Does MoveON.org support Bush's War Policy?

In an attempt to answer this question, I went to the MoveON.org website, and found articles relating to Bush's dishonesty on the war, recent vigils expressing sadness about the loss of American soldiers and a program for donating frequent flyer miles so that soldiers can return home

Interestingly, I found nothing in my cursory search of the site in which MoveON.org has encouraged people to openly acknowledge the deaths of Iraqis (possibly as many as 100,000 civilians alone, according to the British medical journal, the Lancet), or encourage people to donate money directly to Iraqis for basic human needs in a country where the infrastructure has been decimated, and people are living without food, water, housing and power.

Nor was there anything to suggest that MoveON.org advocated any participation in the protests over the attack upon Falluja. Indeed, it appears that the website is allergic to the city's name. During the summer, while MoveON.org called from Rumsfeld's resignation over Abu Ghraib, it did not expressly condemn the torture and call for the release of the detainees or, alternatively, (and I admit that it's a pretty weak alternative) monitoring of the facilities by representatives of human rights organizations with open access. Instead, as I've already suggested, it merely tracked the rhetoric of the Kerry campaign for President.

Furthermore, from a post on indybay recently, as well as conversations with friends, it appears that MoveON.org actually follows the Bush line on Iraq: we can't leave right away because we need to help the Iraqi people overcome their difficulties and establish a prosperous society

So, what exactly is the MoveON.org position on the war, and to what extent does MoveON.org express any moral opposition to the war beyond exploiting the issue for the benefit of Democrats?

It is an important question, because MoveON.org became a political force during the period leading to the start of the war, when it positioned itself an antiwar organization (although, it studiously avoided any explicit condemnation of the war under all circumstances).

So, again, what is the MoveON.org position, and to what extent does it actually result in liberals standing on the sidelines while Bush proceeds with the ongoing, perpetual brutalization of Iraq?


--Richard Estes
Davis, CA