The Redhunter

Before we get going, there's a bit of a spat in the blogosphere about what exactly these "events" AFSC is holding. Little Green Footballs calls them "a series of parties". Michelle Malkin links to lfg and says that AFSC "support(s) the troops...by partying over their deaths"

Well...calling them "parties" may be going a bit too far. What AFSC will do is more akin to Code Pink's fake "vigils" than outright "parties". In fact, they specifically suggest "candlelight vigils" as an appropriate way to mark the event.

They're Still Fake

Let's not let a small terminology quibble with lgf and Malkin obscure the real issue here, and that is that the AFSC is a far-left group that wants us to pull out of Iraq immediately regardless of the consequences. They are quite direct about this on their website. The first sentence of a news release dated December 22, 2004 reads:

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), an international Quaker peace, justice, and humanitarian organization, is calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Why? From another section of their site:

The American Friends Service Committee believes that there is no military solution to the Iraq war. Continued fighting and occupation promises only further deaths and injuries, more widows and orphans, more separated families.

The way they want to "end the war" is to cut off funding:

The U.S. Constitution gives the Congress financial oversight. The time has come for our elected representatives to listen to the country’s pro-peace majority and end funding for this war.

They're going to hold these events all over the US. There's a place on their website where you can punch in your zip code, and see if there's one planned at a location near you. Lo and behold, I found that the moonbats are planning on holding one on the courthouse lawn of my own town! Ugh. Neadless to say, when the time comes, if I remember and have time I'll run up and take some photos for the blog.

Why do I call their "vigil" fake? Because like all these other leftie "end the war' groups, they claim to be oh-so-concerned with the killing. Their claim is that they want "to stop the deaths", and on their website they repeat the bogus claim that 100,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq "as a result of this war" (debunked here and here).

Two problems with this line of reasoning.

First, it's not as if Iraq was all tranquil and peaceful before we came along. Saddam was murdering his own people by the tens of thousands. Mass graves are uncovered every month in Iraq. In addition, let's not forget that he started two major wars; against Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990. The first killed up to a million people on both sides (I can't find figures for the second at this moment). By invading we are reducing the killing in Iraq.

Yes, at this moment, people are dying. No one disputes this. But by the logic of the anti-war crowd, we should not have invaded France to expel Germany. Tens of thousands of French were killed by American and British bombs and shells. And we weren't terribly discriminate about our actions either, folks. It was a tough, dirty business. And you know what? Despite their distain for our current foreign policy the French do truely appreciate what we did for them (yes they really do).

Second, if we were to pack up and leave Iraq, we would face a bloodbath at least as bad as what happened in Southeast Asia after we left there in 1972. Between Vietnam and Cambodia, more people died after our withdrawal than during the war. The reason, of course, is that the communists exacted their revenge on the people. In Iraq, Al Quada would try to set up a calipate that would make the Taliban look tame by comparison. Even if they didn't succeed, it would be a bloodbath worse than what is going on now, because the Iraqi Army would have a very tough time of it.

Who are the American Friends Service Committee?

The best single source of information about them (and any other leftie group you may want to research) is David Horowitz' excellent DiscovertheNetwork.org website. Here are a few excerpts from his entry on the AFSC:

Although the AFSC has repeatedly denied being a Communist or Communist-infiltrated organization, it has in fact developed close affiliations with the Communist Party USA and various socialist and revolutionary groups. Because the AFSC views Communism as a desirable state, it actively assisted Communist nations in their elusive quest to achieve economic prosperity.

As AFSC author Ruth Anna Brown explains, "We have helped, or are helping, Communist countries reach the amount of economic growth and development necessary for them to allow a degree of relaxed domestic control. We are helping Communist countries to achieve greater benefits through peaceful co-existence than they could receive through war

In recent decades the AFSC has had no higher priority than to agitate for the unilateral disarmament of the United States.

Today the AFSC is a member organization of the Abolition 2000, Win Without War, and United for Peace and Justice anti-war coalitions. Moreover, the AFSC (which recently formed an alliance with the radical group MECha) also takes a strong stance against laws that would apprehend and punish illegal immigrants in the United States.Today the AFSC is a member organization of the Abolition 2000, Win Without War, and United for Peace and Justice anti-war coalitions. Moreover, the AFSC (which recently formed an alliance with the radical group MECha) also takes a strong stance against laws that would apprehend and punish illegal immigrants in the United States.

I think you get the idea. Basically, they hate the United States and everything this country stands for. They're ashamed to be Americans, and when they go overseas no doubt spend their time "apologizing" for our actions.

Crying Foul

Leftie blogs are, of course, crying foul over the exposure of the AFSC by lgf. You can go visit them and read their whining and moaning if you're up for a good laugh. Go to lgf here for the links.