Hundreds of Greens took part in Saturday’s march against the war. Greens from Illinois, Maine, Virginia, Florida and other states rallied at McPherson Square before the demonstration and then marched to the mall. Maryland Greens were well represented.

Many other Greens marched with local groups or (true to the Green grassroot democracy) dispersed among the crowd.

The Green Party table was busy with people signing up for information, buying flags, shirts, or bumper stickers.

I was approached by numerous people in the crowd looking for the “Green Party; Peace Party” flags. Unfortunately, our supply ran out before the requests did.

Rob Savidge from the Anne Arundel local reported for community radio station WRYR, which also webcast their live feed around the country. Around 100,000 people marched; others cheered from the sidelines, like the Iraqi Veterans against the war. The crowd was very diverse, including all ages and persuasions. It was a heartfelt demonstration against an unjust and illegal war.

GREEN PARTY! PEACE PARTY!

Biofuels are all the rage lately–our ticket to oil independence. But in a world that is struggling to provide enough food for its population and, lately, losing the struggle, any significant biofuel prorgram will have to compete for resources with other agricultural pursuits. Already some of the more fragile ecosystems are being destroyed by the rush into biofuels.

In West Africa the biggest new cause of deforestation in many regions is the conversion of land into biofuel crop production. The land rush to establish biofuel plantations in developing nations is one of the most intense the world has ever seen. Millions of square miles could be turned into biofuel plantations in the tropics, and the impact this will have on global rainfall and global temperatures is incalculable.

Deforestation and drought are causing a steady advance of deserts in northern Africa. There is a clear link between deforestation and drought, particularly in West Africa, as cited in the MIT study “Desertification, Deforestation and Drought,” where they demonstrate that deforestation along the southern coast of West Africa (e.g., in Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast) may result in complete collapse of monsoon circulation, and a significant reduction of regional rainfall. Connections between deforestation and drought are well established throughout the tropics.

Moreover, the rush to deforest the tropics to grow biofuel - cassava in Nigeria, sugar cane in Brazil, oil palms in Indonesia - is a form of neocolonialism that Greens should find horrifying. Tariff barriers are being streamlined to allow tropical developing nations to export biofuel to the industrial north, food crops are being crowded out, small farmers are unable to participate, and in 100 square mile increments, land ownership passes into the hands of energy multinationals. And weather patterns take a turn for the worse.

The limits of growth are real and unavoidable; and now it would seem that the international economic market–that has no way to quantify things like the environment or, more importantly, the future, is pursuing renewable energy in possibly the most self destructive manner possible.

Ultimately we must reconcile ourselves to the reality of a low energy future.

From Ballot Access News:

Vermont Secretary of State Deb Markowitz is asking the Vermont legislature to pass a bill that would let Vermont use Instant-Runoff Voting for one or two particular state offices in the future. The legislature will decide which offices. Markowitz then plans to use a hand-count for whichever offices are chosen. She feels this is the only practical solution, since each Vermont town decides for itself which vote-counting technology to use.

Active duty service members and veterens will present an Appeal for Redress to Congressman Dennis Kucinich today.  Over 1,000 active duty service members have signed the petition, urging an end to the U.S. Military occupation of Iraq.

Kucinich has introduced a Sense of Congress resolution in the House urging the President not to increase the number of troops in Iraq.

Members of the military have a legal right to communicate with their member of Congress without fear of harrassment from their superiors.

Let’s look at the actual numbers.

The highest coalition troop levels in Iraq were at the end of 2005 when there were 160,000 US troops and 23,000 coalition troops.

We couldn’d sustain that level, though, and by summer 2006 we were down to 130,000 US troops.

After the first surge this fall, we were back up to 140,000 US troops.  But the number of coalition troops had dropped to 18,000.

Now we’re going to send 21,000 US troops, which barely puts us over where we were in December 2005.  At the same time the British will be withdrawing 3,000 troops.

All in all, we end up with 7,000 fewer troops than in December 2005.

We couldn’t sustain that level for long then, how will we sustain it now?

We weren’t winning then, how can we win now?

I went to a candlelight vigil in Rockville yesterday, sponsored by Peace Action Montgomery.  We had around 30 people attend, held a short ceremony, and then held candles and signs near the intersection of Rockville Pike and Viers Mill Road.

The response from the rush hour crowd was quite positive; we received a steady stream of hinks and waves and thank yous.

The most pleasant surprise was the appearance of Congressman Al Wynn, along with two of his aids. Congressman Wynn assured us that the Democrats realized the importance of Iraq in the recent election and that congressional Democrats would work to bring the troops home. He stayed for nearly an hour holding a candle and sign with us.

This is a hopeful sign that the Democrats will do something. Earlier in the day House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev notified Bush that “We are well past the point of more troops for Iraq,” and urged Bush to begin pulling troops out in four to six months.

Now we need to keep up the pressure so that they don’t forget.

NBC News pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski reports that an administration official admitted to him that the surge option is more of a political decision than a military one.

Only weeks ago, CentCom commander Gen. John Abizaid testified to Congress;

I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, the corps commander, General Dempsey, we all talked together. And I said, in your professional opinion, if we were to bring in more American Troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq? And they all said no

It’s almost unbelieveable that the administration would turn to a temporary military fix–that will only worsten problems–as a political ploy to shore up support for the war. As usual with this aminisatration, there is no answer to the question, “Then what?” Congress must act to stop this madness.

Military Times Magazine reports that it’s annual survey shows U.S. military personnel growing increasingly skeptical about the war in Iraq.

Only 50% thought that success was likely, down from 83% in 2004.  Only 35% approve of the way Geroge Bush is handling the war; 42% disapprove.  41% said that the country should have gone to war in Iraq, down from 65% in 2003.  Nearly half of those polled think that we need more troops in Iraq; however 13% think we should have no troops in Iraq, and nearly three quarters think that the military is stretched too thin.

Although, Bush retains an overall positive job approval at 52%, support for the Republican Party has dropped from 60% to 46%.  Democrats have not gained, however, still hovering around 16% support.

The poll was conducted among subscribers to the Military Times, who tend to be older, more career oriented soldiers.