards a confrontation with Iran -- one that neoconservatives have long been proclaiming is inevitable -- are there any meaningful efforts to avert this? We frequently hear the slogan from war critics about Iraq that "hope is not a policy." The same is true with regard to preventing an attack on Iran.

Over the last few weeks, every time I mention to someone that I am worried that this administration is about to start a war with Iran, I get the same response -- "That would be crazy! It will never happen."

I hope they are right, but hope is neither a policy nor a plan for action.

Please join me this labor day in doing something to work for peace. Write a letter or send an e-mail to your congressman and ask them to insist that the President get explicit approval from Congress before launching a war with Iran. For more suggestions, here's a link to the Stop the Iran War website led by Ret. General Wesley Clark.