Many Democrats were elected to Congress in 2006 on the promise that they would end the war in Iraq, hold the Bush Administration accountable for its lawless ways, and protect our civil liberties. When these same members of Congress came to power, they immediately took impeachment “off the table,” recently voted another $162 billion in war funding and essentially caved in on the FISA electronic spying bill, allowing the Bush Administration to continue its illegal activities with impunity.

We don't doubt Senator Obama's distaste for the Iraq war, but we worry that without organized support the forces around him will push him so far to the “center” that we will end up with another Lyndon Johnson, a Democratic President who pledged during the 1964 election cycle that there would be “no escalation” in Vietnam, only to launch a new bombing campaign against North Vietnam and send tens of thousands more troops once he was re-elected. Millions of Vietnamese were killed and displaced as a result of Johnson's escalation, and scores of thousands of American troops were killed for no good reason.

The Democratic Party has failed us in the past two years. We need your help to prevent the Democratic machine from swallowing up Obama and his promises of change, hope and an end to the occupation of Iraq.