Democrats demand more war; Republicans demand a border war first – someone must stand for peace. Take action now!

President Joe Biden met with congressional leaders today in a desperate attempt to gain passage of a $95 billion war bill that includes funding for the war in Ukraine ($60 billion), genocide in Gaza ($14 billion), and provocations in the Indo-Pacific ($5 billion). Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump are refusing to support the bill, and House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he would not bring the bill to the floor for a vote unless it includes new monies for border militarization.

Biden’s bill has no value and must not pass. It must be defeated soundly, not just held hostage by Republicans who want it expanded to the border.

Stop the Biden war bill!

We must not abandon the struggle for peace

Sadly, the most vocal opposition to the Biden War Bill comes not from the Left and the anti-war and peace movements, but from the far right who oppose it for the wrong reason: it doesn’t fund the war against forcibly displaced and undocumented immigrants. The border is seeing a large increase in those who are fleeing nations that have been severely hurt by blockades and sanctions (which are acts of war), or that are reeling from the impact of US policies that impose austerity and military and security spending over social programs and peace.

We are seeing the highly regrettable confluence of two currents through much of the US broad Left. One is outright collaborationism with Empire by supporting war, NATO expansionism, electoral interference, and military spending as pseudo-progressive positions. The other is the silence and failure to mobilize on key issues at opportune times. Yes, silence is complicity. But it is also abandonment.

The time is ripe for action. Polls show widespread dissatisfaction with the war in Ukraine and the streets are swelling with people protesting the genocide in Gaza. Alarmingly and at the same time, hyperbolic saber rattling against China comes from all political corners, and the far right is deafeningly loud in its racist assaults on immigrants.

We must defeat this bill. We must counter right wing attempts to add border funding to it. We must act to reestablish the call for peace, justice, and human needs as the cry and the demand of the people.