There can be no doubt that the mid-term election results were a clarion call by the American public for an end to the Iraq war. Before the election, poll after poll showed that voters considered the Iraq war to be their top issue on Election Day, ahead of the economy, health care, and terrorism. In addition to taking Congressional control away from the Republicans, voters also passed local ballot measures calling for an end to the war in 162 cities and towns.
But a change in Congressional leadership doesn't necessarily translate into a new policy in Iraq. For months now, Americans have been telling pollsters that they think the Iraq war was a mistake, made the world less safe, and can't be won. They also say they want a timeline for bringing the US troops home from Iraq. Despite public sentiment, most of the Iraq legislation that was introduced in Congress last year got meager support from Republicans and mixed support from Democrats. Meanwhile, just look at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's proposal for what a Democratically controlled House of Representatives will do during its first 100 hours in office. There's not a word about Iraq.
Peace groups anticipated that they would need to create a new vehicle for voters to hold their newly elected representatives accountable when it came to Iraq. During the weeks before the mid-term election, they created a new campaigned called Mandate for Peace that will allow voters who want an end to the war in Iraq to channel the energy and enthusiasm they felt on November 8th and translate it into an ongoing pressure campaign.
The Mandate for Peace campaign was initiated by Global Exchange and is endorsed by dozens of peace and social justice groups, including United for Peace and Justice, Iraq Veterans Against War, True Majority, Progressive Democrats of America, Peace Action, Goldstar Families for Peace, Network of Spiritual Progressives, CODEPINK, Iraqi Voices for Peace, Pax Christi USA, Voters for Peace, and others. Through a petition, which is housed at www.mandateforpeace.org, press events outside the offices of newly elected Representatives, lobbying, and protests, the groups will hold Congress members responsible to the anti-war majority.
The first Mandate for Peace street action was a rally outside the San Francisco office of Speaker of the House Pelosi. The message to the new Speaker was simple: Congratulations on becoming Speaker -- now speak for the anti-war majority! More than 100 people turned out for the mid-day rally two days after the mid-term election. Afterwards, they delivered a gift basket to Pelosi's staffers and talked with them about the need to end the war, bring the troops home and support an Iraqi-led peace and reconciliation process.
Elsewhere in the country, peace activists are scheduling meetings with their new representatives, holding rallies similar to the Pelosi rally, and delivering gift baskets to their new representatives, always with the intention of reminding these new political leaders of the Mandate for Peace that was sent by the people on Election Day.
In January, when the new Congress meets for the first time, Mandate for Peace is asking peace activists to hold 100-hour Mandate for Peace vigils outside their local Congressional offices during the first 100-hours of the new Congress. On January 27th, the campaign hopes to bring the Mandate for Peace message straight to Washington, DC, where United for Peace and Justice, the national anti-war coalition, has called for a march and rally to tell the new Congress to end the war.
The mid-term election was a huge boost to the U.S. peace movement. But the election was just the beginning. Now we need to take the election outcome and turn it into a real policy victory that ends the Iraq war, and ushers in an era of foreign policies that promote peace and international cooperation.