Progressives Betray Anti-war Movement

Et tu, Bernie?

The House Progressive Caucus recently released a letter in which they called for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. This very mildly worded letter did not even withdraw their support for arms shipments, but it was a step forward toward ending the war. After all, the war will not end without negotiations.

However, if there is a way to end the war while preserving a free and independent Ukraine, it is America’s responsibility to pursue every diplomatic avenue to support such a solution that is acceptable to the people of Ukraine. Such a framework would presumably include incentives to end hostilities, including some form of sanctions relief, and bring together the international community to establish security guarantees for a free and independent Ukraine that are acceptable for all parties, particularly Ukrainians. The alternative to diplomacy is protracted war, with both its attendant certainties and catastrophic and unknowable risks.

This was a completely reasonable request. A protracted proxy war with a nuclear power is a fool’s gambit. There is no advantage to prolonging the conflict, it only results in more needless suffering and death.

But the House Progressive Caucus did not have the spine to back their letter. One day later, they withdrew it, with the following statement from Pramila Jayapal:

The letter was drafted several months ago, but unfortunately was released by staff without vetting. As Chair of the Caucus, I accept responsibility for this. Because of the timing, our message is being conflated by some as being equivalent to the recent statement by Republican Leader McCarthy threatening an end to aid to Ukraine if Republicans take over. The proximity of these statements created the unfortunate appearance that Democrats, who have strongly and unanimously supported and voted for every package of military, strategic, and economic assistance to the Ukrainian people, are somehow aligned with Republicans who seek to pull the plug on American support for President Zelensky and the Ukrainian forces. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. Every war ends with diplomacy, and this one will too after Ukrainian victory. The letter sent yesterday, although restating that basic principle, has been conflated with GOP opposition to support for the Ukrainians’ just defense of their national sovereignty. As such, it is a distraction at this time and we withdraw the letter.

With this move, they doubled down on their pro war votes. Calling for peace is not a distraction, it is the only sane course. But the Progressive Caucus is too beholden to the Democratic party to make that case. Unanimous support for arms packages that end up in the hands of Nazis is not something to brag about, but this is what they have decided to do.

To make things worse, Senator Bernie Sanders said when asked about the letter in an interview with Semafor:

I don't agree with that, and they don't agree with it, apparently. It was withdrawn today, so it becomes a non-issue.

He went on to disagree that Democrats are warmongers:

“Democrats, war mongers?” said Sanders. “When you have Putin breaking all kinds of international laws, unleashing an incredibly disgusting and horrific level of destruction against the people of Ukraine?”

Bernie Sanders has been consistently wrong on Ukraine, but this is bad even by his standards. What happened to the Bernie who campaigned on a responsible foreign policy platform?

Together, as the forces of militarism have kept us engaged in unending wars, we have stood arm-in-arm to fight back. We're not going to invest in never-ending wars. - Bernie Sanders

We won’t hear that any more - the Democratic party are no longer warmongers according to Bernie. He has no defense for his votes to fund this endless proxy war in Ukraine and disagrees with even the weak call for a negotiated settlement the now withdrawn letter called for. This is disappointing but not surprising considering his history on the war in Ukraine.

In March, Bernie hosted a virtual event entitled “The Progressive Response on Foreign Policy and the War in Ukraine.” One of the panelists was Ben Rhodes. Ben Rhodes is co-chair of National Security Action, a political non-governmental organization(NGO), with Jake Sullivan. Jake Sullivan is a long time Biden advisor, current National Security Advisor, and was the front man on the US backing of the Maidan Coup in 2014. Bernie had on a good friend of one of the main architects behind the Ukraine War. This man belongs nowhere near a progressive panel, yet there he was. Bernie could have had actual anti-war voices on, but chose a neoliberal warmonger in Ben Rhodes.

The Democrats are the party of war. President Obama turned two wars into seven. President Biden withdrew US troops form Afghanistan but turned it into an economic war against the Afghani people. Biden and Jake Sullivan oversaw the coup in Ukraine in 2014, paving the way for the war today. Biden put Lloyd Austin III, a former Raytheon board member, in charge of the Defense Department and Antony Blinken, defense corporation lobbyist, in charge of the State Department. Bernie voted to approve both Lloyd Austin III and Antony Blinken.

With the Progressive Caucus and Bernie firmly lining up behind the military industrial complex, it is clear that there can be no anti-war movement while supporting the Democratic Party. Even Biden admits that we are on the brink of nuclear Armageddon, yet Bernie and the Progressive Caucus stand opposed to even talking about the possibility of peace talks. There would have been no war if the US had supported negotiations in December. There can be no peace now as long as the US refuses to negotiate.