Diplomacy. Not.

The other day I said I was going to call my Congress-people daily about the Iraq war. I realized later — of course — that calling every single day would be a good way to be labelled a "flake" and have people pay no attention to me at all. New plan: I'm following legislation as closely as I can, and calling when I have specific questions.

Today, I called Senator Maria Cantwell. Her staffer was very polite, and said that Sen. Cantwell is opposed to the President's plan for escalation (good news), and that she is looking toward a diplomatic solution. I asked for more details about the "diplomatic solution" but the office is making no formal statements at this time. Also no comments on the various Iraq-related bills being proposed by other senators.

A statement on Sen. Cantwell's web site says:

"The president’s statement tonight hangs our Iraq policy moving forward on 20,000 troops to stabilize Baghdad. Our strategy must be to significantly change the course by holding Iraqis to sooner timetables on taking security control, passing an oil law, and making the other political compromises necessary to ease disagreements among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.” (posted on January 10th, 2007).

I don't undestand how we will ever "do diplomacy" in a country that neither likes nor respects us. It's as though we took a baseball bat to a hornet's nest, and now we want the hornets to sit still and quit being so angry. (Way too simple, but you get my point.)

The thing is: while we're doing all this talking, people are dying. Even more people are returning home maimed — whether their homes are in Baghdad or Boston.

Last week, Danny Westneat, one our local columnists, wrote about some protesters who have finally given up their protest, due to lack of participation. Read it here It was heart-wrenching to read. The kids and I have actually saluted that ever-dwindling group of protesters while walking the Very Large Dog. Now they're gone. What does that say?

If there are so many of us who care about the war — ending it, that is — that we actually succeeded in overturning the balance of power in Congress, why have things seemingly come to a standstill? What should we be doing? Any ideas out there?

(Gratitude... oh, gosh. It's hard today. But: it's not snowing. It's not raining. And I think some crocuses are coming up in my front yard.)